My name is Mary, and I'm located on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. I've recently launched a business creating and selling handmade totes and bags for sale at markets and online (coming soon). I'm sharing my journey from the beginning - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Join me to see how I do.
I used a grommet and a heat erasable pen, both from Amazon, to mark my hole placement over the existing buttonholes. I then used the hole punch that came with the grommet kit to punch out the holes. The grommet kit came with all the tools to install the grommets.
Hello. I'll guess I'll find out. I've only done one craft show, just before Christmas. Check out this video to see how it went. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YXaj1NoOGdg.html
Hello, and thank you for your interest in my bags. My webstore is under construction but will be going live sometime in the first quarter of 2024. www.totesbydesign.ca.
I sell my knits on Etsy and at fairs in Nov/Dec each year, since 2016. Your booth looks great and your inventory looks nice and well crafted. Just keep plodding! Something I always do is keep my ears open at fairs, a lot of times other vendors will talk about other events. I’ve got a couple vendor friends and we babble about events with each other, give feed back on others. I think I’ve made all those friends from being booth buddies or seeing them repeatedly at events. I also have looked on facebook events for fairs before.
Hey, we started doing crafts shows/markets in June of 2023 and have done about 9 since then. Each show/market is a learning experience. We dont know each other, but let me give you a bit of advice that is from our lessons learned. DIVERSIFY! So many booths are featuring ONE thing.. we have many products and are expanding what we offer: Jellies, live plants in season, crochet items that range from beanies to blankets to small animal key chains, wood crafts that range from pens and wine bottle stoppers to cutting boards in the $100s, salves, too. Our prices start at $5 and go to $200. (we sold out twice and killed ourselves restocking for the next market, teaching us not to book consecutive Saturdays). People like choices, they like diversity. Also, we found that if we allowed airspace between products instead of crowding them together, it invited browsing. Having your things crammed together can cause buyer anxiety. Try a larger table or less product out at any given time. Have something you can hang those pretty bags on at the end of your display where people can TOUCH them.. Have more than ONE table. We started with one and shelving .. now we have three in a U shape and now are going vertical. We started these fairs making about $400, now we're clearing $2000... oh, and things are seasonal. If you can find fabric that suits the upcoming holiday, whatever it is, so some holiday-specific totes. Hearts for Valentine's day, bunnies or flowers or easter eggs for Easter, also maybe some flag-themed bags? Look at the ethnic makeup of your area and then make some flag bags in the theme of the nations represented ... just some ideas for you. I know you dont know us from adam, but I came across your video and decided to chime in. KEEP GOING!
Thank you so much for taking the time to give me such wonderful feedback and advise. I'm happy your shows are such a success. I'll find my niche and look for ways I can expand and improve. Being so new to this I have much to learn and will improve upon it.
Do you make your item or purchase what you sell? I have thought of doing some craft shows. I make jams and quilts. O have people asking me to sell my jam. Do you need a food license to sell jellies?
I think you will find that every show will teach you something. At least that's what is happening with us@@totesbydesign . Good luck, and if i carried a bag i'd buy one from you :) Also, I find that fellow vendors are my best customers!
your set up looks great! Your bags looks fantastic!So you are on the right track. We can learn from each show we do. Not all shows are great.Then some shows are awesome. A week before Christmas most people are done shopping. Look for earlier shows.Don't give up!
ALWAYS you will have potential customers that walk past, saying "I can make my own" or "omg, too expensive!". Not going to get away from that. My first craft show sold nothing, and barely any looks. As far as the town was concerned, I was a total stranger. 20+ years later, I'm just strange, lol. Get into summer farmers markets. Do spring shows. Advertise as beach bags. Everyone wants at least one pocket in their bag.
