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The word 'Circuit' in the title has great meaning. Successful sales in crafting require that you approach it as more than just a quick way to make money. In fact true success can be very rewarding, but requires a strategy that involves more than just going to one sale, but going to several, repeatedly, that are hand picked though careful consideration.
Once upon a time, craft sales were scarce. It was considered a special event and attended by a broader audience, more willing to spend money. It wasn't very difficult to come up with a unique idea that the buyer had not yet seen. In whole, it was a simple, almost naive, way of doing small business for handmade goods.
Times have changed. What used to be a casual, old fashioned, town square market-like business has developed into a full-fledged industry and is becoming more widely recognized as a major contributor to this country's economy. This means that there are more sales in more venues, with newer methods of selling, and the crafter -- like any business person -- will have to become more business-minded to compete. There are still some simple things you can do to increase your success, if you plan right. But be careful, as statistics show you are entering an increasingly professional, competitive marketplace.
Not long ago there weren't any statistics I could have quoted to describe the changing nature of crafting. This, in itself, is testiment to its changing face. According to the May 2001 issue of The Craft Report magazine, the craft industry has developed into big business. The latest CODA survey shows that it is now a $14 billion dollar industry. First, we'll look at who is involved in generating these significant numbers.
According the the survey, your average crafter is a 49 year old white (98%+), female (67%). She works alone (80%), at home (80%), and belongs to some kind of craft club or organization (78%). Her family income is usually well over the median income of her geographic area and she has an average annual sales (not income, but raw sales) of around $76,000. Not bad.
I won't get into the nitty gritty of what types of crafts there are, but since this is a woodworking site, wood was the highest used material in the majority of crafts, and woodwork sales figured well amongst the varied types of crafts.
Most crafters make their money off of retail sales (53%) and wholesale sales (27%), with only a small amount made through consignment shops (11%). Of the retail sales, 52% are made at craft fairs, 27% are made at the crafter's studio, and 15% are by commission. So, if you look at half of half of $14 billion dollars, there are $3.5 billion or so to be made on the craft circuit. I will leave out the rest because if you are serious about doind this as a business I am sure you already have plans for some kind of shop or studio sales. $3.5 billion is still a large sum and it helps to know the people who spend it.
Your average buyer is between 30 and 50 years old, usually median to high income, well-educated and employed as a professional. He will usually spend around $50 on average for an item and it is usually meant to decorate the home, or to be given as a gift. The customer will spend time in 4 to 8 craft shows per year and knows the product. That is to say, he knows a quality item when he see it, so quality is a major factor in purchasing. So now that you know who you are up against, it is time to look at what you are up against: the market.
Over the last 4 or 5 years, according to sources in craft publications and various discussion boards on the net, the market has been dropping. The drop has been blamed on the weather, the beanie baby craze (I am NOT joking), Y2K, Wall Street, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky (again, I am not kidding), but there are a couple of other, more plausible factors. The consignment craft stores that have opened up, on street corners, in the mall and on the internet, have placed crafts at the reach of everyone, all the time. However, many of the crafters who sell a significant portion of their crafts through these consignment stores have also shown a decrease in sales. Another more feasible explanation is that every school, church, club, or other organization hold craft fairs now as a quickie fund raiser, and this tends to dim people's view of them in general as many of these fairs are not good fairs. This produces the feeling that craft shows have been "done to death".
Other problems include vendors that buy junky products from wholesalers, which reduce the overall value and impact of the fair, or (as witnessed in many a comment overheard by many crafters at craft fairs) people wondering why they keep coming back because nothing ever changes. The sale remains the same year in and year out. Even internet sales seemed to flourish for a while, but the dot-com crash seems to have flattened even that market.
So what do you do? Well, the overall market is still huge, therefore there is money to be made. You just have to take steps to increase your chances of making that sale. Keep an open mind. For example, as of my writing this (August 2001) sales are said to be falling off in the Northwestern United States, but Florida is supposed to be a hot spot. You got it: be willing to move around a bit. Don't worry, you don't have to go too far, and there are still lots of other things you can do to help.
