As you start to get used to some of the more essential facets of running a small craft related business, it soon becomes evident that although you thought you knew everything, you really didn't know much at all. Fortunately, there's help. And it isn't me.
Other Vendors
Other Vendors are a great source of wisdom and knowledge. Some have been in business for decades. They can advise you on everything from what shows are the best for making sales, to promoting your business through local means and venues, to adjusting your prices so that you're not losing money.
The other side of this is that some vendors (like any other group of people) think they know what they're talking about but don't. Don't be afraid to ask direct questions about vague statements. If someone that you think doesn't sell much in a typical day tells you about a show they went to where they "made a lot of money", go ahead and ask how much. They may decline to answer, or you may find out that they have a very different standard of "a lot of money" than you do.
The Internet
You can find videos, articles and blogs on just about anything. Information on pricing products, running a small business, making things and more is literally at the tips of your fingers these days. The internet can also be a great place to find cheaper materials (I know everyone wants to buy and support local, but does that seriously include your local Michael's?) as well as discovering new venues to attend or show and sell your products. Youtube is full of helpful videos, etsy was created specifically to facilitate crafters and artisans, kijiji and ebay and others are available to show your goods, make sales and help you find shows.
Always make sure to read the fine print when playing online. Make sure you are aware of what additional costs you may be incurring by utilising online resources and plan for them. Paypal, etsy and ebay typically charge commissions for their services, so make sure you take that into account when calculating your prices. Make sure you won't lose all of your profit through shipping.
Your Family
My wife is my best critic: she's not quite as picky as I am, but she's far nicer in her criticisms.
You can't always count on making something that your spouse, child or parent is going to want for themselves, and that's OK, you're not out to make everything for them. However, if no one in your family can appreciate what you're making, it might mean your stuff isn't quite as nice as you thought it was. Of course, maybe it is. Listen to family and friends who are able to appreciate things that don't necessarily conform to their individual tastes. I've sold many things that my wife has commented, "It's nice, but I wouldn't want it in my house". My kids love the toys I make though, and generally that's a good indication that other kids will like them too, and parents will want to buy them.
Ultimately you will find yourself getting a lot of feedback, being inundated with new ideas and conflicted about where to buy your materials and sell your stuff. Don't get frustrated, just stop and think for a bit. Maybe get out of the house and go for a walk to think things through or sit down and talk it out with someone. Everyone will be saturating you with information, but its up to you as to what you listen to and what you ignore, what you do now and what you save for later. Mistakes will come, but...well, let's save that for another post shall we...
For now, go make and have fun!
Friday, 7 November 2014
Wednesday, 22 October 2014
Getting Started (Part 3) Dealing With Customers
Selling your own goods is somewhat like every other aspect of life: it would be simple except for the people.
It sounds a bit trite perhaps, but it's true. No matter how well you've planned things out you can almost never account for the human element, which will often make dealing with people one of the most cumbersome and uncontrollable aspects of your small business (that and the weather, but there's less controlling that and more to prepare for it, so...).
There are a thousand things I could relate about experiences with people, but that would be tedious and i don't like to type that much, so instead of all of my experiences, here's three things to remember when dealing with people (specifically customers).
1. Be Patient
By now you might've noticed that this is a bit of a theme for me. Trust me, it's not my first instinct, but it is often the wisest one. Whether you're angry, bored, disgusted or frazzled with a customer you shouldn't lose your cool. At least not until it becomes clear that it is the very last option available to you. Now here's why...
No matter how poor the quality of an individual may be, that doesn't mean they're not a potential customer. And even if they aren't, their friends, family, coworkers, neighbours and other associates might be. You might be asking, "So what?" but think on this a moment: A good reputation might take a lifetime to build, but it can take seconds to ruin it. You, as a vendor, have a reputation. Get a rep as someone who's rude, inconsiderate, or just plain mean and you'll find yourself seeing a bit less of people on a regular basis. Now, of course this doesn't apply the same way when it comes to shows a long way from home that happen once a year, but it's probably a good idea just the same.
Another thought, you never know who is going to buy something and often the most painful people to deal with can turn out to be great customers, maybe even repeat customers or regulars.
You should get used to the fact that more people really aren't that imaginative when it comes to sharing their feelings on your work. The phrases, "Nice work!", "Your work is beautiful.", "This is so cute!", and my all time favourite: "My husband's father does this sort of thing so if we want something we'll just have him do it.", will become all too familiar to you. Smile through it all, accept the intention of their words and allow yourself to believe that it's all genuine. These are nice comments, not necessarily useful ones.
