You may have spotted over on Art Bead Scene this weekend, a run down of my new jewellery stand for craft fairs. If not, hop over there now (if you leave a comment, you can also be in for a chance of winning a pair of my Om earrings in the colour of your choice......a pretty cool Studio Saturday prize if I do say so myself!). The last shot in my post, is of my practice set up in our spare room. Which is also a music room, and a library - hence the load of books as a backdrop. I was remiss and didn't say this in my post, and some folk thought I was going to take all the books along as my backdrop to the fairs that I do! I can't imagine quite how much work that would be, having just emptied the spare room to get the floorboards polished in there........we'd be there for hours! Here's the shot, so you can see our practice run.
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| Dry run in the music room, books not included! Or beige carpet, thankfully. |
Helen and I had our first go at a proper craft fair with this set up, on Sunday. And I'm pleased to say, it went really well. We had our most successful day at this monthly market for 2012 - which may have been in part down to the stand, or may also have been because it was October and getting closer to Christmas, because it was a beautiful sunny Autumnal day and because the market was a lot busier than it has been. It was also our card payment acceptance debut! If that makes sense(!). The second sale of the day was a card payment, so that was pretty exciting. It was also the only card payment of the day, but we know now that the set up works, and that we know how to use it. I had a meeting with the gentleman from CardSave (the company who organise the set up for me) about a month ago, and we decided on a virtual terminal, rather than a card machine. Thinking of my clientele, a card machine would probably have been the ideal, but the monthly cost was reduced significantly for the virtual terminal, so we've gone for that. It's a little complicated for us - involves using my iPhone as a WiFi hotspot, we had then hoped to use the iPad but it wouldn't pick up the signal, so we resorted to a laptop instead which is slightly less portable - and the customer or seller then types all their card details into a payment 'gateway' on the screen, just as if they are making a purchase online and using their card to pay. It doesn't save any of the details for us to access, but I am aware that some people may be a little hesitant as it is unfamiliar. We'll see! I am hopeful, and excited that I can now offer this service at events.
Here's a couple of shots from the day:
A couple of thoughts upon reflection.
*The log is a good prop, but the items on it are hidden within the crate. Work out something different......
*I have nowhere to put my lower priced bracelets. Time to drag out the bracelet stand, give it a bit of a white-wash and work out a spot for it....
*Work out some way for the earring cards to be punched in a more consistent fashion. If the earrings hang too close to the top, or the central punch for hanging is off, they just don't hang nicely at all!
*We now can't see out from the back at all. AT ALL. And remembering our thefts in the summer, that is not great! So one of us needs to be round the front at all times, and if Helen can't help me out at a fair, I need to try and get a helper for the day. Or else can't accept card payments on that day.
If you sell your jewellery (or anything else for that matter!) at fairs, how has your stand developed? Does it constantly change, as mine has done, or have you reached a level that you are happy with? And if you don't sell, what do you like to see as a customer? Sometimes when it's your own stand, you stop 'seeing' it, if that makes sense - you miss the obvious. But so far, I like the way my new look is shaping up....If you fancy seeing it in person, check out my Forthcoming Events tab at the top of this page for craft fairs I'll be attending soon. I also have 2 open house events coming up soon - if you're in the Manchester or Edinburgh areas, please do email me if you wish to attend - they will be relaxed, intimate social events and are the perfect way to start your Christmas shopping!
15 comments:
That stand looks FABULOUS Rebecca!
If you work out a way of punching holes into display cards consistently do let me know! I'm sure I'll be pinching a few of your tips for Perth ;-)
It looks amazing Rebecca!! Just beautiful and I am sooo jealous!! I am so happy you had a good day, it makes all the hard work so worth while! I have been taking card payment for 2 years now at craft fairs and that has made a big difference to my sales - people do like to use their cards, I am sure it will work out brilliantly for you. I did wonder where you could look out and see your customers and now I know!! You do need eyes in the back of your head at fairs, I know! Here's to many more successful days with your beautiful set up!