Have you already tried you hand at the craft fairs? There are three problems with the way many people, especially those with decreased sales, approach the craft circuit. The first problem is that they go to the very same shows all the time. You must try new shows, and drop unproductive ones to maximize your earnings. The second problem is that they make the same things for sale, year after year. This is all right for a few items that you get repeat customers back to purchase. The third problem is that they are doing the wrong kind of shows. There are ways to tell if you are in the wrong type of show, but more about that later.
Crafting magazine articles frequently have interviews with successful crafters who nearly always report an increase in sales when they try new shows, dump useless ones, or try out new products. As for the latter point, you have to bring out new products every year to be successful. I remember one show where a woman and her husband were selling a huge selection of tole-painted items and fabric goods with a Christmas theme (the kind that come pre-printed in a fabric store - you just cut and sew together). Their inventory was tremendous. However, my wife is a seamstress and has seen these fabic panels in all the fabric stores. According to her calculations, most of the items in their inventory were at least four years old. We also know for a fact they have been dragging them all back to the same yearly sale for a long time. All they sold were the newer tole-painted crafts, but the rest of their inventory just kept coming back year after year as window dressing -- looking older every time.
What could they have done to increase sales? Well, first of all, that particular sale was not very good. I would have looked for another venue. In fact, we did. We never went back after that particular year. Second, I might have tried those older fabric items in another sale, with a limited presentation, but in that same sale I would have left them at home. Third, the tole-painting seems to have worked for them so I probably would have abandoned the fabric arts (unless they could find a new craft using fabric) and tried to come up with something new and exciting that uses tole. This isn't the easiest thing to do, but neither is being successful in crafting. It will continue to be more work in the future.
If you have not tried your hand at the circuit yet, crafters sell at a variety of venues that you should make yourself aware of. The main type of venue is the craft fair, but these are as varied as the crafts you find in them. You can classify them into one of three basic types. First is what I like to call the event. A craft event can be retail or wholesale, depending on who is buying, and occurs at certain times of the year (Christmas, Easter, spring) or even yearly (as in the 11th annual ...). Because they occur so infrequently, they are larger, better attended, and are usually your best chance for high sales. You really have to be ready for one of these sales because the other crafters will have pulled out all the stops with their best displays, highest inventory and more planning and forethought than for probably any other sale that year. If you have your act together you can make 25% of your annual sales all in one shot.
Second is what I call the flea market. This is a recurring sale, whether every week or once a month. This is the type of sale where regular customers come back to get more of your work, or send others to see you. There is a great potential for word of mouth sales here. Many commission sales begin with a meeting at the weekly market sale so it pays to not miss a sale and make a good show of it every time.
Third is what I call the casual sale, such as a setup in the mall in the middle of the week. I try to shy away from these sales as the clientele is usually not motivated to buy. You see a lot of tire kickers but no-one is forward with the wallet. Stick to event type sales. Take a chance and put all of your eggs in one basket. They can be a blast if you really play them up and they are certainly a test of what you have learned.
Other ways to make money are studio sales, but you have probably thought of that already so I won't cover them here. You could try the internet. That requires having, or having access to a great amount of skill on the computer rather than at your craft. It sounds great but a cheesy looking website won't sell anything. Last is to sell by consignment to crafting outlet stores. I really do not reccommend this one. First, I believe that these outlets take away from the weekly markets and the events (which I firmly believe are your best sales outlets). Why? Because consignment shops make crafts too familiar to people and they tend to sell a lot of poor quality mass-produced stuff that they picked up from a wholesaler. These sour a person's view of crafts and take away the novelty. They should be items that you can't get just anywhere or at any time. That is half of the intrigue.
Once you have decided on where to sell, keep in mind a few sales techniques. You are selling something unique, not a Hershey bar. Treat it as such and provide a high level of service. You need to make the potential buyer think that it is something special, thus you must treat the change of ownership of it as something of great importance. You are not giving the item away. Set your price to reflect the high level of skill and the amount of time you have given the piece. Don't go overboard, but don't go hungry either. Your time is valuable and you deserve to be rewarded for it. To offset the price you need to make the buyer aware of the uniqueness of your product. Describe the process, how much time you take on each piece, and go into detail about its inherent quality. The buyer has to value it as much as you do, so don't be afraid to talk to them.
