And just like Christmas it’s all over! I popped by craft fair cherry 🤭!
After 6 weeks of manic making, I hosted my first craft stall at Fresh Ground Eltham’s first Christmas Fayre. As I mentioned before it was very much like the wedding prep but in a much shorter period but so worth it!
I will confess to being so nervous about it – Would people like my makes? Would I have enough stock? Would I sell anything? The pressure felt rather mixed as I knew I was underpricing items because I didn’t really know what people would want to pay, but at the same time as I was raising money as opposed to seeking profit. That said I still wanted to make sure I was getting a reasonable amount to support Ronald McDonald House Charities.
I was ably assisted on the day by 2 of my lovely friends who helped me set up, pack up and keep the chatter up with the prospective customers. As it was a Christmas market and I was selling Christmas Fripperies I made sure to “Elf up” the stall, with Christmas table cloths, fairylit white trees, and we naturally dragged the Christmas jumpers out of mothballs a couple of weeks early. Topped with some festive headgear and armed with a staple tin of Quality Streets (other Christmas chocolates are available 😂) we were ready to greet the market visitors.
The state of panic rose over the first hour with a lot of passing glances on the stall but no real interest. This is when supportive friends really make the difference with a lot of cheerful chatter, encouraging words and reassurance that the stall looks great, and my fripperies are lovely.
And then suddenly a rush! More friends arrived armed with cash for the purchase of items! Suddenly the stall was attracting interest as my friend started exclaiming loudly about the detail of the stitching on an advent calendar, “in gold thread?! How beautiful! And it is how much on Etsy? Really? so this is truly a bargain!” My first sale bagged!! And yes to a friend, but I had already thought some of the higher priced items would be more likely to sell to the people I knew. I had my 2 advent calendars sold within half an hour, but we kept one on display with a sold sign, to promote the full range of makes and also to maybe demonstrate demand…
Hubby and Small made an appearance, Small to add the cute factor, and Hubby with his eagle eyed approach to effective business management. Suddenly my approach of POA was dropped and price tags were made up! The table was slightly rearranged to show case the stocking bunting better and the chocolates were moved a little further back from the front of the table (to encourage leaning over and having a proper look!).
One of the stall visitors was Gabriella of KeepingItDelicious, who gave me some great feedback on my products but also some real encouragement to look into specialists craft markets as she thought I could really capitalise in a focused environment where the visitors are all there to buy crafts. I have to say a massive thank you, because her words and advice were really inspiring, reassuring and a major boost! I am not a business, but a hobbyist, therefore selling has always been a scary place for me as I struggle with pricing products to achieve a return. I suffer from an inherent belief that no one would pay what a item is worth exacerbated by the fact I work too slowly to be able to properly charge for my time, therefore always selling at a loss.
It was soon becoming evident what products sold well (mini bunting) and what wasn’t shifting at all (stockings), which is great for understanding where to focus my efforts in future. There is a definite demand for personalisation now, so items like stockings are less desirable if not personalised. Something to consider in the future, however I think the market is pretty saturated with that offering.
I also met another maker like myself. She was a Mum who made a few things for a market last year and was selling the remaining stock this year. She doesn’t really sell, because she can’t make any money from it and now she has a new 3 month old she doesn’t have time to do anything! Made me realise that I am very lucky to have recovered my crafting time, I really do find the outlet invaluable for rebalancing my stress levels!
It was an amazing experience, I met some really interesting and inspirational people, and took away a desire to try my hand again at another event. More importantly I raised a fantastic £270 for Ronald McDonald House and sold most of my stock. Selling for charity really took the pressure off trying to push to break even, and the feeling of beating my £250 fundraising target was a truly incredible feeling!
I did manage sell the remaining stock to my colleagues at work and family, taking my final total to £543!! So so thrilled that I could give something back to this incredible charity. We experienced their work first hand when we stayed at their Evelina House when Small was poorly as a newborn being treated in Evelina’s Neonatal unit. Although the reason for staying with Ronald McDonald is in many circumstances very traumatic, worrying and distressing, the house itself is an oasis of calm. We only stayed a very short time but we couldn’t fail to feel the overwhelming sense of love and community that radiated through the house. Privilege is possibly not the right word to use in the context of why we were staying there, but that is the best way I can describe it. Ronald McDonald House provide a “home from home” to families with poorly little ones so that they can stay close by. A few weeks after my event I also had the fantastic news that my employer was matching my fundraising so I doubled my total and with a few more donations the current total stands at £1,148. That is a sum that will really make a difference to so many families in need of the love and support RMHC.org offers.
So what did I learn from my first craft fair?
- – pricing- make sure the pricing is clear, although I was trying to encourage the concept of “suggested donations” a lot of people are not comfortable with asking the price of things therefore I would probably have attracted more interest if the items had been clearly priced.
- – labelling – what are the items? are they handmade? Then say so!!!! Not everyone will expect my items to have been made by me, or if they identify that, they may not consider the whole item (like the embroidered hearts) to be made by hand.
- – sell handmade story – selling the story effectively justifies the price you apply. There is a market for handmade, and the story of the maker and their craft is a big part of that.
- – promote promote promote
- – logo and branding – for this event I was raising money for charity so I wasn’t really promoting myself as a maker. This is something I really need to invest some time into, as I have a name/brand, but I don’t have a logo. Definitely something I need to link into what I want my making / selling focus to be.
- – consider what my focus is? Seasons? Holidays? – As a crafting magpie I have interests in so many things, however to effectively sell I need to have a clear focus. I clearly love Christmas makes, but you can’t sell these all year round, therefore I need to think of the other makes. Perhaps seasonal / holiday decorations, especially when you consider the rise of Easter and Halloween decor. But also maybe the gift market as I have always loved making knitted toys, there are a number of considerations though when selling toys. Or perhaps I return to the focus on weddings and celebrations. All food for thought…
- – market items ahead of time – use social media more effectively. If I am going to be hosting a stall make sure I profile items on social media ahead of the event to drum up support.
- – note items that have already sold – evidence demand!
- – work out a wrapping strategy and make sure the tissue is big enough 🙈
- – personalisation?! – this is a tricky one as there is so much personalisation out there and in most cases it is achieved using an embroidery machine, which is a reasonable outlay for something I am not really focussed on. I think if I am going to consider personalisation I am going to do it on a commission basis.
