People who make a living out of crafts

[Windy*miller]

I admire them enormously. I was at a craft and food show at Blenheim recently and the quality of everything on display was really really good.

There was all sorts of stuff - woodwork, artwork, clothes, blacksmithing, loads of foodstuffs - and plenty of people admiring it, but hardly anything seemed to be getting sold. Despite that the people on the stalls were (almost) universally friendly and happy to chat about what they were selling. I couldn't do it. I'd just be saying "Either buy it or push off and let somebody else get a look in!"

If anybody on here makes a living at craft fairs you have my respect.

 

[JWF]

We have done Craft Fairs for the past four years and have now given up. You spend hours making items to sell that are genuinely "hand-made" at a reasonable price only to take them all home again. My wife and I would sit behind the stall and time punters to see how long it would take them to do circuit of the hall, usually about a minute!! If they stopped long enough to view your wares they would be picked up, handled, and say admiringly "What lovely work how do you find the time to do it". Put it down and walk away. The other frustrating thing is that in most cases they want "quality hand-made articles" for Boot Sale prices!! However we did have some fun bantering with the other stall-holders which we will miss.

 

[Big Fat Pig]

I admire your business ethos, Windy. I find that i am becoming a grumpy old git more and more much to the amusement of Mrs Pig. I can`t wait until i retire and get a p/t job at B & Q with a badge saying .... `Happy to Help `
I think my badge will be more like .... ` You`ll get no help here, so SOD OFF`



Ditto with the hats off to the crafty types.


Piggy

 

[cambournepete]

I think my badge will be more like .... ` You`ll get no help here, so SOD OFF`

I need one of those now for my IT support job

 

[Digit]

Best business ethos I know of....

"With willing hearts and skillful hands, the difficult we do at once, the impossible takes a bit longer, miracles by appointment only."

.... the Seabees.

Roy.

 

[Benchwayze]

I admire your business ethos, Windy. I find that i am becoming a grumpy old git more and more much to the amusement of Mrs Pig. I can`t wait until i retire and get a p/t job at B & Q with a badge saying .... `Happy to Help `
I think my badge will be more like .... ` You`ll get no help here, so SOD OFF`



Ditto with the hats off to the crafty types.


Piggy

Proper order Piggy...

No toadying to ungrateful twits for me either.
:evil: :evil: :evil:

John 8)

 

[woodbloke]

The other frustrating thing is that in most cases they want "quality hand-made articles" for Boot Sale prices!!

I think this is the essence of it, people equate craft fair stall holders with 'bootereers' (those that sell at bootys).
I once tried to sell an old jewelry box at a booty (nicely made, dovetail corners, suede lined etc) that had a crack in the top. Severial folk picked it up but wouldn't give me a fiver for it...I think in the end I got rid of it for a coupla squid, so I can see that trying to make a bit of folding at a craft fair is probably harder than wading through treacle - Rob

 

[Jamesc]

I think the only way to be successful at craft fairs is not to need to make money.

I have a friend who makes pottery items which he sells very sucessfuly at craft fairs (usually sold out by the end of the day). His trick is he has a good full time job and uses the pottery as his 'therapy'. He then sells at a very reasonable price at thanks everyone for paying for his therapy.

I know it's not an answer to the OP but it's the only way I've seen it work well.

James

 

[RussianRouter]

The whole top and bottom of it is,we have Maggie to thank for this,she pushed us into a throwaway society and flooded the market with cheap foriegn imports and therefore because of this the masses don't want to part with their cash because they know the china man up the road has it cheaper.

 

[Doctor]

Amazing, never saw politics coming up in this one!!!!!!!!

 

[kasandrich]

....and the prices they charge for selling at a craft fair can be ridiculous.

 

[WillyNelson]

I often go round 'craft fairs' with my wife and when I see something that catches my eye I'll always stop to check it out. I like chatting with people about their work as I find it interesting to learn how things are made & what people see in their own work.

I very rarely buy for two resons. Firstly, I don't have much disposable income so I often can't afford to, even if I do really like something. Secondly, no matter how much i like something we may not have room for it, a need for it or it may not fit with what we already have at home.

I've seen loads of very skilled woodworkers & craftspeople who have had wonderful stuff on sale and, while I'm interested in it I'm not looking to buy a jewelry box, candlestick or armchair. I also saw some wonderful tapestries at Chelsea this year that were so well done they looked like photographs from anything but up close. I would have loved to have bought one or more but at a couple of hundred pounds I simply couldn't.

