Venture name:
Ugly Christmas Sweater Sale
Chapters:
The Ohio State, Miami (OH), NC State, Oregon, UCLA
Date and time:
Of Planning & Preparation:
(OSU) Began September 14
Of Sale(s):
(OSU) November 12-14
(Miami-OH) Right after Thanksgiving Break
Description:
(OSU) “The Ugly Christmas Sweater Sale is one of The Ohio State Chapter’s business Ventures. For this Venture, we purchase used Christmas sweaters from local thrift shops and sell them on campus for a remarkable profit. We reserve a location and time in our student Union for three days in November. We have been running this Venture for two years and were inspired by the number of Ugly Christmas Sweaters parties that occur on and around campus during the holiday season.“
OSU held the first sale in 2013 and expanded the sale to 2014. They won scaling capital from NINO in 2014 to expand the sale and raised over $2,000 in profits. They sold over 100 sweaters in the sale.
Miami Ohio asked its members to buy ugly Christmas sweaters from Thrift stores when they went home for Thanksgiving break. They then sold the sweaters when they returned to campus. Ugly Sweater parties are really popular on Miami’s campus so they sold out of sweaters within one afternoon of tabling on campus.
(Miami OH) “We elected Venture Managers, as always. This person makes sure people are collecting sweaters over break by sending motivational emails. We also did a member raffle – you get a ticket for every sweater you sell and the raffle winner gets a Chipotle gift card. We sold them at our student center on campus. All we had to do was make a Facebook page and we sold about 60 sweaters in a couple hours. Word of mouth is powerful for this Venture because our school is in the middle of nowhere with no other way to get sweaters and everyone is fratty and needs a sweater. This year, we will also sell other Christmas-y stuff like ribbons and bows and what-not for people to wear. We made sure we had change for cash sales and the square up and running. The idea for this Venture has been around since I had joined Nourish. This year, we are all gonna put a sweater on and take a squad pic.“
NC State had an Ugly Sweater Sale in late November and early December 2014. Their first few days of sale in November were very successful so the Chapter decided to buy more sweaters over Thanksgiving break and do another sale following the break. They sold the sweaters in a central location on campus called the Brickyard.
UCLA used an online platform (bidding owl) to sell ugly sweaters.
Marketing:
(OSU) “Our main marketing strategy was to attend sorority and fraternity ‘Chapter Nights,’ where other organizations can advertise their events to the Greek community. We marketed primarily towards the Greek community because around Christmas time many of the frats host Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties, and we presented our Venture in a way that highlights the affordable cost, ease of access, and sustainable aspects of our products. In terms of marketing materials, OSU gives student organizations access to some free materials, so we were able to print our flyers through that service. In addition to Chapter Nights, we also posted flyers around campus and reached individually out to people our members thought would be interested.“
(Miami OH) “All we had to do was make a Facebook page, share it, and show up at the student center. This venture truly sells itself as word of mouth takes over. EVERYONE needs sweaters at this school so it’s easy.“
You could share your page on the Christmas sweater party pages too! That way the people who are attending that event can follow your link directly to your sweater sale. Make sure you have someone keeping track so you know which sweaters are sold and when/where you need to deliver them!
Not all schools are like this ^^. Make sure you have a solid marketing strategy outside of using Facebook if there isn’t a major pain point at your campus like there is at Miami U.
Revenue and Expenses:
(OSU) “We purchase the Christmas sweaters from local thrift shops for $3-$10 and sell them on campus for $10-$30 depending on the quality of the sweaters. In 2013, we made an initial investment of $200 for sweaters and generated close to $1,000 dollars in revenue; in 2014 we earned around $2000.
Members are reimbursed for their purchases and we do the shopping outings as a group to encourage participation. Since we buy the sweaters from thrift shops, it is difficult to get further discounts unless the store is hosting a sale so we try to be on the lookout for those. This upcoming year, we are considering giving buyers a discount if they donate their old Christmas Sweaters when they purchase one of our new ones.“
(Miami OH) “Sweaters cost about 3$ at Goodwill but other second hand stores they can be up to $10!“
OSU Expenses and Revenue:
Purchased, Cost
Sweaters, $484.29
Easels, $15
Pins, $6.40
Total: $505.69
Revenues
Nov. 12, $821.81
Nov. 13, $518.39
Nov. 14, $687.46
Total: $2,027.66
Profits and Other Benefits of Venture
(OSU) Return on Investment:
Profit = $1,597.21
(Total Revenue – Total Cost)/Total Cost = ($2027.66 – $505.69) / $505.69 = 3.01
(Miami OH) “We profited $1,240 !!! If we marketed this better, we could be known as the Ugly Christmas Sweater Sale people…. definitely something to shoot for this year!“
Challenges:
(OSU) “This venture requires a lot of pre-planning in order to properly organize outings to purchase the products, to schedule for Chapter nights and to secure an advantageous selling location. One of the difficulties we faced in launching this Venture was setting prices for our goods. It was hard to gauge what customers were willing to pay for sweaters. Our prices began at a range from $10 to $30. On the last day of the Venture, each individual price dropped by $5. We quickly learned that $30 was out of the affordability range of most of our customers, especially since we had a larger range of sweaters this year so there were more options to choose from at lower prices. We also had a difficult time determining what sizes of sweaters to purchase. We ended up with too many small sweaters and not enough large sweaters. Such challenges can be amended in following years now that we have better knowledge on which sizes are most popular.“
(Miami OH) “It is challenging to get people to take the time and start-up money to get the sweaters over Thanksgiving break. I suggest making time at general body meetings to get people to look up second hand stores around their house! One step less to do on their own. Incentives (like a raffle) will make people actually do this.“
Tips:
(OSU) “The pre-planning process is extremely important in order to make sure the Chapter has enough time to purchase the sweaters, sign up for Greek Chapter visits, and secure an ideal location for selling.“
(Miami OH) “This is a good opportunity for some “face-time” especially at Miami because everyone needs sweaters. Let everyone know Nourish has got what they need. “
Would you recommend to other chapters?
(OSU) “I would recommend this to Chapters who have a large Greek presence at their school or at least a student body who habitually throws these type of themed parties.“
(Miami OH) “I DEFINITELY recommend this to greek schools. Any size school can benefit.“
Contact info:
Ohio State: Akram, Chapter Leader – jabeer.2@osu.edu
Miami OH: Hanna, Chapter Leader – carrolhj@miamioh.edu – (419) 320-5807
