disappointed

[Chippygeoff]

Last Saturday I attended a huge agrigulture event. I had been looking forward to this particular event for some months. I knew that there wpould be a lot of people there as there were so many attractions. There were lots of horsey events taking place throughout the day, there were birds of prey, vintage cars etc, rows of trade stands and many other attractions.

The evnt was only 15 minutes from home, arrived in brilliant sunshine that lasted all day, found the huge marquee where the craft fair was being held. As I walked in I found my two tables right in the entrance, could not have been in a better spot. Anticipating how busy it would get I took my son with me. We took plenty of food and drink as i did not want to pay £4-50 for a burger or £3 for a cup of horrible coffee.

I had spent weeks building up a huge stock of everything and the car was loaded to full capacity. We got everything all set up and soon after people started drifting into the marquee, by 10am it was heaving with people and this is how it was all day long right up to 5pm when we started to pack up. It was probably the worst event I have ever attended on this sort of scale. thousands of people passed through the marquee and at the end of the day all I had taken was £70, talk about a tight fisted bunch. Many of the other stalls who attend every year said how poor it was and they were well down on previous years. I was really expecting to take a few hundred. I think I will give this one a miss next year. I have three more big events booked up so far this year so hoping to do better next time.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Sorry to state the obvious, but people just haven't the readies.

 

[jonluv]

Hi Geoff,
Know how you feel , over the years seen a gradual decline of unit sales values. As mentioned before I no longer make anything that sells for over £20 , (except for well known American motorbike plaques and house signs).

This weekend I am at a big show and have decided to experiment with one of my tables having nothing over £5 on it jigsaws, toys ,key rings some segmentation and bitty pyrography. I can do this because I am lucky and don't pay for the wood I have used.
I could be guilty of devaluing the stuff I make but my "kick" is just making the stuff and I have to do something with it as I have loaded friends and family scroll/pyro bits

Some shows can be amazingly good but unfortunately they are becoming rare

However keep smiling


John

 

[mseries]

The tight fisted bunch maybe splashed out on £4.50 burgers and £3 cups of coffee and had nothing left for you pieces.

 

[nadnerb]

Hi Geoff
Sorry to hear about your agri day, its horrible when that happens. I have one word that will pee some people off but I am going to say it anyway. FARMERS, I don't know what Welsh ones are like but over here the are the meanest bunch, especially the older ones. They would argue all day over tuppence!!
Regards
Brendan

 

[ChrisR]

Geoff.

Not much consolation I know, but your tables look impressive.

Take care.

Chris R.

 

[ardenwoodcraft]

Hi Geoff,
Do you mind me asking if you accept payments by credit or debit card when you attend these events?

I have found that these days people tend not to carry a lot of cash but are willing to buy items with their credit / debit cards if you can accept them. Even when I sell items to my work colleagues they don't all have the cash but are happy to put purchases on their plastic.

 

[Bodgers]

Sorry to state the obvious, but people just haven't the readies.

I would disagree. I just think it is a case of expectations. Most, people expect bargain basement prices at these kinds of events.

If millions of people in the country can afford an iPhone, then they will part with money, for sure.

The tight fisted bunch maybe splashed out on £4.50 burgers and £3 cups of coffee and had nothing left for you pieces.

 

[CHJ]

Were the craft stalls basically offering a repeat of the same products as last year?

Were any offering something different or in tune with the latest Home and Wear fashion magazines or products featured in recent local Countryside Magazine articles?

There's a reason high street shops or local garden centre type outlets limit their stock selection to a six or eight week window to attract the impulse buyer.

The majority of folks attending such shows probably did so last year and the year before that, unless it's a supplier of a commodity such as prime cheeses, local speciality cider or something that will have naturally deteriorated or been consumed they are unlikely to buy another copy unless it happens to be for 'aunt Mable' who admired the little gismo they found last year.

I say this as someone who does not 'do craft shows as a seller' but as someone who has purchased items or been accompanying someone who has purchase items from such shows.

I would go as far as to say 75 % of stalls are just repeats of a theme seen at numerous events, so much so that they are very much like the average high street parade, much the same as the next town/show, I think there is a need for something different, a change of emphasis to pull the snap buyer in.

To make respectable money I think the items have to be one offs, unique or significantly different items, of a significant quality to stand out as worth the 'blowing of that little windfall' because it hits a cord as a special gift for someone or that will mean there's no chance that the guests to the next dinner party or local ladies fund raising coffee morning won't have seen or purchased just the same last month.

 

[Chippygeoff]

Ardenwoodcraft. I do not take credit card payments but some of the other stall holders do at my regular craft fair and only twice in recent years have I been asked to take a card payment and one of the other stall holders helps me with this when it crops up.

Thanks to everyone else who made a comment, especially Chris.

Chas. Many of the people coming into the marquee had never seen scroll saw work before and it's the same at my regular craft fairs. The thing is people cannot buy what I make in any shop so everything on display is unique in it's own way and everything is finished to the highest standards I can achieve and many have commented on the quality. Half the stalls in the marquee were there for the first time while the rest were regulars and selling ehat they normally sell,such as fabrics, prints, jewellery etc. but all the stall holders are always improving on their stock and always introducing new items. The stalls selling cakes, jams, chutney's etc tend to stick with the same items as they have proved very popular and people come especially to buy these items.

