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Post by blythwhimsies on Jan 21, 2016 9:06:56 GMT
I just signed up for my first craft fair in March! It's given me a focus for creativity, thinking about what I like to make and what people might like to buy. Something I haven't tried yet but am thinking of doing are some felted soaps, so I can have a basket of these to sell relatively cheaply, and they look so pretty all together.
Obviously I'd love my prize pieces to sell for a good price, but I don't think that's realistic when just starting out.
What have you found to be an easy and attractive sell at craft fairs?
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Post by lyn on Jan 21, 2016 10:51:17 GMT
I hope you do well Marian - craft fairs, although very tiring, can be exciting.
Whatever else you do ... don't undersell your items! Doesn't matter if you're just starting out, if your items are good then they deserve to fetch a fair price.
Have a small basket of your business cards at the front of the stall alongside the pretty basket of felted soaps - it could provide business later on. A pretty card poking out of the soap basket, explaining what they are and why they are so good, gives people a reason to stop and read and realise that they just have to have one, then they may also look over the rest of the stall.
Here are a few tips that I hope you find useful:
Spend time on preparation – if your table is not attractive, customers won’t look. And you only have to work hard once as most preps are re-usable.
Lighting is important because if you're in a dark corner, your stall will look unattractive. If you have halogen lamps or fairy lights, pack some with you but check beforehand that you can have access to power – you might need to take an extension lead.
Make sure the cover for your table is clean, pressed, a colour that enhances your items and long enough to reach the floor.
Take acrylic stands or other props to elevate items on your table – a ‘flat’ display is not inviting.
Make business cards – quick and easy to do with a computer – giving your blog/shop name and contact details. Perhaps add a little image of your primary item. Display these cards in a small basket at the front of your table – you might get an order at a later date from one of these.
Make bunting to pin to the front of your table – perhaps you could spell out your shop name, one a letter at a time, on each pennant. Bunting gives a ‘come and have a look’ signal.
Price tags can be attractive. Make them large enough to be read, but small enough to be unobtrusive. Handmade tags are worth the effort and can be re-used.
Invest in different sizes of paper carrier bags and tissue paper to wrap your customers' purchases in.
If you are able to do your craft at the fair it can attract interest so take along some ‘work in progress’.
Be friendly and approachable, but leave your customers to browse in peace. They will ask for your opinion if they want it. It’s off-putting to be caught in a long conversation with a stall holder desperately trying to sell you something.
Make sure you are well-groomed as a scruffy stall holder is a big turn-off.
Take a ‘float’ of money for change, paper and pens, sticky tape, small scissors, tape measure and safety pins. Get to the venue as early as possible – setting up takes longer than you think!
You don't want to spend all your profit on refreshments, so take a packed lunch and some drinks.
If you're running your stall on your own, make friends with neighbouring stall holders so that you have someone to watch your stall while you nip to the loo - take your purse etc with you for peace of mind.
Top Tip: Keep your eye on your money – theft happens – a good way to do this is to keep your money on your person (you could use a ‘bumbag’).
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Post by Teri Berry on Jan 21, 2016 11:13:04 GMT
Some brilliant advice there from Lyn, I like to drape my scarves over the front of my table to make an attractive rainbow of colour.
Definitely have a dummy run, setting up your stall on the dining room table or something similar to the table size you will get at the fair, I found it helpful to take photos so I could critique it in a more detached way.
Pinterest is a good resource for searching display ideas, searching for craft display or craft fair should bring up some interesting ideas. Also try to visit a few local fairs and decide what you like about the stalls that you find most attractive.
Good luck and enjoy it!
Lyn, how do you make your hand made tags? Do you have a photo?
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Post by Shepherdess on Jan 21, 2016 11:25:07 GMT
Lots of good advice from Lyn. the only thing is about doing your craft. You have to do it in a way that you are still approachable. People do not like to disturb you if you look to busy. Good luck.