2. Be understanding
This has been a big one for most of the vendors I know this past year. People haven't been buying as much as they have in past years (even recently). While there are some good reasons for this, this is neither a political blog nor an economic one, so I'll move on...
Just as there may be various reasons for people to say silly things, there are also many reasons why they might come to a venue, look at your stuff, compliment it until your ego threatens the airspace of those around you, and then walk off without it.
For one thing, we are in a tough economic period right now (and that's all I'm going to say about that).
We are also (in North America but specifically in Canada where I am) in a period of demographic decline. This means that we have a population that is aging and dying faster than it's being replaced. A few hard truths accompany this fact for craft vendors: 1. As people get older they tend to downsize their home and possessions, not add more to the collection. 2. With fewer children, there's less of a market for toys, knitted children's clothing, etc. etc. This is also one more reason why older people buy less, they have no grandchildren or great grandchildren to buy things for. 3. There are fewer kids running around with $5 that grandpa gave them to spend at the market.
There's more, but again this should give you an idea of where many people are coming from. Again it comes back to being patient.
3. Be Attentive
I know I've spent some time on this in past posts, but I can't emphasize it enough. I've had customers give me tips on prices (going both ways and seldom directly), pass on suggestions for new products, and tell me about venues and events that I otherwise wouldn't have known about.They may also offer you tools or materials, either free or for sale. I've had several people offer me materials for no cost at all.
Customers are the people you're trying to please. Without them you cannot hope to succeed in a market environment. Learn to love them and appreciate them as they are and as they come to you. Make small talk, get feedback, listen carefully to what they're saying and even if they don't buy anything from you, treat them like they're special. Special in a good way.
Now go make some stuff and enjoy the market!
It sounds a bit trite perhaps, but it's true. No matter how well you've planned things out you can almost never account for the human element, which will often make dealing with people one of the most cumbersome and uncontrollable aspects of your small business (that and the weather, but there's less controlling that and more to prepare for it, so...).
There are a thousand things I could relate about experiences with people, but that would be tedious and i don't like to type that much, so instead of all of my experiences, here's three things to remember when dealing with people (specifically customers).
1. Be Patient
By now you might've noticed that this is a bit of a theme for me. Trust me, it's not my first instinct, but it is often the wisest one. Whether you're angry, bored, disgusted or frazzled with a customer you shouldn't lose your cool. At least not until it becomes clear that it is the very last option available to you. Now here's why...
No matter how poor the quality of an individual may be, that doesn't mean they're not a potential customer. And even if they aren't, their friends, family, coworkers, neighbours and other associates might be. You might be asking, "So what?" but think on this a moment: A good reputation might take a lifetime to build, but it can take seconds to ruin it. You, as a vendor, have a reputation. Get a rep as someone who's rude, inconsiderate, or just plain mean and you'll find yourself seeing a bit less of people on a regular basis. Now, of course this doesn't apply the same way when it comes to shows a long way from home that happen once a year, but it's probably a good idea just the same.
Another thought, you never know who is going to buy something and often the most painful people to deal with can turn out to be great customers, maybe even repeat customers or regulars.
You should get used to the fact that more people really aren't that imaginative when it comes to sharing their feelings on your work. The phrases, "Nice work!", "Your work is beautiful.", "This is so cute!", and my all time favourite: "My husband's father does this sort of thing so if we want something we'll just have him do it.", will become all too familiar to you. Smile through it all, accept the intention of their words and allow yourself to believe that it's all genuine. These are nice comments, not necessarily useful ones.
2. Be understanding
This has been a big one for most of the vendors I know this past year. People haven't been buying as much as they have in past years (even recently). While there are some good reasons for this, this is neither a political blog nor an economic one, so I'll move on...
Just as there may be various reasons for people to say silly things, there are also many reasons why they might come to a venue, look at your stuff, compliment it until your ego threatens the airspace of those around you, and then walk off without it.
For one thing, we are in a tough economic period right now (and that's all I'm going to say about that).
We are also (in North America but specifically in Canada where I am) in a period of demographic decline. This means that we have a population that is aging and dying faster than it's being replaced. A few hard truths accompany this fact for craft vendors: 1. As people get older they tend to downsize their home and possessions, not add more to the collection. 2. With fewer children, there's less of a market for toys, knitted children's clothing, etc. etc. This is also one more reason why older people buy less, they have no grandchildren or great grandchildren to buy things for. 3. There are fewer kids running around with $5 that grandpa gave them to spend at the market.
