Fluffy Flowers

How to setup a craft booth at a weekly Farmer's Market part 5

I'd like to thank my regular readers for their indulgence the past few days as I took a major detour from all things Fluffy Flowers. Also, I need to give credit where credit is due and thank LaRhanda over at Froggy Fibers. She is the one who told me about The City Market on the Green here in Macon, Georgia and for that I am truly grateful. Finally, I must tell you how wonderful Naomi Davis of Davis Farms CSA  is for organizing the weekly market as a gathering place for folks to sell or buy lots of wonderful home grown and made things.

This is the last in a series of articles about How to setup a craft booth at your weekly Farmer’s Market. I love my weekly market because a) its in the morning and I still have my afternoons free and b) I've really enjoyed meeting and talking with the people and c) I don't let myself get too stressed out about NOT selling anything. This combination has really worked for me. So if you decide to set up a weekly booth be sure to monitor yourself. If it gets to be burdensome you might want to stop and reconsider if you're getting enough money and enjoyment to continue. Be proud of yourself for taking a risk and getting out there with your wares. Just knowing you did it can be a great boost for the ol’ self esteem.

Part 5 - Promotion

There is nothing more import than promoting your weekly market. Nothing y’all. If no one knows about the market then no one will show up to buy! So promoting your weekly market is extremely important to its success. Market promotion should be done both at the market and outside the market.

At the market

When I make a sale I always hand the customer a market flier and ask if they would be willing to put it up some place at work or at school, etc. Most folks are usually more than willing to take the flier. This will quickly help to spread the word about your weekly market. Encourage other vendors to do the same with their customers.

I also tell my customers about my online shop, making it clear that it has a specialized creatures focus. I hand them a promotional bookmark that has a picture of my shop banner along with a bright pink ribbon attached.

I’ve also asked my customers where they heard about the market. This feedback gives me some idea of how word is traveling in the community.

Outside the market

Promotion outside your weekly market is also necessary. I’m so lucky to have a market manager who sends out press releases each week to the local media. We’ve been featured in the local newspaper, on TV, and in a local magazine. My weekly market is sponsored by the city so we’ve also been featured on the local government cable channel.

In addition to all this promotion by our market manager the vendors all helped spread the word. We’ve emailed everyone we know and some we don’t. My weekly market is held in downtown Macon, Georgia so I emailed a few local downtown organizations to let them know about the market.

We’ve all posted fliers all around town. I actually carry a pile of fliers in my bag which travels with me everywhere. I can’t tell you how many bulletin boards I’ve run across where I’ve been able to post our flier.

It’s also important to setup a market website or blog. Be sure to include pictures. This link can go out in your emails so folks can get a sense of what the market is like. Here’s a link to my local market, The City Market on the Green.

Promotion is really a group effort. The more vendors you can get involved in promoting the weekly market the more success you’ll have. If each vendor contributes just a little bit then the cumulative results can be fabulous. Be proactive. If you’re good at making fliers then make lots so you can share them with other vendors and they can hand them out to their customers to post.

Finally, let me say that if you’re thinking about setting up a booth at your local weekly craft or farmer’s market let me tell you that there is nothing for it but to just do it. It’s a scary thing to drag all your stuff out in public and put them up for sale. All those nagging feelings of self doubt we women are cursed with seem to bubble straight up to the surface. But fear not! Grab a friend and your stuff and head on out there. You might just sell something.

Click here to visit my Fluffy Flowers shop.

How to setup a craft booth at a weekly Farmer's Market part 4

Lots of crafty folks eventually want to try to to sell their wares. Many end up doing a one time craft show that is often hit or miss. But others may consider participating in their local, weekly farmer’s and local goods market. Last year from Easter to Halloween I set up a Fluffy Flowers booth at my local, weekly farmer's market. This is part four in a series of articles to help those of you who are planning to do the same.

Part four - Other vendors

You will see many of the same vendors on a weekly basis so it’s best to start off on the right foot. Being friendly, helpful, and courteous will go a long way in establishing a relationship that will benefit everyone. I always try to help other vendors put up their tents and in turn they help me put up mine.

First and foremost it’s essential not to steal other vendor’s customers. Your neighbor vendors are there trying to make money too. If a customer is looking at their booth or is actually walking over to their booth then don’t call after the customer and divert their attention to you. That customer may head directly to your booth and spend money but you may have caused one of your vendor neighbors to lose a sale. This is just not good karma. I usually wait until a potential customer glances my way and then I greet them with a good morning and tell them that everything for sale in my booth is handmade by me. This often gets some sort of positive reaction and they’ll stop and check things out.

Decide early on if you want to give vendor discounts. It’s a common courtesy to give a reduced price to your fellow sellers and is with the understanding that they will offer you a reduced price as well. You don’t have to mark your items down to cost, just a small percentage will do. If you decide to go this route be consistent and offer all vendors the same discount.

