Billing for your toy shop in Odisha
A plastic car sold singly, a clay horse from the village maker and the fair stall, all counted on one phone.
Why an Odisha toy shop prices plastic by the dozen and clay horses by the maker's word
The plastic car comes by the dozen, the clay horse by the maker's word
Plastic cars, balls and whistles reach you by the dozen or in a bag, and you sell them one at a time. The clay horse and the wooden doll from a village maker come by the piece, at the price he asked, and you add your own. One bill carries rates from two different worlds, and your profit on each is a guess you make at the counter.
A craft that comes once a year and is gone
Some of the toys you sell are seasonal. The Manapur doll comes with the maker before the holidays, and when the wooden pieces are gone there is nothing until he returns. You ask him for the next lot by feel, with too many horses and too few dolls.
The week after the puja, when half the shelf is empty
School reopens, the fair packs up, and the shelf is half empty. You cannot say which half sold and which half was never asked for. The toys that stayed are the ones you ordered too many of, and the ones that went are the ones you will ask the maker for again, if you can remember which they were.
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From the dozen that arrives to the single car that leaves
A dozen noted in, a single sold out
Make the plastic car an item sold one at a time. When a dozen arrives, put twelve into the stock, and each bill takes one off. The count on the phone is the count in the glass case, and the shop does not run out of cars on a day when three families come for them.
The village maker's page, with last season's pieces on it
Give each maker a page, and note the Manapur wooden dolls and the clay horses as he brings them, with the rate he asked. Next season open his page and see how many of each came and how many sold. Ask him only for the pieces that went.
The empty half of the shelf, named
In the quiet weeks after the holidays the toys that stayed can be marked down. Change the rate on the horse or the car that stayed, and the next bill carries the lower rate. When the half shelf is empty again, the count shows what is left and what is gone.
Tools for a toy shop with village makers, cartons at home and a puja holiday rush
Bills on your phone
A bill for a spinning top, a clay horse and a balloon, each at its own price, on the phone while a father holds a child in the other arm.
Orders to suppliers
A page for each maker and each wholesaler, with what arrived and when, so next season's order to the doll maker starts from last season's page.
Godown stock
The cartons kept at home through the year and the toys on the shelf in front, each with its own count, so you know how many are still in the carton.
Low stock warnings
A sign that the wooden dolls or the small plastic cars are almost gone, in the middle of the holidays, while you can still ask for more.
Daily reports
Each day of the puja holidays on its own line, to be read beside the quiet days after school reopens.
Clay, silk and silver: the craft districts of Odisha behind its toy shelves
Odisha's toys come from villages that also weave, carve and sell leaf plates. A few of the districts, and what they are known for.
- Sal and siali leaf plates are a main trade in Mayurbhanj, and Betanati in the district is one of Odisha's two main leaf plate trade centres (2008 report).
- Cuttack is home to silver filigree, and its craftsmen get business from the city's Durga Puja, which had 165 puja committees in 2019.
- Berhampur in Ganjam is often called the silk city of India, and its Phoda Kumbha saree and Joda craft got a GI tag in 2012.
Questions Odisha toy sellers ask about makers, dozens and school prizes
A village maker brings clay horses with no price list. How do I put them in?
Make an item for each kind of horse or doll, and put in the rate you will sell at. Give the maker a page and note the pieces he brought, so the page remembers what he handed over and when.
The maker's clay horses are too many for the shelf, so most wait in a godown. Can I see the godown and the shop apart?
Yes. Stock is counted per godown and per shop, so you see the horses in each. What you sell in the shop comes off the shop's count, and the godown's count shows what is left to bring out.
A school asks for prize toys at three rates. How do I show the head the choice?
Keep each prize toy as an item with its rate. The head's page lists the toys he picks with their rates, and what he takes comes off your count.
Mayurbhanj clay toys and the wooden dolls of Manapur
The Odisha tourism department lists clay toys of Mayurbhanj and Barapali among the state's traditional handicrafts, alongside Pipili appliqué work and Puri papier-mâché masks. A toy shop may be asked for any of these by name.
Manapur's wooden dolls, a seasonal craft, lost ground to plastic and machine-made dolls. INTACH asked the state to promote them in Utkalika showrooms and other emporiums.