How to Take Corporate Gift Orders as a Small Seller

Short answer: to take a corporate gift order as a small seller, get every detail in writing before you give a price. Ask for the number of gifts, the budget per gift, any logo, the delivery date and the delivery addresses. Send a written quote with the price per gift and separate lines for setup and delivery. Take a deposit before you buy materials. Then agree a final count date, approve a logo proof, and send a clear invoice.

November is when the office emails start. “We need 40 gift boxes for our clients. Can you do it by December 15?” It is a great order. It is also a different kind of order from the ones you usually take.

A normal custom order has one customer, one item and one date. A corporate order has a buyer who is not the person receiving the gift. It often has a logo, a long delivery list, a manager who must approve the price and an accounts team that pays later. Each of those is a place where a detail can get lost.

This guide walks you through one corporate order from the first email to the last delivery. It works for bakers, candle makers, jewelry makers, crafters and gift box sellers. The examples use US dollars and US rules. The method works anywhere.

1. Ask the right questions first

Do not give a price in your first reply. A big order priced in a hurry is the order that loses you money. Thank the buyer, then ask for the details you need.

These are the questions to ask. Send them as one message, so the buyer can answer them all at once.

Question 7 matters more than it looks. The person who emails you is often an office manager or an assistant. Someone else may approve the spend, and a third person may pay the invoice. Get their names and email addresses now. It saves a week of waiting later.

2. Check that you can do it

Before you send a quote, check four things. If one of them is a no, say so now. A polite no now is much better than gifts that arrive late.

• Time. Count the hours to make one gift, then multiply by the number of gifts. Add time for packing, labels and delivery. Then look at your calendar for the same weeks, because your usual holiday orders do not stop.
• Materials. Can your supplier send enough ribbon, boxes, jars or fabric in time? Ask before you promise. Holiday stock runs low.
• Space. Forty finished boxes need somewhere to sit. Check you have room to store them clean and safe until delivery.
• The rules. If you sell food from home, check your state’s cottage food law. Some states allow sales only directly to consumers. Alabama, for example, says a cottage food producer “may only sell their products directly to consumers”. A sale to a company may not fit that rule, so check before you say yes.

Corporate orders also need more lead time than your usual work. Across 731 WISMO orders, the median time from creating an order to its due date was 7 days. That is fine for one cake or one necklace. It is rarely enough for 40 branded gift boxes.

7 days

3. Write a quote with clear lines

A corporate buyer often has to show your quote to someone else. So make it easy to read and easy to approve. Put the price per gift first, then each extra cost on its own line.

Here is a worked example. The numbers are illustrative, not a price guide.

Add these lines in plain words under the table:

• What is in each gift, so nobody expects more.
• How long the quote is valid, for example 7 days. Holiday material prices can change.
• The final count date (see step 5).
• The delivery date and what happens if the office is closed that day.
• How to pay, and the payment terms.

Separate lines for packaging and delivery also help your buyer. In the US, the IRS says a business can deduct no more than $25 per person each year for business gifts. It also says costs such as packaging, insuring and mailing are generally not counted in that $25. A clear invoice lets the buyer’s accountant see each cost. This is the buyer’s tax question, not yours. Do not give them tax advice.

For help with the price itself, our guide to pricing custom orders shows how to count materials, time and a profit margin. A bulk discount is your choice. If you give one, give it on the gift price, not on setup or delivery.

4. Take a deposit, and agree the payment terms

A corporate order ties up your money and your time. So take a deposit before you buy any materials. Many small sellers ask for half.

WISMO’s own data shows how common that is, and how much it varies. The median first deposit was 50% of the order price. But seller medians ran from 8% to 97%, so there is no single rule.

Median 50%

Some companies pay every supplier on net 30. That means they pay within 30 days of your invoice. You can agree to it for the balance. For a first order from a company you do not know, still ask for the deposit up front. Our guide to how much deposit to take explains what a deposit should cover. The free deposit calculator works out the amounts for you.

Expect a W-9. In the US, the company’s accounts team may ask you for Form W-9 before it pays you. The IRS says you use this form to give your correct taxpayer identification number to someone who has to report certain payments to the IRS. You can download it from the IRS website. Keep a filled-in copy ready, so a payment is not delayed in November.

Some companies also send a purchase order, or PO. It is the company’s written approval of the order and its number. Put the PO number on your invoice, so the accounts team can match it.

5. Set a final count date

Corporate orders change. A new client is added. Two people leave. Someone remembers the team in another city. Every change is fine before you start, and painful after.

So agree a final count date in the quote. After that date, the number of gifts and the delivery list are fixed. Pick a date just before you order materials, not just before you start making. Here is a reminder you can send a few days before it.

If the buyer asks for more gifts after the date, you do not have to say no. You can offer them as a second order with its own date and price.

6. Get the logo and approve a proof

If the gift carries a company logo, ask for it early. Ask for the logo file in the format your printer or engraver needs. Also ask for a written okay to use it on the gifts.

Then send a proof before you make anything: a photo or mockup of one finished gift. Ask the buyer to reply with a clear yes. Check the spelling of every name and the colors of the logo. A mistake found on the proof costs nothing. A mistake found on box 40 costs a day.

Keep the approval in writing, in the same email thread or message chat as the order. If there is a question later, you can show what was approved and when.

7. Plan the dates backwards

Start from the delivery date and work back. Here is an illustrative plan for 40 gifts that must arrive at one office on Tuesday, December 15.

If the gifts go to many addresses by mail, plan around your carrier. For delivery before December 25 within the contiguous US, USPS recommends sending Ground Advantage by Thursday, December 17, and Priority Mail by Friday, December 18. USPS says these dates are recommendations, not guarantees. A business gift that arrives after the office closes for the holidays may sit there until January. So aim well before the carrier’s last day. Our post on holiday order cut-off dates shows how to set yours.

For many addresses, ask the buyer for the list in a spreadsheet. Ask for one row per gift, with the recipient’s name, address, phone number and any card message. Check it for missing ZIP codes before the final count date, not on packing day.

8. Deliver, invoice the balance and follow up

On delivery day, send a short message to the buyer. Say the gifts have arrived, and attach the invoice for the balance. List the deposit as paid and show the balance due, with the date it is due. Our guide to writing a custom order invoice has a template that shows a deposit and a balance.

A week later, write once more. Thank the buyer, and ask if the gifts went well. Then make a note to write again next autumn, before their holiday planning starts. Companies that give gifts every year often reorder from a supplier who did a good job. Our guide to following up with past customers shows when to write and what to say.

How WISMO helps with a corporate order

WISMO is an order tracking app for small sellers, on iPhone and Android. It does not take payments, and it does not print shipping labels. Here is what it does for an order like this one:

• One order with every line. Add each item with its quantity and price, such as 40 gift boxes, a setup fee and delivery. WISMO adds up the total, or you can type your own.
• The deposit and the balance. Record the deposit when it arrives. The order shows what is still owed, so you know what to invoice on delivery day.
• A free invoice. Make an invoice PDF from the order, with each line, each payment and the balance. Invoices are free on every plan.
• A due date you will not miss. The order sits on your calendar, and WISMO reminds you the day before it is due.
• A tracking link for the buyer. Send the office manager one link. They can check the order’s stage without emailing you, and share it with their boss.

You keep the delivery list in your own spreadsheet. WISMO tracks the order, its stages, its payments and its date.

Your first 30 orders are free. After that, Pro is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, and you can try Pro free for 7 days. See pricing for what each plan includes, or the gift business page for how gift sellers use WISMO.