Note to self; Try to avoid doing it in a heatwave
This last week I did a market stall for one day. My local town market has a stall you can use for £6 a day, up to 4 days a month. What a wonderful opportunity! Considering last year my anxiety was so bad that I was unable to leave the house, things have dramatically improved! I took the opportunity to push forward with my dream shop.
This was Magical Doorways first day out, as it were. Some of the items have been on Etsy over a year, though not terribly successfully as Etsy is now full of resellers and not handmade makers. I spent about 5 days preparing and making news items, and I was so excited. To avoid disappointment, I set my goal at 1 sale (But hoping for more)
Two days before the market I felt a bit burnt out, which is somewhere I really need to not go back to after still recovering from severe burnt out... So I had to stop doing anymore and just do all the price tags and labels and picked out clothes from my Ebay shop. I underestimated how long this would take and stayed up until 11pm the night before the market.
In the days leading up, I made;
15 butterflies on sticks
5 butterfly tassels
50+ tags and labels
7 painted mushrooms
3 painted glass bottles
10 brooches
1 more pair of earrings
Finnished 3 miniature kits
1 pinecone house
The day of the market
I was very excited and got up extra early. I got there at half 8 and was all set for 9am.
The day started off with a few people walking past, and a few people stopping by for a chat from nearby stalls, all of whom were lovely and very welcoming.
A few friends stopped by to support me and I saw a few people I knew and had a chat, but as the day went on past 11am, things got quieter.... and quieter and hotter.... and hotter. I am very much a colder person so was very uncomfortable. Other stall holders said it was never that quiet and I was unlucky to have come first on such a day.
Total
Customers: 3
Sales: 5
Phase one : Show people I have a shop ☑
Phase two : Make money ☒
Phase three: Reflect ☑
I packed up at half 3 and slept for several hours when I got home. Then someone I knew contacted me on Facebook in the evening to buy a few items, which I posted the next day, which cheered me up immensely.
The weather was just not on my side, there was nobody there to see my items for sale, but I hit my target of 1 sale. Overall, I just about broke even. In some ways I lost 4 days to preparation but the items still exist and I will list all the new items on Etsy, and possibly look for a better website to sell on!
Being honest about the experience, it was very disappointing. It was tiring, stressful & lonely. It is one thing selling things or struggling to sell things home alone, but there is a bit of a sharp edge to selling things in public or.... struggling to sell things in public. There's no screen to hide behind!
I will do it again though, and I have enquired about selling at a craft fair later in the year.
I am confident that my stall looked pretty and that I have lovely items, it's just nobody saw them!
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