Last weekend I attended my first flea market. I got a table and brought all my finished projects I had at home. The weather was great and I got to meet so many nice and interesting people. My lovely husband came with me and sat by my side all day. While sitting at the table I made sure to keep busy and crochet and Knit new things so my head won’t rest 🙂 Kimmy the Kitty won the popularity contest between the customers 🙂
Here are some tips if you’re about to get a table on a flea market or a fair trying to sell some of your stuff:
- Have a variety of products and prices. Some customers are bargain hunters and are looking to spend $1-$5 and some will appreciate the uniqueness and will pay a handsome amount for the right product.
- KIDS ARE KEY. If you have a kid coming to the table, make sure to talk to them and have them touch and play with some of your creations. They will get their parents if they like something 🙂
- Print or write on paper important messages and tape them to your table (or make them visible). Let people know that you accept custom orders, accept credit-cards/checks/cash/PayPal and also give them your website address! That will save you some time with clearing our some basic questions and concerns for potential customers.
- Location, location, location – near entrance or near exit. You need to make sure that customers don’t come in without visiting your table so try and get a table that’s near the entrance or exit. Don’t fall for paying a few bucks less to get a table where no one would come by 🙂
- Make sure to have change. People like to pay cash and they expect their exact change back 🙂 Make sure to go to your local grocery store and break a $50 or a $100 bill beforehand to get some bills and change to make sure the transactions are smooth and pleasant for your customers. Good time to use that old piggy bank 🙂
- Bring business cards and give discounts/incentives to prospects. Some people won’t necessarily buy right there and then, but they might later on when they get home and go to your site. Make sure to hand out business cards and give them a coupon so they’ll have another reason to check your site out and follow through with a purchase.
- iPads are a great slideshow tool. As you know I have MANY patterns and since I create everything as the orders come in, I don’t have a lot in stock. Photos, although, I have plenty 🙂 Use your iPad or your favorite tablet and put it on Slideshow mode. Customers will appreciate the extra effort and that way you can show what you don’t have on your table.
- Don’t rush to put prices on your products. If customers don’t see prices instantly, they linger a bit more and you can get a chance to talk to them and give them more information about yourself and the products. It gives you a much better chance to close a sale. If you have though a nice bin/area of more commodity-like products with an attractive price (like $10 hats/scarfs) that would work great.
- Be prepared to bargain. A lot of people come to flea markets and fairs to get bargains so be prepared to price your items in a way that you won’t mind dropping the price a bit if the right customer comes in. Don’t sell yourself short though! If you worked hard on something, don’t let it go too fast just for a few extra bucks 🙂
- Smile and smile again 🙂 I smile most of the time anyway lol but new customers are not aware and don’t care about how many customers you’ve already talked to today, so make sure to ‘reset’ yourself when a new person comes along and give them full attention and great service.
