How We Got Our Cards Into Stores

“Hi! My sister and I make greeting cards. Would you like to carry them in your store?”

Do you think you need to wait until you’re grown up, or until your product is perfect, before you can sell it in stores?

We didn’t.

When we first walked into a store to sell our cards, they were far from having a professional finish.

Two years ago, almost every single card we made was handmade, and no two looked the same. Still, we walked into Black Bird Bookstore & Café in our neighborhood and asked if they’d be interested in carrying them. That first time, our mom was with us.

Before going in, we had made one card we thought would fit their store. We had also just created some surfer cards that matched the Sunset vibe.
They said yes!
And placed an order.
Our very first one.

Then… we had to make several of them. Fast.
Every surfer card was drawn by hand.

After selling our handmade cards in a few other stores, we quickly realized we couldn’t continue that way. It took a lot of time to create a single card, and selling them by the dozen in stores for $3 per card just wasn’t sustainable.

That’s when we knew it was time to start printing them.

We focused on creating new designs to print, and it changed everything. Printing allowed us to spend much more time on one illustration, knowing it wouldn’t be sold just once.

geometrical lion — Our lion illustration alone took two weeks to draw and color.

Walking into stores, one neighborhood at a time

Once we had about 20 different designs, we went back into stores.

noe valley san francisco — For the past three months, we’ve been doing this about once a week, choosing one neighborhood and visiting gift shops, bookstores, or sometimes cafés.

Most of the time, when the owner or manager is there, they’re happy to take a look and carry our cards. We bring the cards in boxes and can sell them right away. Usually, we’re paid on the spot. Occasionally, stores take the cards on consignment and pay us monthly.

We sell our cards to stores for $3, while the retail price is $6. (On our website, cards are $6 each, or $4 when buying 10 or more.)

greeting card lion — There’s no way we could have justified that work for a single card.

San Francisco Mercantile haight street — SF Mercantile, Haight Street — a shop celebrating California style, creativity, and local makers. Can you spot our cards?

andytown sunset — Andytown, our neighborhood café — cards tucked between coffee and conversations.

So… is it worth selling our cards at half the price?

Yes. Absolutely.

Here’s why.

1. Visibility

Selling in stores allows many more people to discover our cards. That’s why choosing the right stores matters so much.

Since we have San Francisco–themed cards, we walked into Local Friends Co., a North Beach shop featuring art, gifts, and goods from Bay Area artists and makers. Friends sometimes tell us they spotted our cards there.

That kind of visibility is hard to get any other way.

2. Connection

Selling in stores also means connecting with store owners, their community, and building relationships.
And sometimes, those relationships lead to unexpected opportunities.

mission blue community — Mission Blue — what started with our cards on their shelves led to pop-ups on Saturdays.

watercolor workshop offixedge — Offix Edge — our printer, a store that carries our cards, and a place that welcomed our workshop.

👀 Once, we asked a café if they wanted to carry our cards. They said they didn’t have enough space, but they loved them and wanted to buy some for themselves. Nearby customers overheard the conversation, got curious, and soon everyone in the café was buying cards on the spot.

3. Validation

Seeing our cards displayed next to so many beautiful designs in some of our favorite San Francisco stores is really validating. It tells us that people enjoy our work and that our cards hold up alongside others.

At the same time, seeing all the lovely cards around us makes us want to keep getting better.

A special store

When we first arrived in San Francisco, we were 2 and 3 years old and living in Noe Valley. One of our favorite stores in the neighborhood was Just For Fun, a gift shop where you can find art supplies, toys, cards, kitchen items — everything cute and thoughtfully chosen.

Today, our cards are sold there, and seeing our work on their shelves feels pretty special.

What this has taught us

Walking into stores to sell our creations has been a big life lesson. It teaches us to show up, to present our work, and to accept it when people say no. We even shared a fun video on Instagram about those moments.

Most importantly, it teaches us not to sit back and wait for people to discover our website. Building visibility online is a bigger challenge, while selling in stores has helped us grow step by step.

Today, as a result, our cards are in almost 30 stores around San Francisco.

If you’re curious, here’s where you can find them. We’ve already had great feedback and some reorders — and that definitely motivates us to keep going. If you have a shop you think we should check out, let us know!