Hey Everyone,
I wanted to share how my first craft market went with everyone, both to help me critique myself and get my thoughts down and to also share lessons learned that can maybe help others.
What went well:
1. My location in the Market turned out to have a lot of foot traffic. I would say once the market opened there was a constant flow of people.
2. Human Interaction - Despite Finns being in general a bit reserved, many people complimented the work I was doing, the products and the tools. Over all I guess I presented something quite unique and professional. The sight of someone performing a obviously highly technical skill was something that stood out.
3. Over the course of 2 days I gave 6 short workshops. The item I chose to teach about was simple enough to construct within a hour or 2 and at the same time the students were able to produce something pretty professional looking. I dont know if that says more about the level of students or my own teaching abilities.
4. I gave out around 20-30 business cards - remains to be seen if thats a sign of anything.
5. I took this time as well to start to work on my Instagram presence and upload photos. Something that was overdue.
6. I dont feel that my prices were too high or too low. The sales that I did make were done by men who didnt blink at the price and with minimal interaction or talking. In other words, the sales experience was not making or breaking the sale.
What didnt go well:
1. 2 sales over the course of 2 days. Nothing really to add beyond that....
2. My impression from the beginning was that hand crafted leather goods are a natural fit for a craft market. It turns out that at least this specific craft market, it was not really a good fit. I would say that most of the booths there were selling craft supplies ( beads, mosaics, string) or sellling women's fashion accessories, hats, or clothing. There were some booths selling crafty sort of house decorations but that seemed to be the limit of truly hand made goods. All in all, the level of "hand crafts" was very low, on the verge of it seeming some of the participants made big Ali Express orders and simply packaged them in Finland.
In comparison to what I was doing, it was very very different.
3. Understanding the demographic - I would say 85% were middle aged to elderly women in the age range of 40-70. As most of my goods were angled at a more male clientele Im sure this was a factor in the lack of sales.
4. Under pricing my workshops - I think my workshops were way to cheap (10 euros) for the one to 2 hours I spent with students combined with the fact that they walked away with a hand stitched monogrammed card holder.
That about sums up my thoughts on this experience. Im unsure how to approach the Craft Market side of things. This was a nice experience but it is financially completely unsustainable as I wasnt able to even cover the costs of the both.
Any and all thoughts, advice, or comments are welcome.
Thanks
What I got mostly from your comments is that you got to "lure" them in to with a very good visual presentation, which is why to Fadi's point (I think) about different goods, thoughtfully placed decoration (why not a calf-skin tablecloth, lined with goat skin). You could have a veg leather with differrent stages of patina. I would love for others to come in and add their viewpoints here as I have little experience to share. I am curious of what would be better:
- "less is more here",
- One of each possible item (from backpack to powerlifter belt to key chains, etc)
- A few very specialized items
- etc
This makes me think of two things:
#1 Most people are "visual" learners, and I also believe it is the sense that is most dominant (amongst smell, touch, hearing, etc).
#2 My impression is most people do not really know "quality". This is not meant as a slight, but I believe this is because knowledge (of quality) comes at a price of time and effort which you have paid and they have not. In leathercraft this is particularily true as it is a niche subject. How many know difference between veg tan and chrome tan? I think in general most professionals often take their knowledge for granted.
To obtain new knowledge effectively: Research shows that when we are learning, the learning experience is greatly enhanced the more senses you activate.
Once the visual is in place, have them "touch" the high quality material and "smell" the leather. Since most people will carry (cheap) leather, have them compare to their own product, or maybe one of your own designs with both high quality/hand stitched/perfectly finished vs "regular"/machine sewn/no edge finish. Now they get to see and feel what quality actually means, instead of you telling them and they "kind of" get what you say. This will turn your booth into a great learning experience, where you can truly show your skills and knowledge. If you can find a suitable music, you are now activating 4+ senses at once, rather than just 1. GOOD VIBES.
Now the customer is extremely interested in your craft and you can start showing of more of your own products, telling a story about the leather you are using, or the process of making the goods, what quality actually means, etc. Your products will sell themselves. There are some great points in other threads about how to price your leather goods, but it looks like you price yourself way too cheaply, and people sometimes connect cheap price with a poor product.
At this point, if they balk at the price, you "could" also present your homemade Birkin bag (easy to find pattern, not a complex build). From there, explain how that 12000$-tag is marked up x10 vs the actual cost and labour. The main message is that while they do not pay you extra for a famous "brand", they are indeed paying that extra for QUALITY, which creates lasting products, and therefore is not really expensive over time.
Congratulations, they have forgotten about your own products and want you to make a replica Birkin bag instead, but at least you got plenty of paying customers.
You're welcome.
(Birkin story was entirely fictional)
Picked up leathercrafting a couple of years ago and found this thread very helpful, as I am not at this stage yet. Thank you and to Fadi for sharing your experiences and thoughts!