There's more, but again this should give you an idea of where many people are coming from. Again it comes back to being patient.
3. Be Attentive
I know I've spent some time on this in past posts, but I can't emphasize it enough. I've had customers give me tips on prices (going both ways and seldom directly), pass on suggestions for new products, and tell me about venues and events that I otherwise wouldn't have known about.They may also offer you tools or materials, either free or for sale. I've had several people offer me materials for no cost at all.
Customers are the people you're trying to please. Without them you cannot hope to succeed in a market environment. Learn to love them and appreciate them as they are and as they come to you. Make small talk, get feedback, listen carefully to what they're saying and even if they don't buy anything from you, treat them like they're special. Special in a good way.
Now go make some stuff and enjoy the market!
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
Getting Started (Part 2 ) Getting a Feel
Being a market vendor can be a tricky proposition, one that requires you to wear many hats. Not only do you have to be a crafter, making whatever it is that you do, but you also need to fill out some other roles, such as:
Market Researcher
Marketing guru
Web site manager/developer
Blogger (not required, but it can help)
Book keeper
Public relations specialist
Salesperson
Personal assistant (to yourself)
You may have a spouse or someone else who helps you out with a few of these things (which we'll try to get into later in more detail) but when you're just starting out, odds are that you won't be paying a professional to do any of these things for you. This means a pretty steep learning curve on most of these things.
Ultimately your goal (or at least one of them) is to successfully market your product to the point where you can run your own full time business. This is the dream for many and the reality for a very select few. Today we're not going to get into how to become wildly successful, but we do want to look at one very important aspect of being a successful market vendor.
In the last post I tried to emphasize the importance of patience, today I want to talk about paying attention.
Most of us work (or have worked) in jobs where you only had to pay attention to your own specific duties: do what you're supposed to and leave the decision making up to management. This is going to be a bit different.
You're going to have to feel out the markets that you operate in and that's going to mean paying attention to a lot of different things.
What to Sell
Pay attention to your customers. Get feedback on your products: do they often pick something up and then put it back down when they find out the price? Maybe you need to consider dropping the cost a bit. Do they compliment you on your work generally but not seem interested in any particular items? Maybe they appreciate what you've done but it either isn't to their taste or you don't have anything that they want (or have space for). If you take custom orders it may be a good idea to make an extra one to see if other people might like the same thing. Often one person has a great idea for something that they'd like and it turns out that others have the same opinion.
What to Charge
Pay attention to your customers. Not to sound trite, but listen to what they have to say, and not just about your products and prices. Find out where they're from (when it seems appropriate). Are they locals or are they from out of town? Tourists or just passing through? Do they stop by often or is this their first time?
I live in a rural area and sell at a local, small town farmer's market through most of the year (when not engaged elsewhere). Locals often are not willing to pay the same price that people from the city are, and many of those have cottages in the area and are regulars at the market. What seems high to a local may seem like a steal to a tourist. Find out who you're trying to sell to and then price appropriately.
This is not a thorough discussion on pricing, just one aspect. Obviously if something costs $10 in materials and takes 3 hours to make, you can't realistically sell it for $12 (unless it's a promotional product, but we're dealing with basic circumstances here). This might mean that it's not worth your time to make that item, or at least that it's not worth making it for that particular venue. Which brings us to...
Where to Sell
Regular weekly (or even daily) markets such as farmer's markets, can be great, but they're certainly not the only place you can go. Craft shows, fundraising sales, fairs, festivals, consignment stores, even museums, and more can all be viable places to hawk your wares. Not every venue will necessarily be appropriate for your products, but it seldom hurts to look into it.
Personally, I find that a mix of venues in different locales alongside a regular market venue make for a good mix. During the warmer months I'm at the farmers market fairly regularly, unless there's an alternate venue where I think I can make more profit than I would at the market. How do I know how well a particular venue will go? I don't. Every time you go out to sell your goods you are taking a risk. We won't take time for a long discussion here, but there some good rules of thumb to follow.
Talk to other vendors. Not every vendor is as new as you are, and many of them have been to at least one really great show that they try to get into every year. If someone raves about it, it might be worth a peek.
