Prepping for Market Season Part One

Common questions I have had and seen others ask is 

• What are good shows?

• What are good products that sell?

• How many should I bring to a show?

• What should I charge?

• What do I need to use for displays?

These are great questions and I'll attempt to break down how I respond to them - tackling the first question.  

What are good shows?

Its all relative, if you sell dog focused products I would suggest focusing on "sheep and dog shows", "pet friendly events" and with a little bit of research you will have a short dozen local pop up markets and hosted events to choose from. I sell plushie items so I love kid friendly and town hosted events.  I tend to stay away from the "vendor" popups other than a proven brewery that hosts Food Fridays.....I find I do better when the vendors are not the primary focus.

Next step if you have the time is to visit to see if the venue is good and if the customer base is strong.  I've taken part in events where the attendee count is high but the customer base isn't there; either not prepared to shop or the event is drawing in attendees not willing to shop or not shop my product. Trust me i have spent the money to attend an event that did not have any return on my investment.  It was disheartening but was a learning experience.

Of course if the market fee is low ($25 to $50) feel free to go ahead and attend! Never hurts to get practice setting up - engaging with the attendees and networking with fellow vendors.

Set your fee and time budget - if its just you at the show you may want to limit an event to a few hours (food and potty breaks; of course making friends with fellow vendors helps with the latter) so you don't burn out and these tend to be lower fees.  In general here in Charlotte, NC I can spend $60 for a 6 hour event but have spent $150 and even up to $300 for a 4 day event! I won't do an event that has more than 6 hours in a single day - I'm socially awkward and that seems to be a good balanced day - allowing me a few hours to re-energize for the next day if needed.

Make notes after your event - how many items did you sell? what were your top 5 sellers? what was your average price point? How much did you make that day and with what payment items (Cash Apps, Square, Cash, et al) Did you like the hosts? Did you like the other vendors (oh yes if the others are griping; attendees do hear). What feedback or conversations stuck in your head from your customers? Did you connect with any of them - share your info/social media or get their email?

My last show was at a local church (I've attended their winter event but this was the first spring event with them) cost nothing but did donate a pooh bear (signature bear worth $35) to their giveaway basket. Event was 2 hours long and 15 sold items were $240. Profit at $225. Doing the math average price per item was $16 and selling 8 items an hour - so now data metrics are available for pricing and selecting items to sell which will be my next diary content. The hosts are absolutely fabulous - friendly, organized and willing to help. They advertise their events effectively and relationships are growing with them. 

I set a goal to sign up for 10 events for the year and to prep about 6 months of product during my down times. I live in North Carolina and have about 3 months at the beginning of the year and 2 months in the middle of the year(too hot) that I can just spend prepping products.....interested to see how this goal works.

Currently I have 12 not including my Food Truck Fridays. I have prepped during December, January and February and have made about 373 items but  with a need of about 473 items for the first half of 2024 I need to keep crocheting. I'll go into more detail later on what products sell and when.

While you wait for that I have shared some of the items I make for my displays that can be found on my  patterns page.

As always, I love crocheting and have given one-on-one sessions for those interested in learning or just learning more and love sharing any knowledge I have collected over the years. If you have any interest in learning more please sign up for my patreon list to be the first to know of new content.