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Ambersafghans

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jtc Newbie

jtc

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I"m having a booth at a festival on Saturday. I hope it doens't rain and that I come back with empty bins!! Okay, half empty would work. :lol I have flip flops, Fun Fur purses and new personalized baby blankets!!!

 

Amber

 

Good luck! I hope the weather is splendid and your bins will be empty by days end.

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Ambersafghans Proficient

Ambersafghans

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Well, it's over.

It was very depressing. :( While Dad and Mom were helping me set up the tent (Oh Thank God for that tent!!!) I noticed that one booth away a gal was unpacking... FLIP FLOPS!!!! Mom went over to look things over and told me they were priced at $5!!!!! :eek My regulars are $10!!!

It did rain for awhile. I was able to keep everything from direct rain, but I was pretty damp. Couldn't sit in my chair for awhile and had to pull all the tables in making a small walkway. It did stop and that was great. But by noon I had sold only one pair of flip flops, at half price. (It was a little girl...:P )The gal with the flip flops left before it stopped raining, but I found out that in town there were flip flops for sale for $7. :( (Please don't tell me I should have lowered my price right away. Everyone knows everything I should have done. Like not tell people I was willing to go down on things. That I should have a lot of little $5 items.....:( )

 

I went through a deppressing afternoon. I did have a bright spot. I think I mentioned that I had some personalizable baby blankets. Well I did get an order! for one of those blankets and a set that I have already. (Just have to take the ribbon out and change it) I did have several people take my cards saying that so and so was pregnant but they didn't know if it was a boy or a girl.

 

Sometime after that I did sell a pair of flip flops. but that is only $15 total, booth fee was $40!! (No I'm not counting the custom order there) As I was packing up, two ladies who had been there before came running over for flip flops. (They didn't have their money with them before) They each bought a pair. ;) That was nice.

I was really counting though on selling a lot of my stock. I want all my flip flops sold. I didn't sell one purse!! I have 10 handbags edged in fun fur for $15. (Should I have lowered the price? Maybe. I hate doing pricing!!!! :angry ) I also had 5 money bags edged in fun fur for $8. I had baby blankets, some really nice scarves, a couple lap afghans....My placemats I haven't sold ever....

I only found one tent afterwards that had done well. People just walked around for the most part.

I have decided that craft fairs are not my forte. I will not cater to the little five dollar items that I wouldn't even use. I make nice afghans, baby blankets and scarves and I'm going to sell them to people who appreciate them!!!

 

Well, one bright spot today. I got an inquiry on a custom afghan. I don't know yet if she found me online or if she was from the festival yesterday, but if she was then maybe I'll consider another one. I'm trying to figure out whether or not a farmers market would work out. But I need a sellers tax id for that. (Any info on that? How long it takes and such from someone who has one?)

 

So anyway. Thanks for listening to my depressing rant. Hopefully next time it will be better. But I so need to sell off the stuff I have right now!!! It's filling three bins and only 2 are mine. :devil That's money sitting on the shelf I need but can't use. Okay. I'll run along now.

Thanks for reading!!

 

Amber

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Sabra Enthusiast

Sabra

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I don't think you should have lowered your prices. You have to put a value on not only your completed projects but also on your own time. And I have found that a lot of people are suspicious of things priced "too low." Think of it this way. You can try to sell three pairs of $10 flip flops, or one $40 afghan. ;)

 

I wouldn't give up on craft fairs totally, just do some research to find out which ones are the most successful. In a fair-sized city, you'll generally find a handful of craft fairs that everyone goes to, but there will also be about a gazillion that are little more than yard sales. I know when we lived in Norfolk, there was a Greek Orthodox church that had two separate craft fairs, and even there one of them was a lot more popular than the other. And as you found out, if nothing else they're good for networking.

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CraftyShannon Contributor

CraftyShannon

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I'm sorry you had a bad day Amber. I don't think you should give up on craft shows just yet, because if everyone was doing bad, that means it was a bad show. I've heard craft selling in general is down right now. However, I learned to tell people in craft stores that I sell things, and have had a lot of sales clerks and customers who also sell give me great advice about better shows. I wouldn't consider your day a failure though. If a few of the people who took your card get back to you, that means you got your name out, and that's a big part of what craft shows are about too.

 

I used to have a little business, so here is the little I remember about licenses. Contact your county office and they will tell you exactly what you need to do, as this varies from place to place. For me, I had to register my business name in my county and while I lived in the city limits (my home/business address were the same), I registered in the city too. I got these licenses the day I filled out the forms and signed the papers. Each license had a fee that I think was somewhere between $20-$35, but it's been a while.

 

Getting the state ID was more complicated, as I had to give them my county license to get this. By mail, getting the state ID was supposed to take 6 weeks, so I went to the office, filled out the forms, paid the fee, and after waiting ALL afternoon, I got what I needed. The good thing about this was I was able to get a discount at all the stores for my craft supplies. The bad part is that you have to keep very detailed paperwork and do your taxes. I hated the paperwork, but I was lucky that my dad was friends with an accountant who did my taxes for free.

 

Again, I'm sorry that you feel so rotten, as it's always disappointing when you don't sell. Yet, I think I read a while ago that this would be one of your first shows? It sounds like it was a good learning experience for you, and that made it a worthwhile thing to build from. Good luck on things being better next time.

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CraftyShannon Contributor

CraftyShannon

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You most likely won't even need to formally register a business in your county, given what your sales. You can ask your county office, but if you don't make a certain amount of money (a few thousand where I lived) in a year, you didn't have to formally reigster the business. You'll probably be able to hold off on the tax ID until you want to do shows full time.

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