Get feedback from people on special events. This might mean talking to people, reading the newspaper, watching the news or listening to it. They won't tell you how the vendors did, but they might give you an idea of how many people attended. If you normally see 150 people over 6-8 hours at your local farmers market and there's a venue that attracted 20, 000 people last year, it might be worth your time.
How to Sell
Not to sound repetitive or anything, but pay attention to your customers. If you try a line or a pitch with a particular item (let's call it a spiel), and it doesn't seem to be working, try another approach. If you have a display set up in such a way that people seem to be ignoring certain items, you may want to revise your setup. Remember, in the end it doesn't matter how good you think it looks. What matters is what your customers think
We've already covered a lot but here's a couple of quick tips to help you keep track of these things:
1. Take notes. Pen and paper or smartphone, doesn't matter, just write down the things that you notice.
2. Keep track of sales. How many have you made and how many have you sold? Make sure you're making the things that are selling the best.
3. Keep track of venues. If a show was really terrible for you and the organisers thought it was great, you may not want to go back. Keep in mind things like the weather on the day of the show, the time of year, etc. Remember to write down info on other venues that you hear about that sound promising.
That's it for now. Now go make some stuff and enjoy the markets!
Market Researcher
Marketing guru
Web site manager/developer
Blogger (not required, but it can help)
Book keeper
Public relations specialist
Salesperson
Personal assistant (to yourself)
You may have a spouse or someone else who helps you out with a few of these things (which we'll try to get into later in more detail) but when you're just starting out, odds are that you won't be paying a professional to do any of these things for you. This means a pretty steep learning curve on most of these things.
Ultimately your goal (or at least one of them) is to successfully market your product to the point where you can run your own full time business. This is the dream for many and the reality for a very select few. Today we're not going to get into how to become wildly successful, but we do want to look at one very important aspect of being a successful market vendor.
In the last post I tried to emphasize the importance of patience, today I want to talk about paying attention.
Most of us work (or have worked) in jobs where you only had to pay attention to your own specific duties: do what you're supposed to and leave the decision making up to management. This is going to be a bit different.
You're going to have to feel out the markets that you operate in and that's going to mean paying attention to a lot of different things.
What to Sell
Pay attention to your customers. Get feedback on your products: do they often pick something up and then put it back down when they find out the price? Maybe you need to consider dropping the cost a bit. Do they compliment you on your work generally but not seem interested in any particular items? Maybe they appreciate what you've done but it either isn't to their taste or you don't have anything that they want (or have space for). If you take custom orders it may be a good idea to make an extra one to see if other people might like the same thing. Often one person has a great idea for something that they'd like and it turns out that others have the same opinion.
What to Charge
Pay attention to your customers. Not to sound trite, but listen to what they have to say, and not just about your products and prices. Find out where they're from (when it seems appropriate). Are they locals or are they from out of town? Tourists or just passing through? Do they stop by often or is this their first time?
I live in a rural area and sell at a local, small town farmer's market through most of the year (when not engaged elsewhere). Locals often are not willing to pay the same price that people from the city are, and many of those have cottages in the area and are regulars at the market. What seems high to a local may seem like a steal to a tourist. Find out who you're trying to sell to and then price appropriately.
This is not a thorough discussion on pricing, just one aspect. Obviously if something costs $10 in materials and takes 3 hours to make, you can't realistically sell it for $12 (unless it's a promotional product, but we're dealing with basic circumstances here). This might mean that it's not worth your time to make that item, or at least that it's not worth making it for that particular venue. Which brings us to...
Where to Sell
Regular weekly (or even daily) markets such as farmer's markets, can be great, but they're certainly not the only place you can go. Craft shows, fundraising sales, fairs, festivals, consignment stores, even museums, and more can all be viable places to hawk your wares. Not every venue will necessarily be appropriate for your products, but it seldom hurts to look into it.
Personally, I find that a mix of venues in different locales alongside a regular market venue make for a good mix. During the warmer months I'm at the farmers market fairly regularly, unless there's an alternate venue where I think I can make more profit than I would at the market. How do I know how well a particular venue will go? I don't. Every time you go out to sell your goods you are taking a risk. We won't take time for a long discussion here, but there some good rules of thumb to follow.
Talk to other vendors. Not every vendor is as new as you are, and many of them have been to at least one really great show that they try to get into every year. If someone raves about it, it might be worth a peek.
Get feedback from people on special events. This might mean talking to people, reading the newspaper, watching the news or listening to it. They won't tell you how the vendors did, but they might give you an idea of how many people attended. If you normally see 150 people over 6-8 hours at your local farmers market and there's a venue that attracted 20, 000 people last year, it might be worth your time.
