I am wondering if anybody makes money at craft fairs and if they do, where in the country they live and the type of prices they pay for a stall.
I just attempted what I thought would be a great family day out, which it was, at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex where there was a Antique, craft fair plus boot sale along with kids rides and live bands etc.
The Stall cost £40.00 and I made £28.00! With a loss of £12.00 before coffee and fuel. Three weeks ago I did a smaller craft fair for £20.00 where only 6 customers walked through the door, needless to say nobody made any money. And previous to that a very very large £150 two day stall in Brentwood Essex I made £25.00, with the loss of £150.00 plus fuel.
Talking to everybody else trying out all the different craft fairs or summer events, even food fairs are saying the same, nobody is covering their costs with the odd exception of the jewellery stalls just covering their money. Most people seem to have tried 3 -4 fairs at the most, because I am guessing, the crafter's cannot afford to keep on paying the money out with no return
I price my items cheaper at the fairs in the hope of bagging a sale on something like a cushion, and today as of all the markets I have done, the children want and love the skull n cross bone cushions but the parents say at £10.00 they at too expensive. I would love for them to try and buy the infill, fabrics and have change of £10.00 before they have attempted to sew it together.
Maybe I have just hit a low point and have lost all faith in British people buying British, especially as they seem to be banging on about it on the TV! People would rather go to Tesco buy their Matching aprons for under £5, made in India, (Baring in mind I put my half aprons down to £5). and then pop to Next for a £12.00 run of the mill cushion, made in China.
If British people don't support those crafter's out there, then there will be no crafter's, no craft markets, Christmas markets, no 'buying British' because people will just give up.
Moan over!!
Kx
I agree totally with what you have said, we need t make a stand fro British Crafters
ReplyDeletefeel free to moan away - you're totally justified!
ReplyDeletei had my first stall last autumn and was really lucky that i got it for free!!! i took 80 pounds that time and was really chuffed but other, more established, shops didnt seem to have done so well.
asking around, it seems almost pot luck as to how well someone will do at any event and unfortunately, there doesnt seem to be any rhyme or reason to it!
although i do totally agree with you that people have a tesco and primark attitude these days and do not seem to realise that well made British craft will cost money and is well worth it! in fact, most times they are getting a bargain!!!
i have my next stall coming up soon and it is costing me nearly 80 pounds so i do feel quite apprehensive.
wish i could have offered some insightful points instead of just ranting too!
:-{ I've often thought it must be a pretty tough way to get an income from crafts - bad news if its getting worse.
ReplyDeletePopped over from made4aid to say that you won the little red basket -so, if you can email me at made4aid@yahoo.co.uk about payment and postage, then we can get it to you as soon as poss!
That post could have been written by me! I've had exactly the same experiences as you. Yes - we are witnessing the death of the craft fair - sadly.
ReplyDeleteYou items are obviously too expensive. I go to Craft Fairs every week to sell my items and I never have a problem selling anything.
ReplyDelete