Some vendors may ask if you’re willing to trade. Don’t be caught off guard like I was the first time someone asked me this question. Give it some thought and decide if you’re willing to trade. Everyone benefits from a trade because each person ends up with an item they really want without having to spend cash. However, if you really need the money that you’ll be making from your weekly market, then you can politely decline. Just let them know that at this time you’re not financially able to trade, but if things change for you in the future you might consider it. They will understand. They’ve been short of funds at some point too.

It’s important to try to support other vendors if you can. I try hard to set aside a bit of money to spend at the market. Usually I buy something small from at least one vendor per week. This is also a good way for you to test out their items so that you can help promote their wares to other customers. The more you help them the more they will help you. Well, actually, not all vendors are kind and helpful. Some will definitely rub you the wrong way or go out of their way to be mean. Do your best to ignore this behavior and move your booth as far from them as you can get each week. But really, most vendors are very nice and probably you will form some friendships.

Next time, the final part of the How to setup a craft booth at a weekly Farmer's Market: Promotion.

Click here to visit my Fluffy Flowers shop.

How to setup a craft booth at a weekly Farmer's Market part 3

What do you do if you’re planning to have a craft booth at your local weekly market? How do you setup? How do you prepare? This is the third in a series of articles about my craft booth experience in my local weekly farmer’s market. I'm sharing some of the valuable lessons I learned with the hopes that you'll benefit from my mistakes in order to avoid your own!

Part 3 - Sales

Probably the most important thing I learned about doing a weekly market is that it is completely impossible to predict what will sell each week. Or how much will sell each week for that matter. I’ve had items sit completely ignored for a month only to have three people come along in one day and snap them up. I’ve had terrific, fun new items that have been totally overlooked in favor of some old thing that’s been hanging around for months. There is simply no rhyme or reason to what will sell each week. I’ve made my peace with that.

But it’s harder to accept the fact that it’s also impossible to predict how much you will sell each week. It feels fantastic when sales are up and everyone is in love with your wares and must walk away with something from your booth. It’s much less fun when lots of folks stroll by with a causal glance at your booth.

The monetary compensation for all your hard work and effort is a real validation of your artistic skills. So when the money starts flowing in you start feeling more and more wonderful and come away from the market with an overall feeling of well-being.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true when no money flows in. You start to question how good your items really are and why no one is buying them. You also ask yourself if it’s really worth your time to drag all your stuff out each week and spend so much time setting up only to make two dollars.

The first few months I set up at my weekly market I was continually subject to these mood swings. After some time though, I spotted this pattern and decided that I had to put myself on a more even emotional keel. I decided not to worry about the week to week sales and to focus on the trend over time. I kept records of what and how much I sold each week for just this purpose, as well as figuring out which of my products is most popular. I can check back and see what the overall weekly average have been throughout the course of the market. This makes me feel a lot better when things are moving a bit slow.

Now I have to warn you about the sad fact of customer haggling. Insert heavy sigh here. Unfortunately, it’s something you’ll probably have to deal with. I did and I sort of hated it. Many folks who attend the market will not really understand the concept of a farmer’s market. This confusion leads to many folks thinking of it as a flea market which is turn leads to them haggling about your prices. I tried not to take it personally. The haggler doesn’t know the love, time, and energy you put into making that item. All they know is that they want to save money and they think the price is too high.

I have in fact had folks pick up an item, inquire about the price, visually and audibly scoff at the amount, throw the item down and stalk off in a huff. Again, I try to turn the other cheek and realize that this person most likely shops at Voldemart and expects the type of low prices and low quality available there. This doesn’t mean that you have to lower your prices. Sometimes it just means that you have to explain to people what makes an item the price it is marked. A little bit of explanation can go a long way.

Next time I'll talk about Other Vendors.

Click here to visit my Fluffy Flowers shop.

How to setup a craft booth at a weekly Farmer's Market part 2

All your life family and friends have exclaimed over your fabulous crafts. They’ve probably badgered you a fair few times to sell your stuff. But we crafty gals know how emotionally trying this can be. You wonder if anyone would buy your stuff. You don’t know what to expect or where to begin. This is part two in a series of articles about How to setup a craft booth at a weekly Farmer's Market and is based on my six months experience with my own market.

Part 2 - Your setup

One issue I thought long and hard about was my booth setup. It takes a lot of time quite early in the morning to get out all the merchandise and setup the table in an attractive fashion. Don’t forget to have coffee that morning! I practically lived on the stuff during those wee hours.

It’s essential to take the time to set up a pretty booth. This is time consuming but it’s the attention to detail that will garner sales. I noticed there seemed to be fewer booth visitors on the days when I’d just thrown things out on the table versus those where I put some effort into setup. It seems like lots of folks stopped by and sometimes made a purchase when I took time to make my booth attractive. So everything should look as fresh and tidy as you can make them.

It’s important to occasionally change your setup as well. Each week I try to rearrange the stuff on my table. Just by moving items around I managed to get noticed by regular market customers who usually just skimmed over my booth. Some of those folks finally saw an item they loved and came over to buy it. Moving things around will also give you a chance to practice different setups. This will be invaluable when you pursue other market venues and allow you to select the setup that would most benefit that space.