How to Sell
Not to sound repetitive or anything, but pay attention to your customers. If you try a line or a pitch with a particular item (let's call it a spiel), and it doesn't seem to be working, try another approach. If you have a display set up in such a way that people seem to be ignoring certain items, you may want to revise your setup. Remember, in the end it doesn't matter how good you think it looks. What matters is what your customers think
We've already covered a lot but here's a couple of quick tips to help you keep track of these things:
1. Take notes. Pen and paper or smartphone, doesn't matter, just write down the things that you notice.
2. Keep track of sales. How many have you made and how many have you sold? Make sure you're making the things that are selling the best.
3. Keep track of venues. If a show was really terrible for you and the organisers thought it was great, you may not want to go back. Keep in mind things like the weather on the day of the show, the time of year, etc. Remember to write down info on other venues that you hear about that sound promising.
That's it for now. Now go make some stuff and enjoy the markets!
Monday, 20 October 2014
Getting Started (Part 1) Start Small
So, here we are! You've decided to join the exciting world of market vendoring. Whether it's farmer's markets or craft shows, you've decided that a life of empty compliments, endless hours of setting up a display and a lot of work for a little money is the life for you. Spectacular! As a market vendoring veteran, I would like to welcome you to our growing community of underappreciated entrepreneurs.
I remember my first market experience: I had spent a day and a half trying to get some products made up, then borrowed a 6' folding table from a friend of mine then showed up at a local farmer's market in June with no canopy or other shelter. I made $25 that day and got rained out in just under 2 hours. I went back the next week with a canopy only to spend 6 hours without a single sale. It would have been nice to know then what I know now, and since I've seen many other vendors make the same mistakes I've been tempted to and so I've decided to offer a bit of advice through this blog to help encourage (and maybe even educate) new vendors.
Today I want to start with something that seems to plague many new craft vendors: expectations of scale.
Odds are that by the time you decide to make a foray into the craft market world you've already been told by family and friends that you should sell some of your stuff. Obviously your mom thinks it's cool, but you've had enough less biased comments (plus you think it's pretty swell yourself) that you've decided to give it a whirl and try to make a bit of extra cash. These are fair expectations in themselves.
However, once you got to the sale, (be it farmer's market, craft sale, whatever) you found that your product didn't sell quite as fast as you had expected. At first you were encouraged by the kind words you received from other vendors and then from customers, but after the first hour you hadn't sold anything. Then a second hour went by. By the halfway point in the sale you still hadn't sold anything, even though dozens, maybe even hundreds, of people had looked over your goods.
At first, you felt a bit depressed, then you started to feel angry at the customers who were't buying your things. You begin to resent the compliments that they give you; after all, if your things are so "cute" and "wonderful" then why don't they want to take some of them home with them? Finally you resent your decision to go to the venue in the first place and the temptation to leave early sets in.
The first time I experienced this I thought maybe it was just me, but it turns out that most vendors experience this, many of them repeatedly.
So how do we deal with this? With a few reality checks:
1. Your product may be great, but it may not be for everyone. Just because you do nice work doesn't mean it's something that I want to buy. I think of it like this: I have the right product, it just needs the right customer.
2. Be realistic with your price. Just because it took 3 hours to make and you value your time at $40/hour doesn't mean anyone in their right mind will necessarily pay $120 for it. Or they might, but you will need to find someone who values that piece more than your price tag.
3. Start with smaller, affordable venues. If you can find a free farmer's market to attend, you may at least get some valuable customer feedback on your product.
4. Keep your prices realistic to your location. Generally it's fair to say that there are some communities that are more affluent than others. If you sell in a wealthier community then you can likely get away with higher prices than in a less wealthy area. If you sell in various locales you may want to consider altering your prices to move more product.
5. Be patient, especially at organised shows. It is the height of inconsideration to register and pay for a show and then to leave early without a good excuse. To clarify, a good excuse is something along the lines of, "I need to go take a loved one to the hospital", or, "I feel ill and need to leave before I vomit all over your lovely craft show". Things like "People aren't meeting my expectations for sales", or, "there's someone else selling something similar to me" aren't really good reasons.
6. Be considerate. Literally, consider. A sale with a great reputation might suffer from poor weather, or a new competing event, or economic hardships. Don't assume (as I've seen people do) that the organisers of the show have done a poor job or that they've somehow duped you into coming to a bad show.
