The wee fair I did today was awful, it was just a local school so I wanted to support them.
Loads of tables selling stuff...lots of crap, though it was advertised as a craft fair it looked like people had emptied their lofts and garages, and despite having the best spot I came away with under £30!
Realistically I didn't expect to sell tonnes of stock but thought I might pick up some sales for teachers gifts, you know, small stuff.
I've got another 8 fairs before Xmas, ranging from other small ones to bigger markets, I wonder if I should shift my effort towards sellling into shops, then they can have the hassle of selling it and not me!
I even reduced my creams by 25% for the day, sold only 2!

Having done a wide range of shows this year in lots of places, I'm certainly going to look back in Jan and have a good think about which ones I will do in 2010, a lot are just not worth it!
Is it just the recession? Any seasoned crafters that were out before it hit, was it better then?
Will this pass?

That's a shame Corrie.

I'm wondering if there are just too many Craft Fairs around - particularly as some organisers seem to take anything - and besides being spoilt for choice of which to go to people are also put off going becase of the rubbishy ones.

I can't imagine how much hard work goes into doing fairs and it must be soul destroying when this happens.  I would imagine that some fairs are better than others and I would guess the weather plays a role in the turnout.  Sorry it was pants C 

Very true that a small craft fair maybe doesn't have the draw of the bigger, well advertised ones, where people do come to buy. I'm sure Keilly could add to this.
I actually applied to do a Christmas shopping event which is just across the water and was told I needed to apply in the springtime and have my products vetted before they would accept me.

Friends also have done a weekend event at Haddo House and it was great for them, these kind of fairs seem to get their advertising right, because they have high stall fees to pay for it.
You get what you pay for!

Keilly does some very big and really small events.  Sometimes she is buzzing from the smallest event and hugely disappointed at the larger, expensive events.  I think (and I am sure she will elaborate/correct me) that she has now weighed up which of the larger events are worthwhile and which aren't, but I think that has come from doing these events year upon year.

well I certainly wasn't selling before the recession, so I can't say - but I did a shocking craft fair a couple of weeks ago, so I can commiserate!!!

Jones called in the Craft & Food Fair in the Sports Hall of Glyndwr Uni, Wrexham this afternoon.

Very few customers, he bought a steak & ale pie and a piece of cheese (no stand with soap & stuff).

None of the craft fairs or farmers markets I have attended (not many!) have been particularly successful either for me or the other stall holders. The regular craft fair I have had to cancel 2 dates because of poor attendance. To day, at a farmers market, the hand made chocolate people next to me sold one item! They went to a Harrogate event last week and said it had been a disaster. The bread people across the way usually sell out but still had half a stalls worth left.
Certainly there is a lot of poor quality, bought in stuff in some places, but I sometimes think that car boot sales encourage people to expect really low prices and may be not everyone can differentiate between the two.

I'm sorry you didn't have a great day Corrie. I was talking to some fellow stall holders today and they were saying there's no rhyme or reason for why things sometimes go well and then the same venue and same day of the week can be really poor. At least you can be confident that it's not your product, they are beautiful, just the wrong venue.  :buttrf:

Aother site I go on ar saying that their interne sale are going through the roof, ebay, etsy, folksy. Do you think people are getting too lazy to actaully get of their butts and go out? Or perceve that they wil get a bargain online as in their eyes some of the craft fairs are expensive, fees to get in and also as they have no idea of the time and background on crafts as to the real costs, so se them a expensive?

Hopefully towards the end of the month the fairs should pick up.  I do hope so for everyones sake.

sorry you had a bad day
maybe wolfhound has a point about car boot sales. especially if the other stalls were car booty-ish.
similarily if an event has high standards ( at having stuff vetted though!) and draws in an interested crowd you'd be forgiven for expecting intersted customers 

Am I being very controversial to say I don't think I'd mind being vetted. Admitedly I've not been asked for any of my forth coming events, but I think it'd give me confidence that I was attending a quality event and avoiding car-booty type's of gigs. That's assuming I passed the vetting of course! 

No, I wouldn't mind having my stuff vetted either, it shows they are seriously interested in what goes on show and how it's presented. I had to be vetted on 2 occassions for the current craft troupe I hang out with, first time by someone who makes rocking horses and another that makes cards and the second time by another soapmaker (yeah, that was bitchy, we don't see eye to eye)!
Today's fair was a bit car booty, I've never been to a fair where I've had to compete with 2nd hand toys, dolls & games 

I did a couple of car boot fairs this summer. I did take my soap stuff along and also car boot things. I sold hardly any of either. I spoke to some of the professional car boot traders and they said they had a dismal summer, hardly any sales and many things stolen. I ended up giving most of my stuff away to one of the professionals who was really helpful and was working on behalf of a charity shop. I couldn't even sell books, which is something that always goes, especially as I was offering them at 40p each or 6 for a pound. I sold 12 books over 3 car boot sales.....

I think people are more thoughtful of what they are buying as money is tight. But with xmas approaching, things should move a bit ?

Farmers markets in general have been in decline over the last year. I think everyone is waiting for the early sales for xmas shopping, which there will be. I reckon the final two weeks on the run up to christmas is when people will spend and mostly on the final few days, panic buying. If you can get the wholesale accounts, even if they are only going to be seasonal, jump on it. By the time you pay yourself, there probably be anything in the difference. Just don't wholesale in the areas where you really think you have a chance of market retail mark up.

Eire