I'd managed to get most of the stuff ready the night before so had a fairly smooth morning. I even remembered to take the stocking filler/pocket money items that I forgot last time.
There were a lot more stalls at this fair with quite a variety of products. There were a lot more people coming through as well. I think it helped that it was in a church that was used by the community. It had a community cafe in the church, which was open during the fair. This encouraged more people to come and have a look at the stalls before or after eating. Some even had a look whilst they waited for food to be made. I had a few friends, family and fans of my jewellery come along too, which added to the numbers.There was a reasonable amount of interest in my jewellery and I made a few sales. Most of them were the stocking filler/pocket money items, which was understandable because they were cheap and meant to draw children's attention and therefore their parents. However I hope they didn't detract too much from my main items. I did make a few sales of my silver items. I sold a necklace and some earrings, and someone ordered a ring. Quite a few people took business cards so hopefully I'll get a few more sales from them in the future.
Overall I'm reasonably happy with how it went. I would have preferred a few more sales, particularly of my silver items, but I sold enough to cover costs and make some profit too. The problem with craft fairs is they take quite a lot of time and effort in preparation and on the day. It's trying to find the balance between the amount of time and effort it takes and how much I will make from it. However, this isn't as straight forward as how much money I take on the day because craft fairs can often act as advertising. As I said earlier quite a few people took business cards, so I'm hoping that it will raise my profile and I will make sales in the future. Plus I do like meeting customers. It's a lot nicer seeing people look at your work and making positive comments than looking at some stats saying that x many people visited my on-line store.
Have you ever been to a craft fair? What attracts you to certain stalls? Is it the products, the display, the seller? What do you like/not like about craft fairs?
Have you sold anything at a craft fair before? How did you find it and how did you find the balance of time and effort versus items sold?