7. Be patient (again). I've never understood the mentality of leaving a show early because it's slow. If a show ends at 9pm and you leave at 7, there are a few things that will happen. You will leave a bad impression with the hosts of the show. You will look immature to most of the other vendors. You will miss other customers who will come in just before the sale is over (and these are often the most serious customers of the day). Once you've hung in there for the first 4-6 hours, you might as well stick it out for the rest of the sale. It's unlikely to get worse.
I realize that may seem like a lot to take in, but I wanted to give an overview of at least a few issues that can plague a new vendor. Hopefully a little bit of advice now can avoid a lot of regret later.
Go make some stuff and enjoy the market!
I remember my first market experience: I had spent a day and a half trying to get some products made up, then borrowed a 6' folding table from a friend of mine then showed up at a local farmer's market in June with no canopy or other shelter. I made $25 that day and got rained out in just under 2 hours. I went back the next week with a canopy only to spend 6 hours without a single sale. It would have been nice to know then what I know now, and since I've seen many other vendors make the same mistakes I've been tempted to and so I've decided to offer a bit of advice through this blog to help encourage (and maybe even educate) new vendors.
Today I want to start with something that seems to plague many new craft vendors: expectations of scale.
Odds are that by the time you decide to make a foray into the craft market world you've already been told by family and friends that you should sell some of your stuff. Obviously your mom thinks it's cool, but you've had enough less biased comments (plus you think it's pretty swell yourself) that you've decided to give it a whirl and try to make a bit of extra cash. These are fair expectations in themselves.
However, once you got to the sale, (be it farmer's market, craft sale, whatever) you found that your product didn't sell quite as fast as you had expected. At first you were encouraged by the kind words you received from other vendors and then from customers, but after the first hour you hadn't sold anything. Then a second hour went by. By the halfway point in the sale you still hadn't sold anything, even though dozens, maybe even hundreds, of people had looked over your goods.
At first, you felt a bit depressed, then you started to feel angry at the customers who were't buying your things. You begin to resent the compliments that they give you; after all, if your things are so "cute" and "wonderful" then why don't they want to take some of them home with them? Finally you resent your decision to go to the venue in the first place and the temptation to leave early sets in.
The first time I experienced this I thought maybe it was just me, but it turns out that most vendors experience this, many of them repeatedly.
So how do we deal with this? With a few reality checks:
1. Your product may be great, but it may not be for everyone. Just because you do nice work doesn't mean it's something that I want to buy. I think of it like this: I have the right product, it just needs the right customer.
2. Be realistic with your price. Just because it took 3 hours to make and you value your time at $40/hour doesn't mean anyone in their right mind will necessarily pay $120 for it. Or they might, but you will need to find someone who values that piece more than your price tag.
3. Start with smaller, affordable venues. If you can find a free farmer's market to attend, you may at least get some valuable customer feedback on your product.
4. Keep your prices realistic to your location. Generally it's fair to say that there are some communities that are more affluent than others. If you sell in a wealthier community then you can likely get away with higher prices than in a less wealthy area. If you sell in various locales you may want to consider altering your prices to move more product.
5. Be patient, especially at organised shows. It is the height of inconsideration to register and pay for a show and then to leave early without a good excuse. To clarify, a good excuse is something along the lines of, "I need to go take a loved one to the hospital", or, "I feel ill and need to leave before I vomit all over your lovely craft show". Things like "People aren't meeting my expectations for sales", or, "there's someone else selling something similar to me" aren't really good reasons.
6. Be considerate. Literally, consider. A sale with a great reputation might suffer from poor weather, or a new competing event, or economic hardships. Don't assume (as I've seen people do) that the organisers of the show have done a poor job or that they've somehow duped you into coming to a bad show.
7. Be patient (again). I've never understood the mentality of leaving a show early because it's slow. If a show ends at 9pm and you leave at 7, there are a few things that will happen. You will leave a bad impression with the hosts of the show. You will look immature to most of the other vendors. You will miss other customers who will come in just before the sale is over (and these are often the most serious customers of the day). Once you've hung in there for the first 4-6 hours, you might as well stick it out for the rest of the sale. It's unlikely to get worse.
I realize that may seem like a lot to take in, but I wanted to give an overview of at least a few issues that can plague a new vendor. Hopefully a little bit of advice now can avoid a lot of regret later.
Go make some stuff and enjoy the market!
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