And don’t just setup at 7a.m. and leave things alone. Since I sell a lot of toys my stuff is always getting picked up and set down or thrown in a different spot. I’ve learned I’ve got to step out from behind my booth periodically throughout the day and take a gander at how things are looking. So take a few moments throughout the market to tidy up your booth. I know it’s early and probably dark when you get to the market to setup, but it’s really important to put your best face forward. Set up a terrific booth and next time try to top your own fantastic setup with an even better one.

Moving your booth to a different spot may also generate more foot traffic. Boy did I learn this one the hard way! The thing about a weekly market is that there will be lots of the same folks dropping by week after week. It’s easy for regular market patrons to slide right by your booth figuring they’ve already seen all you’ve got to offer. Setting up in a different spot might bring more folks your way.

Flickr is a great place to browse pictures of booth setups. And the Indie Craft Fair Guide has lots of booth pictures too. These will give you ideas and get you thinking about presentation. And remember the advice of Christopher Lowell, always use lifts and levels!

And what about all that stuff you set out to sell? How do you manage it all? The best thing I ever did was to buy a stack of large plastic tubs at a local discount store. These cheery lime green tubs double as storage space for my goods at home and table space at the market. Plus, they’re water proof which will really come in handy. Trust me on this.

When doing a weekly market you’re moving your wares around a lot. And they’re getting handled each week by potential customers. Plus, you’re probably in an outside venue with dust, dirt, and who knows what else in the atmosphere. After a while your products may start looking less than pristine. This is not good. You don’t want your booth looking like a yard sale.

You’ve got to keep your stuff clean and dry and retire the items that aren’t your best. Sometimes I’ll throw a creature into the sale basket if it has been pulled to oblivion by a child. I always have a sale basket. In addition to these past their prime creatures I’ll also throw in the rejects. These are the creatures that are so ugly I can’t bring myself to charge regular prices for them. Remember that folks love bargains and I usually sell something from my sale basket each week.

Part three of How to setup a craft booth at a weekly Farmer's Market will be all about Sales.

Click here to visit my Fluffy Flowers shop.

How to setup a craft booth at a weekly Farmer's Market part 1

It’s a brand new year and spring will be here lickity split. I’ve been working steadily on crafts to sell at my weekly farmer’s market which starts up in April. I thoroughly enjoyed the market I participated in last year and since several folks asked me what its like to setup at a weekly market, I put together this series of articles. I hope they encourage and prepare you to take a risk and setup a booth at your own weekly market.

This is all the stuff I learned the hard way by trial and error after six months of getting up every Saturday morning at O’dark thirty and setting up a booth. Much of the information is specific to a weekly market as opposed to a one time setup. For more details about what to bring to the market check out this groovy article and this one that includes a fabulous checklist.

Part 1 - Your wares

How do you decide what to sell? And how do you get customers to actually stop and look and perhaps buy your stuff? This is what worked for me.

Variety seems to be the key, both in pricing and in products. One type of item didn’t work for me. Initially I started out my weekly market booth with just my Fluffy Flowers creatures. Those of you who have visited my online shop know that I make handmade loveable plush creatures. But what I discovered at the weekly market was that although many folks did stop to admire their cuteness, not everyone wanted or needed my creatures. It struck me that I really had to expand my wares to include items that would appeal to a range of customers. Slowly I crafted and added dog bone squeaky toys, sweater catnip rats, and felted handbags. Many of these items sold well and I realized I was on to something.

In addition to a variety of products it's also important to offer a variety of price points. I discovered that lots of folks will pay $5 for something but not many will pay $15 or $20. So with that in mind, this year I’m making many more lower priced items to include in my booth.

Another way I figured out what to sell was by listening to my customers. These folks are the ones who helped me decide which direction to take my wares. Often they made comments on my stuff and asked if I had something in particular.

If this happens to you then don’t shrug it off! This is free advice that could help you improve your stock. The folks that wander by on the other side of the booth know what would make them open their wallets and pull out their money. Listening to them and acting on their advice could lead to more sales. I’ve crafted several successful products because folks have mentioned they’d love to buy one.

One thing I was not prepared for was how to handle requests for custom orders. They can be a tricky thing. It takes time and money to create custom orders with the possibility that the customer won’t want the goods in the end. There are several ways to handle these requests including politely refusing, taking a down payment, or just going for it with the hopes of adding it to your stock if the buyer changes her mind.

I usually just went for it. Some of the requests I received came from regular market visitors so I felt fairly confident they’d be back to buy it. But I can remember one occasion when a customer requested a product then never came back to purchase it. If you decide to accept custom orders it’s also important to follow through in a timely manner.

One of the most important lessons I learned was to consider my customers and produce items they would like. As much as I want to think of myself as an artist who creates unique products, ultimately it is the consumer who drives sales. Their opinions are valuable. Now with a new market season approaching I’m thinking about what I want to craft as well as what I think my customers want.

Part two of How to setup a craft booth at a weekly Farmer's Market will be all about Your Setup.

Click here to visit my Fluffy Flowers shop.