 

[kfenelon]

I make children's toys and they are finished in bright colours and believe me they do sell very well

 

[kfenelon]

Picture of my stand

 

[Bryan Bennett]

Hi Geoff
Sorry to hear that you had a bad day,it must be upsetting to have put put the effort in for no reward.I hope that the trend doesn't continue and it improves.

Bryan

 

[doctor Bob]

Fashion comes and goes, for the last few years things have been quite minimalist........... clutter free, light colours. I don't feel your products fit with this modern look.

A bit like no one buys cathederal arch kitchen doors anymore, flat panel and shaker and neutral paints are the main sellers.

Being ultra harsh, I don't know anyone who would buy those products, tee light holders, "DAD forever in our hearts" etc. Yet they spend hundreds online on similar gear but funked up a bit or painted.

Your word signs are all varnished, have a look on line and in stores and they are all paint finished, fresh whites and funky colours, fair cop being unique but if it isn't selling you need to look at your product.

"Not on the high street" is a fantastic online site to see how a business can push out a huge amount of tut to the masses.

 

[Chippygeoff]

Dr Bob. You obviously have no conception of scroll saw products and you are very wrong with your views. I work with many other people who do the same thing as me and we are always updating our products to keep with with what the people want. None of my products are varnished, most are waxed polished and outdoor items are either lacquered or treated with Danish oil. If people want to buy painted items then they can visit the many stores that sell them. T light holders are very popular and I sell them every week along with many name signs. All of the things that I make sell very well and it is not the product but the people, the old saying is very true, youcannot please all of the people all of the time and as with all craft fairs and all stall holders it is down to the people that come through the doors. At the end of the day my sales reflect on how popular my items are.

 

[doctor Bob]

Dr Bob. You obviously have no conception of scroll saw products and you are very wrong with your views. I work with many other people who do the same thing as me and we are always updating our products to keep with with what the people want. None of my products are varnished, most are waxed polished and outdoor items are either lacquered or treated with Danish oil. If people want to buy painted items then they can visit the many stores that sell them. T light holders are very popular and I sell them every week along with many name signs. All of the things that I make sell very well and it is not the product but the people, the old saying is very true, youcannot please all of the people all of the time and as with all craft fairs and all stall holders it is down to the people that come through the doors. At the end of the day my sales reflect on how popular my items are.

OK, good luck. I just never thought it was possible to group tens of thousands of people together, in a reasonably random way, who are all tight. For example you can't say they are all tight farmers, as I go to country shows and have no involvement in farming.
True I have no concept in scroll saw products but I do run a business and know what is happening in fashion tastes. Finally I don't understand why you would say "If people want to buy painted items then they can visit the many stores that sell them", why not at least paint a few items and see whether they sell better. I understand principles, but if you are out to sell goods why not maximise your chances? I won't comment anymore as my intentions were meant to be constructive but maybe I didn't word them too well. I wish you well and admire your skills.

 

[Bryan Bennett]

Mr Grumpy seems to me a well chosen word for you,It may be a way of bringing your business to our attention but rest assured I for one will NOT be looking for you on face book ever.

Bryan

 

[doctor Bob]

Mr Grumpy seems to me a well chosen word for you,It may be a way of bringing your business to our attention but rest assured I for one will NOT be looking for you on face book ever.

Bryan

Bryan, please expand on what I have done to upset you, I don't think I've been promoting my business. I'm not aware of asking anyone to look at my facebook page. I think the majority of people on this forum would be aware I have a business as I have held open days at weekends, had woodworking clubs tour my workshops in the evenings, had members come and look at machines. Given demonstations to members to help them use machines safely, given away free bits of equipment which were surplus to requirements. If having a signature to my business is what is upsetting you then speak to the moderators, if they ask me to remove it then I will.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Chippygeoff - it does seem a little odd to post moaning that you're not selling anything, then when someone makes perfectly honest observations (that you didn't happen to like) jump down his neck telling him how well your stuff sells?
Incidentally, I find signatures and avatars (especially moving ones) irritating, so no longer have them visible.

 

[Chippygeoff]

Dr Bob. Over many years I have attended hundreds of events, big ones and small ones. The event I referred to in my post was a big event attracting thousands of people and as takings go for such an event I was very disappointed at the end of the day. I can attend a much smaller event and take £400 with only a few hundred people coming through the doors. I just put the bad day down to the people attending being tight fisted but there were probably other reasons. One reason that I became aware of towards the end of the day was that the venue was in a very Welsh speaking part of Wales and had I more items on display in the Welsh language I may have done a lot better.

Re-painted items. I really don’t have the time to produce painted items, they are very time consuming to make. I am struggling to keep up with the workload I have at the moment and it will not ease up until Christmas. I only have 2 tables to display my things at the craft fair and cannot display the full range of items I produce. Painted items in shops tend to be made from MDF and to achieve a good finish is very difficult in the small workshop, the factory’s that churn it out have professional painting equipment, which is beyond most peoples reach who use a scroll saw.

I appreciate your comments were said in good faith, I just happened to take some of them the wrong way.

Phil.p. I did not say I was not selling anything. All the things I make sell very well. It was the fact that on that particular day I mentioned in my post I did not sell very much, or not as much as I anticipated I would. If you were familiar with the craft fair world you would know that now and again we have a bad day despite the number of people that come through the doors.