Great advice. I spent decades working information booths/tables at community events and this is spot on. My husband’s third career is as an artist. The advice to practice setting up your display days before an event is really important. You will find problems with the display, you will have all the equipment you need in one place, and you will feel more confident you are prepared. Key point, when you take this set up down keep everything you needed together and in the sequence you used it. You don’t want to get to the event and discover you left the tool critical to the assembly at home!
Oh yes, very good point, I have had the table cloth at the bottom of everything before and that was a right pain! Thanks for watching and contributing, it really helps xx
Thanks for this video, I have just started to do some markets and found your market prep videos very helpful. I just wanted to let people know I contacted the International Feltmakers Association about their insurance as it says "and associated textiles" in the blurb. It is not suitable if you sell other textile items as well as felted ones as they would not be covered if they are not predominately felted. I just thought would add this post just in case it can save anyone time as I ended up having to speak to the insurance company who undersign the policy to get this confirmed.
I found the same when I looked into it, I got jumped on in a chat when I asked about it so just went to IFA myself, it took a lot of back and forth but then established other crafts aren't covered so while I am still signed up to IFA I have gone through another company now to ensure I am fully covered 😊
@@feltsbyphilippa sorry for the confusion. I have updated my comment to say felt rather than needlefelt. The associated textiles means that a felt creation can have other items that are not felt attached or be part of the creation but wholly non felt items would not be covered by this policy. They also said If the Majority of the item is felt it would be covered but that felt item is sold as an accessory with another item and a claim was made against you for injury due to the main product then it would be for the claims department to take a view on the facts of the incident and it would be difficult to say which way the insurer would go.
On the card readers I have had lots of problems with them. I had one type and it totally stopped working the 2nd fair i did so it was terrible really and it really knocked me. I bought a different reader but it still has issues, however the one I have now does allow to swipe card on my phone as a backup which is also helpful, then theres using paypal as an additional backup too. Another thing to factor in, especially if its a church fair, is they often do raffles and come round asking if you want raffle tickets, it feels rude not to so factoring this in is important, its only minimal but can catch you off guard a bit. Bags can be simply done by ordering a bulk of stickers and getting bulk buy of different size paper bags, sometimes listed as paper lunch bags with handles I have also started taking some fibre and small stab mat along, i made a toadstool at the last one to show the process and as people browsed they were like "wow is that how you do it?" and opens up conversation too, with needlefelting people dont always understand how its made so the informal demo is my strategy for overcoming that a little, plus the make can then be sold on the next one 😉
These are overall excellent tips! With the snacks - it's common sense, but even though you need something to give you energy (because craft fairs are draining!) make sure it is something you can easily eat and will not be sticky etc. Good idea to bring wipes and tissues, always. And maybe a small mirror just to check for crumbs after you had a cookie :D I'm not sure insurance for craft fairs is a thing here in Austria. I never heard of it being necessary for vendors here. We do have different personal insurances (for accidents where others get hurt) that should cover it. (Unless you are the one responsible for the fair, there are other rules for hosting events, obviously.) I've also never seen someone with an option to pay with card here. I'm sure they exist, just I haven't noticed them. I never had anyone ask me if they could pay another way than cash. Think it is just clear to everyone that you have to bring cash to a fair. Most times we are able to get everything ready at the location the day/evening before. (one time we were the only ones the day before and got space for an extra table for my display. :D ) Of course that's only possible if the fair is close to where we live, or else it would just add expenses that of course we want to avoid. We're there to make money, not spend money. And gas prices are crazy. Better to spend a bit of money to support another vendor than blow it on gas. I used to have my prices on slips of paper and would them lay in front of the items. But because I am in some shops now I finally designed more professional tags and am tieing them to the item itself now. I still have to create the tags for everything, (because there is a picture of the actual item on the tag) but will be getting there. (and as always I have the approximate creation time on the tag, which is a good point of conversation with customers) If someone cannot afford real tags, don't overthink it. It can actually add to the charm and authenticity to have "unprofessional" tags in the beginning. People are aware that small business have to spend their money wisely and not everything will look like it does in the shops. Don't be insecure about it.
Fabulous list.. the only thing I would like to add to this is DON’T PACK UP EARLY! It’s disrespectful to other vendors, shoppers and the host. Great job Philippa I wish we lived in the same country I’d love to see your work in person.
Speaking from the point of view of a customer, tip number 6 about reading people's body language is excellent.
Thank you, it always makes me feel uncomfortable when stall holders launch into their sales talk too early and I am not ready to purchase x
Great advice.
I spent decades working information booths/tables at community events and this is spot on.
My husband’s third career is as an artist. The advice to practice setting up your display days before an event is really important. You will find problems with the display, you will have all the equipment you need in one place, and you will feel more confident you are prepared. Key point, when you take this set up down keep everything you needed together and in the sequence you used it. You don’t want to get to the event and discover you left the tool critical to the assembly at home!
