Today was the final day of The Heard Museum Spanish Market and it was highly successful for us – read on because I’m going to share tips!
It was very crowded and everyone was in the mood to shop. But not crazy kind of shopping, they were thinking about finding unique items for an affordable price. With 75 amazing Latino artists, they had a lot to choose from. We had to work very hard to make sure we stood out!
This is a different kind of event. The Heard wanted the artists to enjoy the event as much as the guests. They made sure of that. They had a fleet of happy volunteers. They came around all day with a push cart of water, coffee, and snacks for the vendors. Every time we’d see them coming up the aisle we’d rub our hands together and cheer, “The cart is coming! The cart is coming!”
As we set up this morning, I slightly adjusted the prices on some of our wares by a couple of dollars and it made all the difference. Instead of just buying one item, people bought several. We started with three tables jammed full of merchandise and ended up with one!
Here’s some tips for upcoming holiday vendors:
-Adapt your items and prices to what fits best with the crowd. Right now, people do want to buy, but they are choosing wisely. Just because your crystal sculpture has always sold for $200, doesn’t mean it will this year. So revamp it. Make a mini-version at a lower price point.
– Yesterday I sold my ornaments four to a set, wrapped in cellophane. They had a higher price because I wrapped them all pretty in a cool box. Today I ditched the cellophane and allowed people to pick and choose, and I gave the option of only buying one (best value came at four). Same with the magnets. People handpicked not just one, but often three, four and five ornaments.
Bring a friend to help you man the booth so you can do things like this:
I brought my tools to make my bracelets larger or smaller on the spot for customers with skinny or thicker wrists. I also brought clip earrings to switch out the pierced ones.
For our framed prints, I allowed people to switch the hand painted frames if they wanted.
We sold just the prints in case people didn’t want the frame.
We made colorful price signs for Patrick’s paintings and I made him sit in a chair and greet each person who stopped to look at them.
Incorporate something NEW to your line and then let your repeat customers know about it! This is crucial for people who do the same show every year. Chances are that there will be regulars who bought from you last year. You need to have “surprise” items that will make them buy again. and make it totally different. Different enough so they will notice right away and say “Wow! This is new, huh?!”
Great each person by looking them in the eye and saying hi. Share any details of the items they are interested in. For example :”We came up with that idea from a friend of our who loved cats…” or “My designs were featured in XYZ magazine…” Many times that is all it takes to make them say “Oh, I want them even more now!”
I used to spend a lot of time and money on the packaging of my art or jewelry, and I skipped it this year (except for the ornaments at first). I put the focus on the pieces themselves. Lower your costs (and your customer’s!) by passing up the pretty printed bags, tags, cello wrapping, tissue paper, the color-printed backing cards. All those details will save you time and money. People are buying your art for the craftsmanship, not the packaging.
Even if people don’t buy something, thank them for stopping by your booth and let them know about your web site.
Well, those are my tips! Take them or leave them! Thank you to the Heard Museum for another great year, and our families and friends who came and supported us. And all of YOU who sent me thoughtful wishes! I really appreciate it!!
See the new line of Crafty Chica products at HERE Amazon.com!! All content/photos copyright, © Kathy Cano-Murillo, 2008.
No wonder why you have been selling since the 1990’s. You are innovative, adaptive & you connect w/ your customers. Some people lose the latter aspect after they have “made it”. You are so humble aside from being extremely creative. Kudos to you. May you grow even more prosperous not only in wealth & health but in humility & prospective.
Great tips Kathy! Like the idea of sizing bracelets and offering clip-ons. Have a fair to do in a couple of weeks and will do that!