1: be prepared
Everyone says this and I thought I had a pretty good handle in things, I wrote a list of every item I had and priced everything individually! I started looking at what I actually had made a week in advance and surprised myself by how much I actually had made!
2: make sure people know it's handmade
I whacked a massive sign on my stall that said everything was handmade!
3: make sure people know what your selling
I screwed up with two items here a bit , people thought my tutus were decoration and nobody was really sure what my needle books were!
4: pack your transport the night before and leave in plenty of time!
The fair started at 10am and I got up at 7am! This gave me a good hour to do my hair and makeup and get to the venue (and schedule a quick trip home to pick up the keys for my mums!)
5: have everything you need on hand!
I left enough time to get to my mums to pick up a table , but stupidly picked up mr knitwits car keys instead of my own so I had to go back and get them!
6: price items clearly!
A lot of people don't like asking for prices and it meant I wasn't embarrassed by faces if shock at my higher priced items.
7: have a wide price range!
My highest priced item was £20 which was my hand embroidered cushions
But I also had some £2.00 items! Some people just like to buy a lil something to support handmade!
8: know your table size and do a test run!
I didn't do this and spent most of the days before worrying that I would have to much or little stock for my table!
9: order things you need in time!!!!
My cushion inserts arrived the day before! This prompted some VERY! Speedy sewing!
10: be friendly with customers
A lot like to ask questions so answer as many as you can, and remember to SMILE!
11: be friendly with other stall holders!
Our tables were very close together and my perky bum must have knocked the stall next door at least 6 times!! But everyone was very nice about it!
12: take buisness cards
Although some people didn't buy, a lot were interested in the fact that I do custom orders and took card so they could contact me later!
13: invite friends and family!
Don't worry you'll be embarrassed if they see your not doing very well! Remover these people love you and there encouragement is probably the reason you started doing this! And trust me if your not busy there's nothing better than seeing a friendly face walk through the door.
My oldest friend posing with his mums purchase he made a big show of wandering around the room with the tag showing! What a gem eh?
14: turn your family into slaves!
I had my mum cutting fabric before, my sister helping field questions and during a busy period ( yes I actually got busy!!! For about 5 minutes!) my brother in law helped gift wrap and serve people!
And you can dress them up when it gets slow !
15: keep rearranging!
Every time something sold , the stall changed! It kept things fresh and people who had already had a look sometimes came back for a second one!
16: float!
I hadn't even thought about change until my mum turned up with some bags!!
17: dress the part!
Look your prettiest! It's not a night on the town but a bit of lippy and nice hair goes a long way! I also whacked on one of my aprons for good measure!
18: be chill!
I sucked at this, I was a nervous wreck! (Friend and family help here to)
19: advertise!
It's not down to the people organising! As well as it being my first fair , it was the first fair they had organised! Ally my friend sent round some leaflets , we both told out friends and I instagramed, tweeted and face booked the whole thing to death!!! And remember to can tweet your local areas twitters including newspapers, I got quite a few retweets from local organisations including the papers!
20: go home and relax!
It sucked? So what they didn't get you, It might not have been your audience or it might not have been busy! Remember what one man hates another man loves!
You did okay? Brillant there was some good and some bad, take notes in what went well and get back on that horse!
You rocked it? AWESOME, bask in your own glory and have a well deserved rest! Then start all over again!!!
Whatever happens, keep calm and have a glass of wine!
Knitwits owls first ever craft fair! Today Elworth! Tomorrow the world!!!!
Much love
Frankie
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P.s I am in no means an expert! I just thought I'd share my experience! There's so much information online but one of the best I read was over at "handmadejane" it was also one of the first ones I read!
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