Fair (oow) deal

My Experience of a fair type thing

It was interesting and a learning curve.   Interesting being an interesting word

It was billed as a Fayre in my local but it was more car booty than Fayre booty so people were looking for cheap bargains.

There was a lot ooohhs and aahs about my bags and loads of people stopped to look and admire then swiftly walked on by when I uttered the price.

One woman was quite miffed with me and said she could get 2 bags at a well known high street bargain shop( Hint: the one featured on Panorama recently) for the price I was selling.I was going to give her a lecture on sweat shops and child exploitation but decided otherwise. It was a lovely day and nothing was spoiling my groove

I had a few things for a tenner and under and they sold really well so I did recoup the price of the table and extra for my Saturday night out.  Anything over a tenner got the oooh and ahh response.

These did well at £7.50 each

A few people asked me for my phone number and web address and two people gave me their contact details and would like me to contact them to arrange for custom made bags. All in all it was a bit of a mixed bag. (forgive the pun)

So what did I learn from this experience

1. Prepare
2. Do your research. Its a bit like location, location, location. Research, research, research
3. Market accordingly:  Don't market a Ferrari to someone who's looking for a Peugeot 205 (Nothing against Peugeot 205 but they are two different personalities)
4. Identify and then focus your energy on your target market: Luckily I did make a lot of purses/pouches for a tenner and they were really quick to make. I did though spend enough energy making my exquisite bags and although people appreciated them they didn't have the budget for them
5. Go prepared with your business card and preferably have a web site up and running: Enough people asked me if I had a web site and as I don't I was somewhat stumped so I gave e mail and phone number instead. People were not that keen to give their email address ( I suppose spamming is a real concern)
6. Go with as much change as you can get your hands on:You can loose a sale just because you don't have change to hand. People will say things like don't worry I'll come back then they'll go down the road and spend the money with someone who does have change.
7. Learn from your experience: Make notes of the plus and minus and tweak it for next time
8. Last but not least I learnt that I have quality products. people generally appreciated what I was selling but just didn't have the budget for it. Back to square one research and market appropriately.

That's it for now folks. I am off to set up my web site. I've heard that etsy is a real great place to start or maybe I'll try DaWanda. decisions decisons.

Comments

[Kyoko]

Firstly, this post will be extremely useful to many crafters around the world. You are very observant and I am sure it can only get better and better.

Secondly, beautiful creations! Many don't appreciate what is involved in handmade items. Honestly, whoever said to you that she can buy two bags for the price of your product does not deserve to have your beautiful items. If you use special fabrics, it helps if you state them with product description (e.g. is it rare? is it difficult to obtain? is it imported? is it cotton? satin? silk? organic? do you use special parts? etc etc).

Thirdly Etsy is a definite place to go. Dawanda is also OK. There is also pinkdoodle (UK) but I haven't tried it yet.
When you do go onto Etsy, let me know. I will seriously link you on my shop.

Keep up with the good work! Hope you had a good weekend!

[mycraftyways]

Thanks for the fair detail, It's nice to know what kind of experience it was for you, and (as Kyoko said) very useful for anyone who plans to try something like that.

It's "funny" how a lot of people expect anything handmade to be extremely cheap. Also "very funny" how these people can always "find just the same thing at half the price" some place else...mmm... But you did good not reacting, what is there to respond to that kind of comment ? not much, I guess.

Your bags are just gorgeous !

And you're my hero for taking the big "fair plunge" !

[Ruth]

I am always amazed at what people expect to pay for hand made items as apposed to mass produced stuff with a lable. Good luck with setting up your shop.

[oge]

@ Kyoko thank you for the lovely comments and the encouragement. I will certainly take you up on the link thing.

@ mycraftways: You are a 'fair' commentator and I enjoyed your 'fair' comments ;-)

@ Ruth I agree with you and thanx heaps

[Judy]

Oge - you keep asking for what your bags are worth - people who think they are too expensive just don't understand - most likely they are (unlucky) people who don't sew and therefore don't really have a basis for making such a judgement. Your bags are unique and wonderful; only another crafty person knows how long it takes from sewing your first-ever seam to putting out a quality product like yours; the practice, the seams ripped out, and even the tears and tantrums! Oh, and now that I have calmed down, as ever, I love your fabrics!

You go girl!!

[Teresa]

Hi Oge

Love your bags; great combination of fabrics. Thanks for the useful post on taking part in a fair. A lot of things to take into consideration. I hope one day when I have more time to do something like this.

Teresa

[oge]

@ Judy try stopping me ;-). Thank you for the encouragement You really let rip there. I hear you about the seams ripped oh and the tantrums been there. I couldn't tell looking at your stuff though :-)

[oge]

Hi Teresa so glad to hear from you and pleased you found the post useful. Ohh and thanx about the bags. I love doing them just wish I didn't have to work during the day

[maria]

Hi and thank you for your lovely comment on my brand new blog. It's lovely to receive comments.
I love your bags. I two have done craft fayres selling my hand made stuff. I am having a break from it at the moment.
I have also had experience of people complementing my things but not buying and I agree about them not wanting to spend over £10, it can be disheartening at times but keep going. I have sold stuff on e-bay and am thinking about etsy but quite busy making stuff for myself at the moment.
Keep on sewing!