Posts
I just had a crash course in selling at craft shows this weekend at 2 separate, really kick-ass craft fairs with my amazingly multi-talented crafting group the Jersey City Craft Mafia: Handmade for the Holidays at the Jersey City Museum this past Saturday and BUST Magazine's bi-annual Craftacular this past Sunday at the Metropolitan Pavilion in NYC.Up until this weekend, I had only vended at two craft shows -- neither of which I sold so much as a penny, so they probably don't count... but I sold some stuff this time!!! I sold A LOT. I won't be retiring early exactly, BUT, it was very encouraging and so many people commented on how much they liked my jewelry and hair accessories. They might not all have purchased something, but the fact that they genuinely smiled and made it a point to tell me how pretty they thought a certain necklace or bracelet was made me so happy to hear and I have a much better sense now of what my customers are really responding to.
That said, I have three designs that I was really surprised about. One is this upcycled wood and sterling silver necklace that I thought was really on-trend and special:
Not ONE person gave it so much as a second glance. I'm so glad I only made one of these -- yipes!
And then there's this one that I thought might get some attention, but maybe not particularly positive attention. It actually received amazingly positive attention:
I can't even remember how many people walked by and touched it and said nice things about it! Who knew? I can't believe I didn't sell it, so it must be a price thing. I have it priced at $60 which is kind of high for my necklaces. $40 seems to be the top of the price threshold for what I can sell as far as necklaces go. I didn't sell anything over that. Maybe I can figure out a way to make them faster so I can bring the price down? Maybe simplifying them a bit? I definitely think that if I'd had this marked closer to $40, it would have been snapped up first thing.
I also brought this one along and just kind of tucked it in the back, thinking that the pricetag (which I didn't even bother to put on it out of concern that it might scare someone off) would prevent me from selling it. Well, much to my astonishment, it actually drew people to my table. Several people came over just to ask me about that one necklace. They didn't look at much else on my table, really. They just made a beeline straight towards it! I got about 5 genuine inquiries regarding its price and people were kind of amazed that I had made it -- like it was a piece of artwork or something! I think if I worked a little harder to sell it and maybe came down a bit on the pricetag, I might be able to make this one work! Now to figure out a way to make it in less than 10 hours... It's currently going for $200 so I fully understand the sticker shock, but when I talked about it with people, they admitted they thought it was totally worth it albeit out of their price range.
Overall this was an amazing learning experience that I'm so glad I had the opportunity to take part in. I would definitely do this again, but I would also come better prepared. I would make more of an effort ahead of time to get feedback on things to make sure I have enough of the best sellers and try to focus on keeping the pricetags down. I don't want to sell myself short, but I don't want to price out potential customers either. It's kind of a science, isn't it?... ;)
