It's the third week of October. Half the fall table is gone, a regular already asked if you'll have stocking holders this year, and there's an empty shelf behind the register waiting on whatever you order next. Black Friday is November 27 this year and Small Business Saturday is the day after, so you have about five weeks to get holiday stock in, priced and out on the floor.
This guide is for gift shop and boutique buyers deciding which holiday cast iron to carry: what we stock for the season, how much to order and how to set it out.
Why cast iron works for holiday stock
Holiday shoppers pick things up. A piece with real weight in the hand feels like a proper gift, and it tends to sell without much talk from you. Our holiday cast iron covers a few price points: stocking holders, a dinner bell and a pinecone candle lantern for the counter or a shelf edge, and deer and bear doorbells for the customer who wants a bigger gift. A table full of glitter and glass also looks better with a few solid black iron pieces on it.
What holiday cast iron to stock
Here's what's in our Christmas collection right now, plus a few winter-friendly pieces from the rest of the line.
Stocking holders
Stocking holders are the easiest holiday cast iron to sell, because nobody needs them explained. Ours are champagne gold and freestanding, so there's no drilling into a mantel. There are three designs: the reindeer stocking holder, the snowflake stocking holder and the Santa stocking holder.
A house with four stockings needs four holders, so think in sets. Price them as singles, but line up three or four on a shelf edge with a card that says "one for every stocking." The product pages suggest checking the balance once a stocking is filled, which is worth passing on at the register.
Bells
A bell is a good holiday piece because it isn't only for December. The burgundy dinner bell with leather strap is 5.3 inches tall. It looks right on a holiday table and still makes sense on a kitchen hook in March, so it's a safer buy than anything that says Christmas in big letters.
For bigger gifts, look at the doorbells in our Bells & Chimes collection. Woodland designs like the deer doorbell and the bear doorbell are an easy pick for the person with a cabin or a lake house. They're a bigger, heavier gift, so give them a shelf at eye level.
Candle lanterns and woodland pieces
The pinecone candle lantern is 9 inches tall and made for a tealight or a flameless LED candle (candle not included). Light shows through the gaps between the scales, so keep one glowing with an LED candle near the register. A pinecone says winter without saying Christmas, so it can stay out into January.
Deer pieces do the same job. Our Seasonal collection has deer head wall hooks and a Deer Country metal wall sign that pull together a cabin-style corner.
Gift-ready pieces that aren't seasonal at all
Some good December pieces won't look like holiday stock. A wall-mounted bottle opener or a funny bar sign suits the person who's hard to shop for (our bar gifts guide has ideas), and a decorative wall hook makes an easy small gift. The upside: whatever doesn't sell by the 24th is still regular stock on the 26th.
How much to order, and when
Order too little and you're out by mid-December. Order too much and January starts with markdowns. Set a holiday budget before you start browsing, not after.
Our open-to-buy guide for gift shops walks through the formula, and the open-to-buy calculator does the math for you. Once you know what you can spend, the retail markup calculator helps you set prices.
Example only, to show the math: say you set aside $600 at cost for a holiday cast iron add-on. You might put half ($300) into stocking holders and the bell, since they're the easiest to explain, a third ($200) into the lantern and woodland pieces, and the last $100 into a couple of higher-ticket doorbells. Priced at keystone (double your cost), that $600 becomes $1,200 at retail if everything sells. Our pricing guide explains keystone, margin and markup in more detail.
On timing, ordering in late October or the first days of November leaves room to receive, price and build the display before November 27. Most in-stock wholesale orders from us dispatch in 1 to 3 days from our Texas and Virginia warehouses. That helps if one design sells through and you want a quick reorder in early December.
Setting up the holiday display
Cast iron is dark, so it can get lost on a holiday table full of glass and glitter. A few things help:
- Give it a surface it stands out against, like whitewashed wood, burlap or a plain linen runner.
- Group by use, not by vendor. Stocking holders go next to stockings if you carry them, and the lantern goes next to candles.
- Put one of each design within reach and keep backstock underneath. Nobody wants to lift cast iron down from a high shelf.
- Add a small card with the size. "6.5 inches, freestanding, no drilling" answers the question most people would otherwise ask you.
If floor space is tight, our post on how to increase sales per square foot has more ideas for small stores.
Make it easy to give
Plenty of holiday cast iron leaves the shop as a gift, so keep tissue, kraft boxes or bags and a few tags at the register. Antlers, hooks and bell rims have edges, so wrap them in tissue first so the paper doesn't tear. A one-line care note (a dry cloth now and then, and a covered spot for anything outdoors) saves the recipient a question later. Our outdoor cast iron care guide has the full version.
Holiday wholesale FAQ
What holiday cast iron can I buy wholesale?
Our holiday wholesale line includes stocking holders, a dinner bell, a pinecone candle lantern, and deer and bear doorbells. You'll find them all in the Trade Showroom, and most in-stock pieces ship in 1 to 3 days.
Can I get custom holiday cast iron designs made?
That's separate from our wholesale catalog. The Factory Direct page explains how custom casting, finishing and assembly programs work through GoldenBee Global.
Can I buy holiday wholesale decor with a low minimum?
With us, yes. Opening orders have a $200 minimum and reorders have a $150 minimum. Eligible first orders are also covered by our 60-day opening-order buyback.
What markup should I use on holiday decor?
Keystone (retail at double your wholesale cost) is a common starting point. Run your numbers through the retail markup calculator, and see the pricing guide for when to go above or below it.
How do I work out my holiday inventory budget?
Use open-to-buy: planned sales, plus planned markdowns, plus the inventory you want left at month end, minus what you have now and what's already on order. The open-to-buy guide goes through it step by step with a December example.
Stock your holiday table
Start small: two or three stocking holder designs, the dinner bell and one lantern, plus a woodland doorbell if your customers lean cabin. Then build a shortlist in our Trade Showroom, which has 370 wholesale cast iron and metal pieces. Opening orders start at $200 ($150 for reorders), most in-stock orders dispatch in 1 to 3 days from Texas and Virginia, and eligible first orders include a 60-day buyback. New to us? Apply for a wholesale account this week, so your holiday order has time to land before Black Friday.