So, I'm really curious to see how this street festival will go for me. It's just a small neighborhood sale, and some if it will be second-hand, dare I say, garage sale items. I almost feel like I will be reducing myself by participating but I figure I will be getting local exposure, which can't be a bad thing. And, I can promote my etsy shop in the process. Besides, it's not like I have so many sales come in every day that I need to leave my items up. I'm thinking that whatever I have not sold, I will re-list, just to make them fresh again when I reopen my shop. What I don't intend to do is haggle with people at the street sale. And I have a feeling there will be people that will want to do that. I can do specials and volume discounts, but I'm not going to sell my stuff as if it were a garage sale item. So, this should be interesting.
What experience have you had with local festivals and street sales?
Good luck on the street festival!
ReplyDeleteWishing you great success and fun at the Street Fair!
ReplyDeleteRegards, T.
Personally, I get all my sales from street fairs..I currently am doing a weekly Farmer's Market and do well-Etsy is basically just for Promo now, and I'm slowly closing other shops online because of no sales...kinda ridiculous to keep worrying abut it..
ReplyDeletePersonally, I won't do street sales where there is second-hand..it raises people's expectation of you items being bargain-basement priced..too far a stretch for most people to grasp that your time and effort are worth more than a quarter.
All the markets i sell in are adjudicated, also, so that everything must be handmade by the person selling it..no middlemen or women too-again, all this nonessential stuff both drains your profits and prevents buyers from talking to the creator of the piece..and people love to discuss process, etc with you.
I think you should go ahead and experience this one firsthand, and you'll get a sense of where your market lies. Good Luck!
mizdarlin. Thanks for the info! I am half expecting this to be a semi-negative experience. The only issue I have with selling at craft fairs in my area is they require you to have all sorts of documentation and require you to submit applications with pictures and pictures of your booth etc. I'm not prepared to do all that and Etsy too. But honestly, I would rather sell face to face than deal with the etsy marketing etc... We will see how it goes. I'm glad you are doing well. That's awesome.
ReplyDeleteSoulstone- just do what I do-add a link to Etsy on the application-all your goods are there to be seen, and it won't cost you for pictures-I've always had a good response...the weekly market I'm currently selling at on Saturdays has a different approach- you bring some of your items and a three or four person 'panel' looks them over, asks questions, and lets you know the next day if you 'made 'it, a bit like auditioning your work......I prefer this to blind acceptance, and winding up trying to sell against hats from the third world that retail for 15 or 20 bucks..yes, it's happened, she got around it because they were 'handmade'-so although the process can drive you crazy, i won't waste my time and energy on anything less now-been doing this for many years, and learned everything the hard way...if you ever need to ask a question about fairs, feel free..
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I hope you have beautiful weather and great sales! My friends and I open a "Craft & Gift Shop" every Oct - Jan in the local mall. I haven't done craft shows or sales in years. Actually miss them a bit!
ReplyDeleteGood luck! Enjoy the experience. My fist one was a bit of a let down mainly because I had such gigh expectations, after all - everyone wants a loo roll don't they? :-) Now I do a market twice a month, sometimes I make sales, sometimes I don't, I just enjoy the atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm back from my street festival... aka garage sale. Yep, that's right, it was really a swap/garage sale. Needless to say, I was dissapointed. So this is what I take from it. I learned what to and not to attend in the future. I did hand out my promo card to a lot of people who seemed interested. I sold 4 of my lower end pieces and I sat out in the sunshine for while. I'll call it a good day and a learning experience.
ReplyDeleteThat stinks, but I understand. My husband never wants me to do sales/festivals b/c it is tough to know what the audience will want. He makes me set a goal prior (a low one) so that I do not return disappointed.
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