For those buyers that may not wish to spend as much, this time, provide some objects in the $20-$25 dollar range. Make sure that these are of the same quality and beauty as the more expensive pieces as these folks will be back next time and will remember you. They may also bring friends. Speaking of which, don't go light on the inventory. If the show is a week long, bring enough stuff to sell. Then have an order book on hand to take orders and business cards to hand out freely. And do hand them out freely. If you do sell out try to get the buyers of the last few items to agree to leave them at your table until the end of the sale. You don't want an empty display. This may require some bargaining, but if it requires having you Fed-Ex the item to them at your expense after the show, it may be worth it.
The remainder of this ever growing article I wish to devote to event style craft fairs. Here is a list of tips to help you out should you try your hand at them.
Event sales can be of any size. Start small, but the big money is made at the larger sales. Any sale that will let you in for free isn't worth your time and effort. Generally, the more expensive the sale is to enter, the more money you make. There are exceptions, however, so visit the sale before you enter it. This means a great deal of planning because if the sale is once every summer, you should visit it one summer, then prepare for entering it the next year. Some sales can be as much as $1000 or more to get into. If you pay that much be sure you check it out ahead of time and talk to the other crafters.
When you visit potential shows, watch the buyers. Sit by the exit with your notepad and take notes. Are they leaving empty handed? Are they leaving with many items? Few items? Describe what they are taking out. Then go though the displays and try to gauge a dollar figure. If the average buyer is buying $40 worth of goods and your average piece is $150, then you are looking at the wrong show. Likewise, are they buying only small items, or everything they can find? Or, are they only buying big items worth a great deal of money?
While visiting the show, talk to the crafters. How do they view the show? How are sales? I am not afraid to tell them that I am considering entering the show the next time around. This usually sparks great conversation. The other crafters should not be wary of new entries. If they are, then you should look elsewhere. Most good crafters would want good new entries because it raises the quality of the overall event and brings better buyers.
Stick with sales where the crafters hand make the articles themselves. If you enter a sale where the exhibitors are showing mass produced items that they find elsewhere, you are not going to get the kind of buyer coming to the event that will suit your needs.
Don't be afraid to travel around a bit. Good sales draw people from a wide area so you may have to go to a very different region to find buyers that have not seen your product.
Get a credit card account. People trust you more if you take credit cards. Don't ask me why, I don't understand it either.
We haven't even mentioned your display, or booth yet. Is the show a wholesale show? If so your booth must reflect the fact you can produce the quantity they are looking for. Is it a retail show? Then your booth must be capable of drawing in a reluctant buyer. How long is the event? The longer it is the more elaborate your booth should be. And what you sell will greatly influence the size and layout. For example, if you sell large scale furniture pieces, you will need a large booth, and shelf space for small items would be wasted.
I find the most successful booths are much more than just a counter along the aisle. Rather, they have depth and height and create enough interest in the buyer to draw them inside. I can say from experience that the longer you keep a buyer in your booth, the more you sell to them. An additional benefit usually is that others notice the people inside your booth and wonder what all the fuss is. That is usually where you find the lineups outside of booths, you know the ones that create traffic jams in the aisles?
Signage is also important. If you are skilled, make signs that are professional and inviting. Spend time on drawing a logo and coming up with slogans. If you have a business name remember to have a name search done, and follow the rules in your area for getting business licences. Not only will this help you buy from wholesalers, it is the law. If this kind of company identity work is not your forte, then hire a printer to do it. They will be able to provide you with a lot more information and help than I ever could.
Your booth should be fire retardant. I mention this because at big shows the fire marshal may ask you for a certificate proving this. I have never had one but I assume you should ask at your local fire station.
I am sure I have forgotten something so look for further updates in the future. I am planning on going to a few shows in the near future, not necessarily craft shows, but assuming I take the digital cmera along I will try to get some pictures of examples of good booths and list them here. Otherwise drop me an email if I have forgotten something.
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