The end of one season and the beginning of the next is the right time to reassess your craft sales. Even if you do only one or two shows a year, or sell only online, pay attention to what sold and what did not.
Ask the right questions
What sold out? Make more of it. This is obvious and routinely ignored in favour of making what you find interesting.
What did not sell at all? Be honest. An item that has failed at three shows will fail at a fourth, however much you like it.
At what price did things stop selling? If everything under twenty pounds went and nothing above it did, that is your market telling you something specific.
What did people pick up and put down? The near-misses are the most useful information you will get, and you only see them by watching.
What did people ask for that you did not have? Write these down at the time. They are free product research.
Keep records
A simple list of what you took to each show, what sold, and what it went for. After two or three events, patterns appear that are invisible from memory.
Note the weather and the footfall too. A poor day at a good show is different information from a poor day at a bad one.
Range and price points
Most sellers under-stock the low end and lose the impulse purchases that make up the volume.
Have something small at a few pounds, plenty in the middle, and a few larger pieces. The expensive items often sell less than they anchor – they make the middle look reasonable by comparison.
The display
Height. A flat table is far less appealing than one with levels. Boxes under a cloth will do.
Clear pricing on everything. People will not ask; they will walk on.
A cloth to the floor, hiding your boxes.
Your name visible from a distance.
Build a list
The most valuable thing you can do and the most neglected.
Collect email addresses at every show and with every order. Those people already like your work, and telling them where you will be next brings buyers who arrive intending to buy – which is entirely different from browsing.
And bring your own customers
Do not rely on the organiser to fill the room. Tell everyone you know where you will be, with the date and the times.
The sellers who do this are consistently the ones who have a good day.