wow what an inspiration, Im sharing this all over the social networking sites, looks lovely well done you x
Love your way you present your great stuff! Hugs, Doris
Love this set up Rebecca but it would bother me too not being able to see what people are up to - and talk to them easily. I have been lucky in that all the shows I've done have been 2 tables with me in the middle so it didn't matter how high I made them. ...and I still don't understand why you won't take all those books with you! lol
I haven't gone to any craft fairs to sell my jewelry yet. Not sure how I'd set up, but I love your set up/look. As just an aside, if you liked the look of the books behind your set up in your first pic, you might look for some material that features books/library look and make a curtain to hang behind the crates and tables, then you have the same look. Congrats on your first credit card sale, too.
Congrats on a great market! Just curious, can you access Square in the UK or Intuit. These are super simple card readers that you use with just your Iphone and I know quite a few crafters who've had tons of success with them.
It looks fabulous. I think putting your earrings on cards was just what it needed actually. Though I wouldn't like to have my sight line blocked. Not only can you not keep an eye on thieves, it makes it inconvenient to talk to people. I'd want to be out front the whole time.
Your credit card set up sounds a bit complicated. Do you not have Square there? https://squareup.com/?gclid=CN_N6renl7MCFY1DMgodUEsAzA
Anyway, congrats on the new booth :)
I love it and especially the bottles and the wooden snack tray at the front, I remember setting them out with food for my mums partyplan parties lol! I know others have mentioned and yourself about light/dark areas, perhaps some natural cream coloured hessian or cotton to the back of the darker or lower backs of crates etc. The idea in a previous comment about the backgrounds screen showing books is a fantastic one and I will keep that in mind for the banners my other keeps talking about lol :D
I also meant to say that I never or hardly ever carry cash so the card payment facility is brilliant.
Rebecca, oh, I love how you've revamped your displays! The crates are lovely and eyecatching, and those glass bits and pieces are the perfect touch. I'd be a bit off too, I think, if I couldn't see over the displays...but that's an easy fix, I'd think ;)
When I do shows, yep, my displays are ever changing as I've got an addiction to Pinterest!
Great stand! As a customer, I like to see something different but eye catching. Being drawn to anything that reminds me of the sea, I particularly liked a jewellery stand i recently saw which had pieces of driftwood and aqua coloured chiffon for the table. Height is a must, as are natural looking props, I love the bottles you've used.
Deb x
Rebecca, I'm so happy to hear you had a successful day at the fair.
I've never had a stall at a fair so can't offer you any advice there, although I do kind of love the book back ground, maybe you can take an image of them and blow it up to a huge poster to use as a back drop!!
I do think the display looks great. I do know that I wouldn't want to be carting that log around though. So that you can keep the height of the displays, what about having the table against one side? Do you have multiple tables with this height? If so, you could place them on opposite walls (parallel to each other so that if a customer is facing the booth, the tables are on the right and left walls). And then another table with a low display or just your checkout table at the back wall.
Or, with two tall tables, they could be placed in an L shape and your station (chair, checkout) could be in a back corner. And if you need a third table, it could be short displays and next to you.
I've mostly done open houses at home and don't use any props. I use necklace stands to display the necklaces and use plexiglass risers (that I had custom made to my specifications) to vary the height. My earrings are on cards and go on copper stands that hold about 24 pairs. My bracelets I display on bracelet ramps. Not a very interesting display but since people are coming to my home to look at jewelry, it's been okay. I haven't needed to entice them to come in to look by providing an attractive display.
However, I am doing my first outdoor booth next month and while I don't want to collect a lot of props (storage concerns, money, and carting them to the show) I will need to make my booth more attractive. I do prefer necklace stands because they show off the jewelry nicely.
Regarding earring cards, I designed and print my own. I've printed little circles where I need to punch the holes. If you don't print your cards, you could make a template of one of your cards, lay it over the new card, and make pencil marks for the hole punch so that you can get consistent marks every time.
Lookin good! I drill my cards with a regular drill so I have a template so my holes are even every time.
I love the look of your hang tags, do you make them? Do you have them made? Do you have a close up shot?
I have an obsession with tags, boxes etc.
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