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Post by zed on Jan 21, 2016 11:45:29 GMT
Great Advice from Lyn and Teri. Felted soaps definitely sell, as do bookmarks- I make them from offcuts and sell them for 50p, handmade cards with felt pieces or collages sell well too. This is a blog post about the first 'proper' craft fair I did: feltingandfiberstudio.com/2014/07/09/craft-fair/I piled too much on my table, now I put out less, but still take more 'just in case'. I didn't like to 'label' my items because I thought it might limit people's ideas for how such things as small felt cases could be used (One person put back a small case which she thought would be perfect for her phone because it had a mirror in!) but for the next fair I made little info cards like Lyn suggested with things like 'small felt cases, perfect for such things as cameras, phones, calculators or playing and gaming cards', I also have spare packs of cards. People think felt is delicate and are scared to handle, I made some samples, Herdwick, wensleydale, alpaca and camel, which really gets people talking and interested. Having an eye catcher is good too, I've taken my woolly vessel and also a bright hat which are conversation starters too. Unfortunatley you will get people who think your stuff is too expensive and possibly even some downright rude people. After the last one I did, I thought about getting a sign saying 'If you can make the same things yourself as I'm selling here, then congratulations you're obviously very talented, if you have to tell your friends loudly so the whole room hears, congratulations you're an arrogant twat'. It can be very upsetting the way some people treat you, I don't want to put you off, just forewarn you, and remember, it's them, not you, your stuff is great and worth every penny.
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Post by lyn on Jan 21, 2016 11:48:21 GMT
Unfortunatley you will get people who think your stuff is too expensive and possibly even some downright rude people. After the last one I did, I thought about getting a sign saying 'If you can make the same things yourself as I'm selling here, then congratulations you're obviously very talented, if you have to tell your friends loudly so the whole room hears, congratulations you're an arrogant twat'. It can be very upsetting the way some people treat you, I don't want to put you off, just forewarn you, and remember, it's them, not you, your stuff is great and worth every penny. Hear Hear Zed!
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Post by lyn on Jan 21, 2016 12:31:08 GMT
Teri - I don't do craft fairs anymore. However I found the most attractive and economical way to make the tags was to print off, on thin card, a sheet of varying prices/descriptions then chop them into labels. I used to either snip the corners, or use a punch to round them, then use a hole punch to make the hole for the 'string' which could be anything: crochet cotton, raffia, thin cord etc. Price labels, attached by using a small gold safety pin tied onto the ends of the string, can be quickly removed from items before wrapping, and can be re-used. This is the shape of tag - those in the photo were made by an Etsy seller - but to keep costs down I just used black ink.
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Post by sundownalpacas on Jan 21, 2016 13:51:09 GMT
All wonderful advice. When I sold felted soap in the past, I had one on a soap holder with some water to demonstrate next to the soaps. That helped people to understand what they were about. I do several outdoor shows during the warmer months and have a tent that I setup for my booth. Just before Xmas I participated in a local show where we setup in homes and the people had a map to travel around town to visit the artists. Since I live in the country, I setup in another artists home in town. This was a scaled down version of my setup. But if you can have some displays it helps, besides a table. Also I take my spinning wheel and spin yarn, which at the outdoor shows attract people to my booth. Yes, people can be rude. I have had people distract me in my booth and someone runs in and takes a picture of something that they want to copy. Knitters seem to be the worst. They will look at my knitted projects and try to count stitches or ask my for the pattern. Good luck and yes it can be a lot of fun. As everyone has said do not undersell your products.
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Post by halay on Jan 21, 2016 15:53:36 GMT
So many useful ideas and great advice. Thank you all, girls.
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Post by Pandagirl on Jan 21, 2016 16:03:15 GMT
All terrifIc advice. Good luck!
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Post by MTRuth on Jan 21, 2016 19:09:27 GMT
Good advice all! Have you talked to any of the other vendors that will be at the event? Sometimes they can give good suggestions. I would pick someone that isn't selling fiber art but something else so they are willing to give you advice about the show specifically.
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Post by blythwhimsies on Jan 21, 2016 20:09:09 GMT
Fabulous advice - thank you so much Lyn and Terri and Zed. Ruth I don't know anyone else exhibiting there yet, but as I've booked for a few in the same venue I can make contacts and get to know people and have time to experiment and refine my setup. I'm feeling quite excited!
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Post by MTRuth on Jan 21, 2016 20:20:40 GMT
Usually the event coordinators should be able to give you a contact or two if you ask.
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Post by luvswool and dyestuff on Jan 22, 2016 0:08:48 GMT
Have never done a craft fair but wishing you good luck!
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Post by Shepherdess on Jan 22, 2016 2:15:30 GMT
I use business card I print myself for hangtags and the address labels about the size of half a business card for smaller things. It a label template but I print it onto cardstock and cut them myself.
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