If you’ve got a souvenir or gift range and you want it in Australian stores, you’ve basically got three choices: sell direct yourself, go through a distributor, or get an agent on the road for you. This is what the agent option actually looks like, from someone who does it.
What a sales agent does
An agent is your range’s face in the store. In my case that means:
- Presenting your range in person to retailers it suits, not just emailing a catalogue
- Taking orders and placing them with you, through your existing ordering system
- Passing back what buyers say about your products, your pricing and how they’re presented
- Keeping in touch with stores between orders, so reorders keep coming
I cover all of Australia for every brand I represent. In most cases I work on commission, and the arrangements are non-exclusive. The details depend on the brand and the buyer, and we agree them directly before I start.
What to look for in an agent
The most useful question to ask any agent is simple: which stores will you actually walk into with my range?
For me, that’s 227 stockists across 132 towns and suburbs, mostly in coastal and regional holiday destinations: gift shops, newsagencies, pharmacies, visitor centres and attractions. You can see every town on the stockist map, and I’ve written about what kinds of stores they are and the size of the tourism market they serve.
Experience matters too. I started full-time in my family’s Rose Stereograph business in 1979, working as a sales rep, photographer, general manager and director, and set up Rose Agencies in 2019. The family business goes back to the Rose Series photographs and postcards of 1880. You can read my story and the Rose Stereograph history if you want the background.
Who I represent now
I currently sell for Local Bloke, Kato Designs, Sundowner Souvenirs and Souvenirs Australia. Australian or overseas, if your range suits tourism and gift retail, it could sit alongside them.
How it starts
- Send me the details of your range: product photos, wholesale and recommended retail prices, minimum orders, lead times and where your stock is held.
- I’ll look at the fit: whether it suits the stores and regions I cover. I’ll tell you straight if it doesn’t.
- If it’s a fit, we agree terms directly, and I take it on the road.
If you run a store
The same visits work the other way too. If you run a gift shop, newsagency, pharmacy, visitor centre or any business in a tourist town, I can bring these ranges to you. No store is too small or too big.
You can book a visit, order through me by phone or email, or ask for catalogues and trade pricing. I’ll help you pick products that suit your customers and your space. See the products and how ordering works.
Here’s the full picture of how representation works, or get in touch about your range.