Fresholi | Melting Pot Café

Today was a complete wash out at the first day of a craft fair in Helmsley. Though the regular stall holders were complaining it was quiter than normal, there was a decent amount of traffic through the fair but sadly my stall seemed to be wearing a giant cloak of invisibility. All day, literally 5 people approached the stall, barely anyone even glanced in out direction despite us being OPPOSITE THE ENTRANCE and one person made a purchase. £6 to show for the whole day!  :'(

Not particularly relishing going back tomorrow but I really want to try and scrape back some of our table cost. And the lady next to us is selling really pungent incense which has been giving me a headache all day. Grumble grumble.

Ok, whinge over. I will be all sunshine and positivity for tomorrow!

take an oil warmer with you and light it? The smell sometimes helps to lure people over....I used to take wax melts for that.

oh - and you need some of these

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Thanks - you're cheering me up already.  :)

Aw honey, I'm sorry. Helmsley is so lovely too, would have thought it would have been a good venue. Who are the organisers? Does the incense lady sell helicopters too? Big hugs, hope tom is better  (:hug:)

This works - I can vouch for it. We have electricity on our stall now so we use an electric vapouriser.

Also, people are inattentive and in a hurry.  And up their own arses to be frank. If you can just print out some signage tonight that says HAND MADE SOAPS, it will help. Also flag up any other products you sell. A lot of people don't use soap, alas.

I totally sympathise. It sounds like when we started at Spitalfields. It was like we slipped into a dimension where soap was a dirty word. But we learned a lot.

This is not original advice but make your stall as eye catching as possible and try to get things up on different levels using boxes, cases, shelving - anything you've got. If you've got pretty, glittery scarves or anything, take them in. Don't worry about your stall looking like a tart's boudoir. People are superficial and have NO attention span. Make it into theatre.

Thrust  your best smelling testers at anyone who comes near.
But above all, pump out those scents. If you have two oil burners, take two! Or three!
And if sales are still poor, don't blame yourself. You did your best.

I was so shocked at how tough it is out there. But never despair! There is always a way to raise your game.

Very, very best of luck tomorrow.
 Give 'em hell!!

Ok for a person who never had a market stall I don't really have a right to comment.. but I do some promo work in my full time job for prospective students and that involves me standing at a table and talking, talking, talking and answering all the questions in the world.  The best thing I've learnt is stand in front of the stall at times, as people walk by say hi, how are you ... would you like to have a look at our things? Did you know that.... and throw out some fab tips.  You are inviting people into your space, direct eye contact is so useful and people react much better when you engage with them like this. 

Just my tuppence worth!

Oh  bless ya, it's very disheartening isn't it, I know when I've done Mind Body and Spirit fairs and people say oh Reflexology, I don't like feet, and I think grr, I'm the one touching them not you lol

Best of luck for tomorrow you WILL do well  :buttrf:

Hope you do better tomorrow xx The most important thing to do is smile loads! More people will approach someone with a friendly, welcoming smile :)

Good vibes for tomorrow Em!!

Do you do body butters, creams, balms etc as well as soap?

My other half says as soon as you've got them to rub some on themselves and smell it, a sale is almost sure to follow. At that point the punter quite often buys a soap instead/as well.

His analysis is that there is something quite intimate about rubbing in a body butter etc. It creates a sort of emotional connection... Which he then exploits ruthlessly.  :mwaha:

In any case, all the advice about smiling, chatting, *engaging*, is absolutely right. Don't sit there reading a book!

Hello there and sorry to hear that things didn't go well. I dont actually sell at the moment but i have worked in sales for a few years selling Clinique at a counter and if it was me this is what i would do tommorrow as well as what the others have said.

Take a couple of bars of 2 of your best selling soaps. Cut them up into very small slices and if you are really quiet ask people if they would like to try a piece of your hand made soap.

Make sure you say the word free, people love a freebie and it will get them to come over even if its just to decide which fragrance out of the 2 they want to try. Give them it with a card/leaflet whatever you have and hopefully they will start tolook at your other things while they are there.

At worse you will lose out on what it costs to make a couple of soaps but usually this approach will get people interested and even if they dont buy there and then if they like the sample they might repurchase.

Sorry for the long reply and you probably already know all this just thought id try and be helpful. Good luck x

sorry to hear about the poor sales, hopefully tomorrow will be better.. Definitely  some great tips in this thread!

Oh dear... I am so sorry  :(

I know this is really late and you probably have already left by now for today's show but I was thinking, at fairs and other similar events, if you can get people talking, it arouses the interest of others, who want to know what the people you are talking to are so fascinated in. 

Why not take along some raw ingredients.  Butters grab the interest of people for some reason (I know this myself whenever I have someone around and they want to know what's what and the shea and cocoa seem most curious to them).

If you can grab someone's attention, show them the oils/butters and other good stuff that goes into the products, so they don't just see a bar of soap, they begin to see the qualities and understand the benefits etc....  Let them touch, feel and smell the ingredients.  Most people (I find) seem really curious about them.  People passing by, are bound to slow down and try to earwig, at which point, draw them in too.  If you are genuine & passionate, it will rub off.  If you can find a way for people to sample/use your products, there and then, then I would do it - rather than give them a sample to walk away with.  If you can grab the interest of a few, it can become quite viral, as others may want in on the action too because nobody likes to be left out  :)

I really hope that today is a better day for you  :buttrf: :buttrf:

Fingers crossed for today Em. we've all been there (and more than once sadly).