Oh yes, very good point, I have had the table cloth at the bottom of everything before and that was a right pain! Thanks for watching and contributing, it really helps xx
Fantastic tips! I'm hosting a craft fair 8n a few weeks and I'm going to send this to all my vendors 😊
Wonderful! Glad you liked it and hope it goes well x
That was so helpful to hear and see those tips, thanks for sharing with us.
You are so welcome! Thank you x
Thank you for sharing your experience. Great helpful suggestions.
You are very welcome xx
Great thank you for sharing. It does boost the confidence for trying one in the future.
Thanks for watching and I hope you do go for it, they can be hard work but when it goes well it's a great feeling xx
Really good tips, thank you for sharing!
Thanks you ❣️
Thank you for the tips ❤
Thanks for watching ❣️
Thanks for this video, I have just started to do some markets and found your market prep videos very helpful. I just wanted to let people know I contacted the International Feltmakers Association about their insurance as it says "and associated textiles" in the blurb. It is not suitable if you sell other textile items as well as felted ones as they would not be covered if they are not predominately felted. I just thought would add this post just in case it can save anyone time as I ended up having to speak to the insurance company who undersign the policy to get this confirmed.
I found the same when I looked into it, I got jumped on in a chat when I asked about it so just went to IFA myself, it took a lot of back and forth but then established other crafts aren't covered so while I am still signed up to IFA I have gone through another company now to ensure I am fully covered 😊
Very interesting and thank you for adding it, I thought they would cover wet felted items too but it's good you have spoken to them, thanks so much x
@@feltsbyphilippa sorry for the confusion. I have updated my comment to say felt rather than needlefelt. The associated textiles means that a felt creation can have other items that are not felt attached or be part of the creation but wholly non felt items would not be covered by this policy. They also said If the
Majority of the item is felt it would be covered but that felt item is sold as an accessory with another item and a claim was made against you for injury due to the main product then it would be for the claims department to take a view on the facts of the incident and it would be difficult to say which way the insurer would go.
Excellent, that's good news, thanks so much for the clarification xx
On the card readers I have had lots of problems with them. I had one type and it totally stopped working the 2nd fair i did so it was terrible really and it really knocked me. I bought a different reader but it still has issues, however the one I have now does allow to swipe card on my phone as a backup which is also helpful, then theres using paypal as an additional backup too.
Another thing to factor in, especially if its a church fair, is they often do raffles and come round asking if you want raffle tickets, it feels rude not to so factoring this in is important, its only minimal but can catch you off guard a bit.
Bags can be simply done by ordering a bulk of stickers and getting bulk buy of different size paper bags, sometimes listed as paper lunch bags with handles
I have also started taking some fibre and small stab mat along, i made a toadstool at the last one to show the process and as people browsed they were like "wow is that how you do it?" and opens up conversation too, with needlefelting people dont always understand how its made so the informal demo is my strategy for overcoming that a little, plus the make can then be sold on the next one 😉
Excellent extra tips and advice, thanks so much for adding them, it all really helps xx
These are overall excellent tips!
With the snacks - it's common sense, but even though you need something to give you energy (because craft fairs are draining!) make sure it is something you can easily eat and will not be sticky etc. Good idea to bring wipes and tissues, always. And maybe a small mirror just to check for crumbs after you had a cookie :D
I'm not sure insurance for craft fairs is a thing here in Austria. I never heard of it being necessary for vendors here. We do have different personal insurances (for accidents where others get hurt) that should cover it. (Unless you are the one responsible for the fair, there are other rules for hosting events, obviously.)
I've also never seen someone with an option to pay with card here. I'm sure they exist, just I haven't noticed them. I never had anyone ask me if they could pay another way than cash. Think it is just clear to everyone that you have to bring cash to a fair.
Most times we are able to get everything ready at the location the day/evening before. (one time we were the only ones the day before and got space for an extra table for my display. :D ) Of course that's only possible if the fair is close to where we live, or else it would just add expenses that of course we want to avoid. We're there to make money, not spend money. And gas prices are crazy.
Better to spend a bit of money to support another vendor than blow it on gas.
I used to have my prices on slips of paper and would them lay in front of the items. But because I am in some shops now I finally designed more professional tags and am tieing them to the item itself now. I still have to create the tags for everything, (because there is a picture of the actual item on the tag) but will be getting there. (and as always I have the approximate creation time on the tag, which is a good point of conversation with customers)
If someone cannot afford real tags, don't overthink it. It can actually add to the charm and authenticity to have "unprofessional" tags in the beginning. People are aware that small business have to spend their money wisely and not everything will look like it does in the shops. Don't be insecure about it.
Excellent extra tips and advice, thanks so much Chloe xx
Fabulous list.. the only thing I would like to add to this is DON’T PACK UP EARLY! It’s disrespectful to other vendors, shoppers and the host. Great job Philippa I wish we lived in the same country I’d love to see your work in person.
Thank you so much and a great extra tip, it's in the rules for most of the craft fairs I go to but definitely good to highlight it xx