A COUPLE have created a thriving eBay business – selling Christmas decorations for beards.
Jude Checketts is currently taking 140 orders a week for lights, bells, baubles and clip-on animals to decorate facial hair.
Her partner, David has proved a big hit as a model, despite lacking a beard. The 34-year-old simply dons a false beard for the firm’s online “catalogue”.
Jude, 33, from Hertford, Herts, set up The Social Beard just two months ago, little expecting much in the way of demand.
The hand-made range, which costs between £3.99 and £9.99, even includes a full clip-on advent calendar with pockets that can fit jelly beans for those with bushier beards.
She said: “I was making my daughter an advent calendar then for some reason thought I would make a calendar for beards.
“There’s just so much interest in them at the moment so thought why not?
“Everyone wears Christmas jumpers to get in the festive spirit so why not make something for men with beards?”
“I got my partner to model them as obviously I don’t have one but he didn’t have one either so I ended up just having to use a fake one.
“He was happy enough to help so has pretty much been my mannequin.”
Orders started slowly at one or two a day but the couple, who have a 15-month-old daughter, Elsie, have built up to a steady stream of 15 to 20 a day.
Jude said: “Everyone has said how happy they are with the accessories, most loving the lights as there wasn’t really anything around like them when I started making them. The reindeer ones are also quite popular.
“People normally order quite a large amount of different things altogether so I’m not sure if that’s just for the one person.”
Jude had already been selling handmade advent calendars for dogs before creating beard accessories.
She has already started thinking up different ideas to carry on making different accessories after new year.
“Obviously once Christmas is over I won’t be able to keep making these pieces so I’m not sure exactly what I will make,” she said.
“I’ve thought of a few new ideas, just some generic ideas like maybe more of a rock beard theme.”
Jude also plans to make a donation from some of her sales to Decembeard, a bowel cancer charity that encourages men to raise money by growing beards for the full month of December.
