Your Fair Trade Holiday Sale Made Easy

A holiday sale is a great way to bring fair trade gift options to your community. Whether you’re raising money for your group’s projects or and encouraging folks to engage in ethical gift purchasing with a social justice mission, here are some of our best tips for a successful table sale!

Team up

If you plan early, you can incorporate your Equal Exchange product table into an existing gift market that has other ethically sourced products, like artisan crafts from Ten Thousand Villages, symbolic gifts from Heifer International, or handmade products from local artists. You can capitalize on the existing buzz and foot traffic.

Promote your sale 

Announce your sale early and remind people often. Let them know that they can do all of their gift shopping in one place and feel good about their choices. Check out our downloadable selling tools to help spread the word by making announcements, putting up a poster, and using our customizable holiday template in a digital newsletter. Promote to your broader community on a local event website or social media pages, community bulletin boards, and the local news.

Try this example wording: 

“Give gifts that give more! Join us for our Holiday Sale [insert date, time and location] Give fairly traded, organic gifts this holiday season. Equal Exchange products are sourced from small-scale coffee, tea, cocoa and olive oil farmer co-operatives worldwide and profits from our sale go towards [insert your group, committee or reason for the sale here]. Through fair trade, farmers are better able to support their families, protect the environment and strengthen their communities.”

Choose the best products 

Here are our giftiest products, best sellers and suggested amounts to order along with how much you could earn depending on your mark-up. This is our full product and price list.

Ordering Instructions 

Shop online by the case at wholesale case pricing or call (774) 776-7366. We recommend leaving 10 business days between the time you order and when you expect things to arrive.

Dress up your table 

Use a colorful tablecloth to make it festive and eye-catching. Organize products neatly and use vertical display racks to save space. Add colorful display materials, like table signs, olive oil gift tags, and brochures to your product order on our webstore to help share information and draw people in.

Offer samples 

Everybody loves the chance to try something delicious, and odds are good that they’ll want to buy more once they have a taste! Break chocolate bars into pieces and arrange them on a tray with tongs. Brew batches of coffee and offer samples in small cups or set up a hot chocolate bar and charge a few dollars a cup. Based on your product mark-ups you can figure out how much you can spare to sample and still reach your sales goal. Speaking of product mark-ups…

Set the right prices

You can raise funds for special congregation projects, trips or activities by marking up your products 25% to 40% of your unit cost. Round up to the nearest dollar to help cover your costs and make giving change easier. Remember to tell folks what you’re raising money for — they’ll love being able to gift shop and help your cause!

You can also choose to make products more affordable by selling them close to the unit cost you initially paid as part of the wholesale case. Sell multiple items at slightly reduced prices to help encourage more sales. An assortment of chocolate bars tied with a ribbon makes a beautiful, decadent but affordable gift!

Customize this editable price sign to list your offering and the prices you’re charging.

Share the mission

You know that Fair Trade is important for our global community, and now is a great time to tell shoppers why it matters. The meaning behind the products you sell will really set them apart – so don’t be afraid to talk about it! Our talking points and brochures make it easy.

Looking for more sale ideas?

Learn how to make a festive and creative display with DIY and ready-to-give gifts.