Fun Fair.... MaKe! Tips on selling.

That's my mum! on my stall. It was the Bank Holiday "MaKe" Craft Fair at Wolverton.
The venue is fantastic and i love going there as a stall holder. As ever, there was plenty of colour, fabric, felt and buttons.... the variety of stalls was good and the standard of work was high.
I know i have written 'Tips for Craft stalls' in the past. i am no expert and don't want to come across as terribly preachy or smug. Craft Stalls are hard work and it is very scary putting yourself and your goods out on display. Some people can be cruel and dismissive of your work (how rude are they?) but many people truly 'get handmade' and are there to support you.
THIS fair was particularly hard in some ways. It was after Easter (and nowhere near Christmas!) the school holidays with families gone away... so getting customers to shop was always going to be more of a worry. A few tips for this sort of fair...
1. It has become a regular fair - so any fair that you attend on a regular basis is completely to your advantage.
2. Blog the fair, blog the date (get the date right!? - iam guilty of being rubbish) and let everyone know what you will be selling.
3. Download the poster that the organiser sends you and ADVERTISE the fair yourself too.
4. Email local customers and tell them What fair is on, what they can expect to see and that you will be there.
5. If it is a more expensive fair, and your table fee was £30.00 - to my mind i would need to have, at minimum, £300.00 worth of stock to sell. Ideally, £600.00 That seem alot to you? It is, and i had maybe £450.00 of stock with me, so i need to heed my own lesson.

Jane Charles' amazing fabric and felt display tree - i love her egg box on the stand too.
Lots of quirky display ideas x
A very very pretty lady sat opposite me with a great table cloth and beautiful hair!
What else can i say about selling at Fairs that hasn't already been said? not much, so i'll just repeat the obvious... and trust me, i kick myself each time i forget these things too:
1. A variety of items is best, with a variety of prices from 0.50p to £15.00 personally, i don't sell much that has a price tag over £15.00 at a craft fair. Other people might have a higher maximum tag.
2. Cards with website address' to hand out - I have had customers email me BEFORE i have even got home from the fair wanting X,Y,Z ordered.
3. Talk to customers and browsers about crafting and techniques... they are the stall holders that took money at this fair.
4. Does your display POP OUT from the entrance to the fair? Can people see you from further away? is there good height to your display? WHAT is it they will remember when they walk away? Because being remembered is the key to building up a base of local customers who will want to return to your stall at the next fair.
5. Ask yourself the serious question - Are you selling things that people *want* to buy? or are you at the 'right' venue for your products customer base?
And - a big ole wave to lots of people who i saw at the fair - the lady in the YUMMY dress who has a daughter the same name as mine. And her Mother-in-Law in that fantastic handmade jacket.
Hello the very pretty lady with 3 daughters whose husband talked about buttons with us.
Helloooo Emma-Louise and the lady with you who were there for crafty supplies and i didn't have much chance to chat properly.
HHHHeeeeELLllOOO girls who made felty bracelets - and their great mums :)
Helllooo Melanie who shopped (thankU) and cycled over with her poorly son.
and HI! to the lady who is a local teacher and came with her mum and has come to see me a few times now...
StitchyWoo & Jess
(i don't want to sound like i am at the Oscars here just THANKS for coming, all crafters appreciate the support xxx)

17 comments:

Lisa said...

Hello! I've got to say your stall stood out so much more than all the others, very eyecatching!! Absolutely loved the cushions & really wish I'd bought one!! It was lovely to meet you & your Mum, & chat buttons with you, LOL!! Hoping you'll be at the August one? xx

Kerry said...

Your stall looks eye catching.

All I can say about the lady's hair is WOW. It is amazing.

HeartfeltHandmade said...

Hi, I think your stall looks amazing! I have recently had my umpteenth stall and am finally on the road to being happy with my set up. I hope it went well for you, thank you for your top tips, I will take heed these, particularly the amount of stock you have on your stall, I always get lost with that one or just run out of hours and sleepless nights!
:o)

HeartfeltHandmade said...
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Lucy Jackson Designs said...

Your stall looks great as always.
I had the kids crafting event today we made and decorated books, it was great fun, they all came at once and it was a little crazy actually it was a lot crazy but crazy fun, they all enjoyed it and so did i. Hats off to you for your big crafty fish events.

X

LPFish said...

oh great! glad your craft workshop went well. Scary aren't they? but good fun when they are over...

JaneBean said...

Hi, thanks for your top tips Kirsty, note to self 'must try harder'! perhaps a forrest of stuffed trees? (thanks for the plug.x) I'll tell emma in the lovely dress that she is famous, must go now, I've got a few hundred pounds worth of stock to make!! Jane.x

LPFish said...

not 'must try harder' Jane xxx your stuff is so lovely - i hope i don't sound all preachy? i am not even suggesting that i did all those things myself. I did pretty much ALL this at a fair last month and took PENCE.... but people ask me and email very often about Craft Fairs. It is a tough business ain't it? i just wish it could be less stressful?? XXX

wendy said...

Hello
I loved your stall at the MAKE show- it was so colourful!
Thats me in the second photo being served by your mum! I bought a couple of pieces of fabric and a pack of felt- I've got say i love the felt and can't stop looking at the lovely colours!
(I'm also in the 6th photo- glad I'm blurred!)
I have a long list of things I want to buy from your on-line shop -better get saving!!!!

V定治 said...
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LissyLou said...

Thanks for that...i'm new to this....i hope to have my first stall sometime near the end of the year x

JaneBean said...

I know, I know! The positive thing that has come from both MaKes and the other fairs I have done is the feedback I get from my work and they always clarify why I am stitiching. I just have to pull a few persuasive buttons with the customers now to get them to part with their hard earned monies.....thanks :-).x

Micayla said...

I stopped by after reading about you from Lisa. So glad I did, that stall is just gorgeous....I may have to try and make it to one of your fairs.
Micayla x

Julie said...

Your table set up is fantastic!

LPFish said...

excellent website Donna!! x thankyou for the link :)

Kit said...

your stall was fabulous at the April MaLe event. I came along with my husband and loved all the buttons you had on sale :o)

I am holding a stall at the August event and if all goes well I think I will be attending these events a lot more regularly.

This will be my first official craft stall so I am very excited and have begun buying items to display my hand crafted items on. Thanks for all the advice I will definately be keeping this in mind when I attend in August

Kit said...

oops I said MaLe event what I meant to type was MaKe event. I cannot type today, I think my hands are cold turkeying from the lack of crafting that they are doing today.

I hope to meet you at future MaKe events feel free to come and say hello :o)

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