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What sells at farmer markets?


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Like everyone else in the world I am still feelin the effects of the recession.Feels like we cant get the bills caught up no matter how hard we work!:eek

My husband and I have 3 girls and both work full time jobs. I will be attending school next month at our local community college.We dont qualify for any help so I was wondering what would be some easy and quick crochet items I could sale at our local farmers market?:think

 

Thanks so much in advance and I cant express how much this means to me!

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well I usually look for deals when I shop at them.Maybe a cute pile of basic cotton wash cloths..Or maybe fold two up and tie a pretty bow with some scrap yarn or left over ribbon.sell those for a little more then the loose ones..the maybe those towels with the crochet tops to hang in the kitchen.One towel makes two if you find the right pattern..

Also market bags,

soap buddie,uno they fit a bar of soap in them with a draw string,

a few baby vests for those cool nights,

magnets all season ones maybe pack one for every season together and sell some loose,

baby hats,booties,

some kind of eye catcher for the little ones to get the kids to come to the table,

umm lets see my little ones would want maybe little purses with pops or something in them,walmart has crayons on sale for cheap because of school maybe a crayon bag.

Lure them in with large signs with a price on them like maybe dollar items..

Kits for some of the items you have displayed like the fridgies/magnets or small purses..

I could keep giving you ideas but I guess it all depends on your stash..I would take a look at the stash and whaterver other crafty things you have first,I hope this helps

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as for the cotton items I would just look at some stitches they could be any size..same as the soap buddies I would just do retangle,stich it up and weave a chain at the top .

As for fridges a circle can become many things,a snow man,pumpkin,christmas bulb,you could use felt or fabric for decorations.

same as small purses,you could put two circles together and use a row of single crochet as strap,make two squares and put them together..

Just a few ideas it may save you some time making them up..

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done farmers markets for years.....cute, cuddly and most important cheap. grab bags for kids....bookmark, finger puppets some candy or prepackaged cookies, even small toys like the kind you get from mc d. washclothes but only super cheap..using whatever you have....actually that's good advice....only use what you have.....buying more yarn is simply profit. rag rugs sold well for me but they took forever to make. small purses...for little girls. kitchen towels so so ,hats and slippers in the fall. baby stuff but my best advice is that a farmers market is crap shot....people come for produce and not crafts you could spend the whole day baking in the sun and barely make your space fee but if you have the right goods and the right customers you can come home with a lot of money.....I wish you all the luck in the world

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I would pick 3-4 things, and make a bunch. If there is to many things, it divides the buyers attention, where as just a few types of items, and many color choices, they are more likely to buy things. Little girl Hair bows are a big seller, ribbon or crochet. The little hats with a flower on the side (crochet) are big right now and work up fairly quick. You can make small flowers and hot glue them to bobbypins and they are cute, cheap to make, but sell. So definitely think cute and affordable. Good luck! Post back and let us know how it went. Take some photos if you can. I always forget my camera when I do something like this and wish I had remembered it later. :U

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You could make cute kids' hats (there are a couple of cute ones for pumpkin ones that might sell well in trhe fall) and women's scarves (easy ruffled ones on lionbrand.com are popular) with leftover yarn from your stash of worsted.

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Since it is a farmer's market I would think things related to that, market bags, potholders, scrubbies, some dishcloths. In general I've noticed over many years of doing things like this off and on, anything for little girl's will sell. I think cute little purses are a good idea, maybe even the cupcake purses, strawberry or watermelon purses? Another thought if you have a lot of yarn scraps are some little amigurumi and possibly ami food to go with them? Good luck, I hope you do really well and check back to let us know!

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  • 1 month later...

I was wondering how to price items for sale. We have a local shop that sells locally made items from different types of crafts. I make mostly doilies, hats, kitchen things, baby stuff. But what is the price range for things. I have no idea what to ask for. Any help would be appreciated.

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I never made big money with crochet but that is how I started craft shows years ago. Potholders, crochet-top towels, and hats were best sellers. I would usually sell a few baby afghans, large ones did not sell as well. I made those little nylon net scrubbies and sold them for $1 each, and usually ran out. I tried to have cheap children items and would sometimes give them out to well-behaved kids (liek the curly snake bookmarks).

 

I agree about grouping things to make an "acceptable" gift package to sell them better. A towel, potholder, dish cloth, and scrubbie can make a nice kitchen gift. Hats and scarves are usually very good sellers too. Find out local school colors and you will find them flying off your table!

 

I think the fingerless gloves or the texting gloves (with the removable tips) would be great sellers nowadays but I have not tried them.

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I was wondering how to price items for sale. We have a local shop that sells locally made items from different types of crafts. I make mostly doilies, hats, kitchen things, baby stuff. But what is the price range for things. I have no idea what to ask for. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Pricing remains the most difficult thing about craft shows. A lot depends on your area and what the market will withstand. You don't want to price things so low that you are not making any money for your time, but not so high as to keep folks from buying. Good to look around at a few craft shows to get an idea on prices. Check the local shop and see what they are charging. Sometimes I would still price my items higher, if I thought the quality (material and workmanship) was better.

 

I had one crafter who told me she figured the cost to make the item and multiplied by 3. I wasn't sure that would always work for me though as some items are so quick and easy while others are tedious and time-consuming. So, you have to sort of come up with your own formula. How long does it take to make? How much do you want to make an hour for your effort? I always figured I was working while watching TV or spending time with family so I did not need as much as a regular job -- but I still did not want to just give away my time. I have seen some crochet priced at barely more than the yarn cost. I don't do that -- I would rather give to people I know if I am going to give it away. :)

 

Crochet top towels are one of those items that people tend to price very low. I don't know if they are finding some really great deals on towels or what but I saw them last weekend 2 for $5. Now, you have 1/2 a towel, yarn, a button, and sometimes the ravel-stop glue stuff or the time to hem the edges. That is quite a lot to go for $2.50 but I rarely see them over $3 down here.

 

I sold baby aghans for $15 - $25 depending on the cost of yarn I used. Hair scrunchies, bookmarks, nylon net scrubbies -- $1 each. Potfolders usually went for $3. I made them in apple, watermelon, and strawberry shapes as well as circle, rectangles and flowers.

 

Hats and scarves can vary a great deal, depending on the complexity of the pattern and the price of yarn used. I usually charged around $5 for hats and $10 for scarves. Sets around $12 -- again, adjust when costs and time are more than average.

 

These prices were many years ago, but I still see similar prices now and yarn has gone up over the years. Not sure why the prices aren't increasing more at craft shows. It may be here in the south. I think you can get a little better prices north of here.

 

Add on: All of this talk is giving me the craft show bug! I had so much fun doing shows, meeting people, making friends with the other crafters! Good ol' days for sure!

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Everybody's given you some great ideas.

 

I just want to give everyone a general reminder about Crochetville's guidelines related to selling finished items:

 

 

  1. Use a pattern of your own design, and you have no worries at all.
  2. Use a pattern that specifically states that you may sell finished items made from the pattern.
  3. If the pattern or designer/publisher's website doesn't state you may sell your finished items, please contact the designer/publisher to request permission prior to doing so.

Of course, we can't dictate what anybody does off of Crochetville, but these are the guidelines if you want to talk about use of any specific patterns here. :)

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Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate it.

I've learned over the years on internet to always save my source info so that's a good reminder.

I love making kitchen things and winter stuff too so maybe i'll start with that.

Where I live it's mostly tourism so the prices should go well and I'll keep all the reminders on what sells good.

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