My first craft faire experience

On Easter Saturday I attended my first craft faire with my jewellery and a little table for nail art. I had read a lot of discussion threads on etsy about craft faires and checklists and snappy comebacks to dumb questions! I ended up having a great time, met new people and even made some sales! Hurrah! I'm hooked.

me as view from walkway

nextdoor "artist"

I arrived with heaps of time and got a pretty good spot. Was right on the pathway. This was the Easter market in Alexandra and almost 100 stalls were there. There was heaps and heaps of jewellery. I was plopped right next to someone who sold "handmade" cabochon earrings and pendants (no necklace, just the pendant) out of items bought off etsy from China! I don't know if that was good or bad. I certainly could not compete (nor did I want to) with her pricing, but still, found it a bit of a drag. Another thing was that many of the people there were not locals but in from larger cities like Dunedin. They do a circuit. The nextdoor girl was from Dunedin and next to her were the Nail It NZ girls from Dunedin doing manicures (well, not - had no or little custom).

But I didn't care as it was all about "me" (!!) and getting experience and getting my name out there. I thought my stall was set up well.  I had practiced at home before. I wanted a rustic look, a bit elegant but also homely and inviting. I used chocolate brown and wood. Things I had done at my café. I hung the necklaces on wooden chopping boards propped up on easels. And used egg cartons for rings and earrings (got a lot of positive comments on that one!).

pendant necklaces and rings

one side table with earrings

I remembered my mirror, an eMail sign-up sheets, business cards. I used foldable black wrought-iron tables and brought two chairs. The weather forecast was the pits so we had a rush alteration at home with another larger table and the umbrella. I do not own a tent thingie. The weather stayed fine, but the wind really came up mid afternoon – that was the time to go! Everything fit im my Mini, a real plus (and a necessity).

cozies, hair pins, flyers

portfolio and mani info

Stage right I had my cup cozies and my manicure area. Did two manis!!! Not wanting to replicate my jewellery accident disaster, I wrapped up all my items really, really well in bubble wrap. Meaning, it took a tad more time to set up and put away

doing a mani

My take-away feelings:  I do not have a lot of stock. Since all my items are hand-painted these cannot be manufactured at 2am when I can't sleep! I need to be in the right frame of mind otherwise the result is mechanical and not special. I was made aware of that again after I lost so much stock and had to remake things for the faire. The girl next to me was very nice to me, so I mean no harm, but her items were spread all over the table, like a grab bag of cheap stuff. I do not aspire to that. And, though her prices were almost half mine on earrings (nz$10 vs nz$17) and the pendants even lower (nz$10 vs nz$21-49), they really weren't worth any more than that and she had to sell a lot more than I did to earn the same. A local craft faire should be about locals making items that they sell. This one was mainly non-locals selling things. Not the same.
Alas, all my etsy study and not one stupid question or clever remark – à la "aren't you clever" or "I could make this". All in all everyone was positive and happy and encouraging.

Things to change: have one box only for (gift)wrapping. That will make it easier to wrap things up after purchase. I had everything in one box (with extra thises and thats). Not ideal.

Things not to change: Be friendly and smile, be happy and welcoming, stand. But not pressuring. So many other stall owners sat in their chairs, eating or drinking and talking to each other. So rude. You felt like they were waiting out their time to go home. They are probably jaded, so understand that. Stil, I stood almost the entire time and rearranged my shop often as people constantly tried rings on. But that kept me busy and allowed me to be "in front" and talk to customers then. I sold enough to 1) pay my outgoings, 2) any supplies and 3) make a profit. Totally worth my time and I am planning on going to a winter market starting in two weeks on a weekly basis!