These are all good tips. Smiling and being chatty works well, and I always say 'feel free to have a wee sniff and try the butters' or something like that. I makes them look up and smile and start chatting (usually).

However, i have been at places where you've sold so little, you KNOW you're not going to sell any more that to be honest, I don;t knock my pan in just to try and make a £2 sale for a bar of bargain soap. (usually places like school fairs/church halls )

I know a crafter who makes beautiful glass beads but she can spend 10 minutes often more with someone telling them about how she makes her products and at the end the customer buys a bead from  the bargain basket. All that work for £1.

Best of luck for tomorrow.

Will be thinking about you today, Em - hope it goes better for you! I can only echo what others have said and I particularly like Helen's idea of taking the raw materials to show people!

Hope today is going to be a better one for you  (:hug:)

Hi Em

Sorry yesterday was rubbish, just saw the thread now, so can't offer any advice ( think you've had it all anyway)

Hope today is much better :buttrf:

Hope todays a better day for you Em, it can be so depressing when things go poorly.

I always tell folk to feel free & have a sniff too & have wee sample pots of the body butters at the back of the stall so potential customers can try some first  (only if I'm handing them the sample scoop or they will dip fingers into unattended pots). I've also found standing works better than sitting behind the stall, especially as my tiered soap stand is quite high so people may not see me & I can engage them more easily if I can see them too.

This can be a tricky month sales wise, folk are only just starting to think about the christmas shopping & money is tight for many. Having said that, there seems to be no rhyme nor reason why sales are better some days than others.

Don't be too disheartened by a poor day tho, we all get them!

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Sally x

Good luck today, Em. :buttrf:

Eire

Good Luck Em - I hope you have a much better day than yesterday.... :buttrf:

Thanks everyone, you've offered loads of great advice!

Yesterday was better but not good enough to make up for Saturday. I ended 50p short of my table money. At least not the MAJOR disaster it was looking set to be.

It was a mixed bag for the other stall holders. Some did very well indeed, especially the lady with handsewn goodies. Some others, like me, didn't make table money. There was a good steady flow of potential customers but many just not buying or interested in my wares. This being a fair in town that people just pop into, they don't necessarily come with any intent to buy, just to peek in.

I would consider doing it again as it was a nice event and with all your handy hints might do better. Sadly the other weekends before Christas thet it's on I'm otherwise engaged (blooody uni at weekends!) so will have to wait til next year.

I didn't have an oil burner on (I only have candle ones and though that a H&S no no) but I did dot tissues with my Christmassy blend around the stall and I think that did help. Annoyingly the really srong odour of next door's incense was actually putting people off from spending much time looking round, we heard people complaining it was too sickly as they were leaving.

I haven't let it get me down too much - we all have to have bad events sometime and I'm very fortunate that this was my first. Helen - I will definitely take your advice of bring some raw ingredients with me, that's a superb idea to get people engaged. I do always encourage people to use the testers and talk to them about how it's made, so that will just bring it to life.

My next one (York) is in middle of November so there may be more Christas gift purchases going on. However, I've been warned that one can be a wash out too... Will come prepared, all singing, all dancing! In the meantime I'll be getting the keys to my new market vaults Hobbit Hole and painting it up all lovely!

ah, sad for you it didn't go well, it seems a bit hit and miss with how folks do with their stalls  :-\

I just wanted to say I really like Helen's idea of having some raw materials out, I think that would really emphasise how special small producers products can be, made from real ingredients and are lovely in their own right, and also showing the skill it takes to put them together to make a product.  :buttrf:

I  would be seriously considering complaining to the organisers and requesting a partial refund bacause the incense stall stopped people from buying your produce. I would be really livid. People probably thought the 'orrible pong was your stuff, not the incense! it sounds really skanky. You might as well have a pile of dung by your stall :(.

Maybe it's just me but I always associate bad incense with dirt and slovenliness as that is so often what it is used to mask. And you need an atmosphere of freshness and cleanness!!

It was stupid and unfair of them to put you there. I bet it was the kind of crap they sell round Brixton.

When I've been booked at Craft Fairs, I have always asked that they do not put me right next to the Cake Stall or someone else selling fragrant items - you'd think it would be a good position to have, but I think it is unfair to the cake people to have fragrances wafting from my bath bombs etc in their direction. I've never been refused, so perhaps next time it would be an idea to contact the organisers and ask politely if you could have a table next to someone whose products are unfragranced and aren't food-orientated.

I found that when I'm placed next to a candlemaker or something else with strong scents my sales drop.  I prefer to be by the food area believe it or not because people look while they are standing in line. :mwaha:

same as Lindy here - my things don't smell as strong as a certain shop, so it isn't usually a big deal. But the food stalls are always busy and people are hanging around. Mostly they are just looking and sniffing though, rather than buying....

Nothing else on earth smells as strong as a certain shop.

Never mind, Em. It is sure to be better tomorrow