Get crafty and earn some money (maybe!) (Craft Fayres)

Member Name: SusanLesley

Product:	Craft Fayres
Date:	25/09/01 (227 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good fun, Get yourself known, Maybe earn some cash

Disadvantages: Soul destroying if you don't sell anything!

Since leaving work one of the things that I have done to try and focus on the future and retrieve some of my self-esteem is to make baby clothes and shawls to sell at craft fayres. I won’t go into my what I make in any detail, as it would be advertising which is against the rules and that is not what this opinion is all about.

Craft fayres usually last one or two days at the weekend. The cost of a stall can be anything form £8 or so at a school or charity event to £25 or more at the larger, more well known events.

I decided to have a go at selling at a craft fayre at the Leathercentre in Walsall just before Christmas last year and I went with high hopes of coming home with at least enough money to cover my expenses. Sadly this was not to be.

I had done my homework and made sure of the following things:

1. The craft fayre itself was well known locally, well advertised and held at an easily accessible venue so that there would be plenty of people visiting.

2. I had got plenty of stock ranging from small items priced at 50p up to larger items priced at £25 and many at various levels in between.

3. I had priced the stock so as to make a profit, but only just, as pricing hand made items to recoup the expense of making the item AND the time it takes to make would mean that the price would be too high and the sales would be non existent.

4. Dave and I had put a table out at home and had a trial run at how I was going to display items, especially the larger baby shawls, so that we knew exactly how our stall at the craft fayre would look.

5. Dave had made me some fliers, leaflets and business cards so that people could take one in case they decided to get in touch with me at a later date.

The craft fayre itself was an excellent mixture of all sorts of crafts including woodwork, needlework, toys, paintings, cakes, engraving and more.

I enjoyed the day, as there was a constant strea
m of people coming past and looking at the items for sale on my stall. Many gave me lovely compliments, especially about the shawls, but hardly anyone bought anything!

I was so disappointed and Dave had a terrible time trying to cheer me up and encourage me to carry on as I was all for just forgetting all about the whole thing. He told me that craft fayres are to be looked at as a way of getting yourself known to people so that they can get in touch when the need arises. I’m afraid that I was in no mood to believe him at the time!

I chose to do the same craft fayre in the spring of this year and almost as soon as I had got everything sorted out someone came specifically to find me to order one of the baby shawls for her daughter who was pregnant! So Dave was quite right – it is all about getting yourself known after all.

I still didn’t sell much more at this fayre but at least I felt that I was moving in the right direction, so I shall try again at Christmas. I have already booked to do another fayre to which I was invited when someone saw my crafts at the spring one!

Anyone can apply for a stall at a craft fayre so why not have a go. Think of something that you can make and give it a try, even if you don’t make a lot of money it’s good fun and the feeling when someone does buy something that you have made gives you quite a boost I can tell you.

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