Well, phooey! I just spent a half hour writing my follow-up, interview style, to this post. Now I'm going to scale way back and hit the highlights instead of rewriting it. You're welcome.
Q: Did you go through with your first-ever craft fair as a vendor? Yes.
A: Glad you did? Yes. It was on my bucket list, out of my comfort zone. Rather than just keep thinking about it, I decided to live life more fully, facing my fears and doubts. You know, be like people I admire instead of just sitting on the sidelines wishing I had the guts. While I didn't turn a profit, the rewards were 1) having done it 2)having complete strangers buy something I made.
Q: Hardest part? Carrying/setting up/taking down heavy tables and packing up loaded suitcases with my heavy products (each rice therapy bag was about 2 pounds, and I had two carry-on suitcases full). I had a wee bit of help from hubby and son while they were available, and a wee bit of help from the guy athletes, but mostly I was a DIY-er. Left with a backache, sore feet, and inability to walk (no joke) the next day.
Q: Easiest part? Pitching my products. I believe in them. I think they are valuable and can tell people why and get them to agree.
Q: Most fun part? Having the husband of one of the vendors (a sewing vendor) come over while I was setting up and say, "My wife told me to come over to ask how your sewing room looks." I let out a (too loud) chuckle--maybe a cackle! He also asked me how many sewing machines I had, and when I named all 7 of them, he nodded."Okay, so collecting machines isn't just something my wife does."
Q: What was your best seller? Believe it or not, the most expensive things--the XL rice bags for $24 or 2/$40. It really helped to have a card table with a microwave behind me so that I could hand customers a warm bag. The "ahhh", along with their eyes rolled up into their head was such a good response! That said, I only sold 5 in 3 hours. And my second best sellers were handwarmers for adults at 2pr/$10. Least sold were the $2 and $3 items (booboo bags for kids and pocket tissue holders). They all appreciated the lavender sachets that I included with any $15 purchase. I sold Reg size bags (16-18") for $20, and XL bags (18.5-22") for $24. Bundles including 1 bag, 2 handwarmers, and 1 tissue holder, for $25 and $30.
Q: Did you have the foot traffic you expected? No. I expected much more based on previous years, good advertising, more vendors ,and good weather. But the reality differed: the kids' choirs didn't perform, so those parents and grandparents didn't come; there was a bad traffic accident an hour before our show, about 2 blocks away, so traffic was rerouted. No impulse traffic from 5-7pm. A few intending to come, didn't, as traffic was shut down till cops and ambos could do their thing . I felt so bad for the vendors who got stuck--they were setting up at 4:45 for a 5:00 start time. Thankfully, I had gotten there at 2:45.
Q: What drew interest to your table? Well, I'd like to say it was my friendly smile and award-winning personality. LOL. But it was probably my good (assigned) location, cute sign and business name, or the Baltimore Ravens giveaway bundle I offered. I had a guess-how-many-scraps-in-this-mason-jar game, front and center. Men who wouldn't have stopped otherwise, wanted that Ravens bundle. And plenty of women who are fans of our Superbowl bound team, baby!
Q:
How did you price your wares? Added up my cost of materials, plus a $15/hr wage for myself, divided by the number of products I could make per hour. Decided I could always have a sale if things weren't selling, but didn't want to undercut myself. If I've learned one thing, it's to value my time, my work, and the time and work of others in the industry.
Q: Will you do it again? Probably. I'm a glutton for punishment. I really did like interacting with other vendors (they were encouraging). I liked being surprised to see friends I wasn't expecting to see. I liked having a professional looking sign and business cards I designed, and turquoise paper bags with rope handles and white tissue paper to present customers' purchases to them. The "Oh, isn't that a nice touch! THank you!" was sweet music.