 

[big soft moose]

ive had mixed experience with craft fairs, some are very good and some basically arent (just pre xmas being definitely the best time for shifting stuff)

in my experience there are two brackets of pricing that sell well - the under a tenner type (lightpulls, mushrooms, paperweights, spinning tops etc) and at certain fairs, ie those with a more high end customer the £100 plus hollow forms, matched sets, wall hangings etc

there is a big void between these two (ie greater than £10 but less than £100) where stuff doesnt seem to sell because it is too expensive for the "just a little present for great aunt bessie" customer, and not expensive enough for the customer seeking one off bespoke art.

Turners are at a definite advantage over other woodworkers when it comes to the low value items as it is as easy to do ten light pulls as it is to do one, and with practice you can knock out all ten in an hour and thus afford to sell them at £2.50ea, likewise with spinning tops, foot masagers, keyrings, earings, bangles etc.

I also notice that a lot of craft fair sellers dont market themselves and their stalls well, dont look proffesional, arent freindly and welcoming of every customer (even those not buying this time), and generally dont encourage the customer to buy from them ( i have seen stallholders reading books, talking to each other, staring vacantly into space etc rather than engaging with the customer. I think a lot of people make the mistake of seeeing taking a stall at a craft fair as a day out rather than as the last "work" process.

In my experience if you are freindly and welcoming, and actively engage with every person who browses your stall you get a lot more sales, even more so if you go out of your way to make their life easy

For example my wife and I usually offer a gift wrapping service (50p or free of charge for sales over a tenner) Its amazing how many people will buy an extra item to get over the magic "Freebie threshold" rather than just paying the 50p, and tissue, wrapping paper and ribbon are all cheap if bought in bulk. IME the wrapping service also encourages sales from blokes buying for their wives, or girlfreinds.

 

[Windy*miller]

What are you selling bsm?

 

[big soft moose]

What are you selling bsm?

turnery

but i'm not a proffesional so i dont "make a living" from craft fairs, I think that probably is impposible - most of the pros i know also do commisions, editorial, and tuition to make ends meet.

mine is just a hobby that pays for itself.

 

[mike-reid]

i dont as of yet but i really want to. im sat in an office on telephones all day and i hate it!!
i would love the chance to get an apprenticeship but fear at 28 im too old now. will have to try and do the hardway on my own from scratch.

 

[big soft moose]

i would love the chance to get an apprenticeship but fear at 28 im too old now.

nah - IMO a lot of people would rather hire/take on someone more mature - you probably are too old for the govts modern aprentice scheme but it looks as though that may be cut anyway

just approach some makers and make it clear that you are willing to work for an apprentice wage, or even to volunteer a few days per week

 

[Mr T]

Hi

I have never done a craft fair, but have been to some both up and down market as a visitor. Regarding marketing yourself, I have always thought the stall holder who stands in front of their stall and actively engages with their customers presents a better image than those who sit behind the stall, almost using their wares as a barrier between themselves and the customer.

Chris

 

[Jonzjob]

We, OH and me, used to do craft fairs in and around Stroud and it was fascinating because at some we wouldn't cover the cost of the table and others we would almost clear everything we took. Talking to others there they all had the same story. There doesn't seem to be a line to it?

One of the things I always did was to take a load of book marks, just very thin strips cut normally from branches of figured wood like yew. I offered to pyrograph names onto them and they went for £1. One strange 'female' (?), all rings sticking out of everywhere, knee high black leather boots, black tights, short black skirt/belt, black leather jacket and you would not have wanted to meet her/it on a dark night, know what I mean? Asked me to pyrograph "Freedom is just another word for nothing else to loose, Love ****" Can't remember the name? I asked her if she would like the rest of the song and got a blank look? Another young lady bought 8 and had all of her school mates names, one on each, and they were their Christmas pressies! Those book marks always went well/

As above, I never had to make a living, but what I have made has bought all of the kit I have, plus a load of my other hobby kit, radio controlled model gliders and loads of beer too!

Basically I have found that at craft fairs people will ask you how you could possibly make something for that price and then try to argue you down to half!

Retirement is great. Especially if it is somewhere warm. I wish it was warm here at the mo?

 

[bugbear]

mine is just a hobby that pays for itself.

Do you mean you cover your materials, or actually get something for your time as well?

BugBear