Good Selling Items For Fair?

[rawcustom]

Took a gamble this summer and applied for a local artists and craftsman fair. This is kind of a departure from my knifemaking, as I plan to display mainly leather based goods. The thought being that I already have a fairly healthy customer base for my knives, but haven't yet done much on the leather side.

So far I've made and held a couple minimalist style wallets, a nicer ladies wallet, and was planning to add a few more variations of these patterns and materials.

Looking for any suggestions on items that tend to sell well at these type of events. I know offering a few lower priced products is a good idea, so I was planning on some magnetic money clips.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

[DoubleC]

You already know everything I could tell you Raw. Lower price items are usually the bread and butter and a variety of items. Cheryl

[rawcustom]

Thanks DoubleC. I'm actually struggling more with ideas for the smaller items than anything. Fighting the line between simple and cheap versus junk or "I can make that myself" items. For instance, I have hard time believing key chains would actually sell, and I think coin purses have become close to extinct, but these are just my opinions as I've never tried to sell them.

[MonicaJacobson]

Maybe sunglasses cases, like this one Norman Cahn makes. My sis-in-law was just saying her sunglasses always get scratched up because she puts them in her purse without a case.

I have the same problem. Other people sell a lot of small items, but aside from bracelets, I never have. And the sizing on bracelets is so tricky, it didn't really feel worth it.

[rawcustom]

That sunglasses case is a good idea. Any lining it it?

[MonicaJacobson]

I don't think these are lined, but that's up to you. Lining would drive your price up, and the whole point is a low-priced item. My thinking is that any kind of protection is better than a purse filled with loose change, cell-phones, and keys.

[cgleathercraft]

Pocket knife sheaths, cell phone cases, Cast Iron pan handle cover (gonna make a couple of these for myself), archer arm guards (if archery is popular in your area)...anything that can fit in a pocket/purse/belt

[howie696]

Key tags with an initial - sell like hot cakes

[rawcustom]

Thanks everyone, you have given me a few more ideas to add to the inventory. Now all I need is to find the extra time to get them made.

Thanks again.

[zuludog]

I've never really thought about selling till now, so here are a few ideas, though I have hardly made any of them myself

Belt pouches, sometimes called 'possibles pouches'; look them up on Google

Pouches for pocket/folding knives, including horizontal carry; custom knife sheaths. Include a few knives to demonstrate

Key fobs; plain ones and some kind of stamp/creaser/brander/stylus so that you can put on an initial 'while-U-wait'

Dog collars; for the furry kind, not the religious kind!

Sharpening strops; a bit of cheapish wood & leather so people can sharpen pocket & kitchen knives. Take along a couple of cheap kitchen knives to demonstrate - Don't take anything expensive, it might get stolen. Take some polishing compound such as Autosol to sell for each strop, in something like an old 35mm film tub if you can still get them. Or demonstrate with an impressive looking Japanese kitchen knife, but keep your eye on it!

A large sign that you are willing to do repairs or commissions - dog collars, repair dog leads/leashes; wallets with initials, or zodiac signs, reduced to basic diagrammatic outline; repair belts or make to order; repair handbags & shoulder bags. Take along a couple for display, and see if you get any commissions/requests.

I'm British and I don't know much about guns, but it seems to me that there is a demand for holsters

Loads of flyers, business cards; an order & general contacts book - take lots of pens & pencils, you're bound to lose a few.

Make your own belt pouch/purse/money bag, a bit like the ones that in Britain, at least, bus conductors and milkmen used to use; it would be a shame to lose your takings or have them stolen, and will also advertise your wares & skill

Take along a bit of 3mm veg tan leather and a few tools & thread, and part made items so you can explain the difference between mass produced and handmade/handsewn. you never know, someone might be willing to pay you for some tuition.

It depends on how much business you want. For example; my main hobby is knife making, and leatherwork is a part of that, by making the sheaths. I sold 2 or 3 knives at a car boot sale last summer. One customer was very interested in my knives as he had a hardware shop, and wondered if I could make 25 to 30 a month. I had to turn him down, as I'm retired and do this for a hobby - probably one every month or two! but it shows that there is work/business available if you want it.

[MonicaJacobson]

Maybe sunglasses cases, like this one Norman Cahn makes. My sis-in-law was just saying her sunglasses always get scratched up because she puts them in her purse without a case.

11154701_1611933055718496_3071486606405342490_o.jpg

I have the same problem. Other people sell a lot of small items, but aside from bracelets, I never have. And the sizing on bracelets is so tricky, it didn't really feel worth it.

Oops, there might be intellectual property problems with copying this design. My bad. However, here are a few other similar items from google images:

[Desert Moon]

It may be different where you are but here in Maine there are not many leatherworkers so I do well at shows. I tend to sell simple cell phone cases, journals, a few belts, soft zippered pouches and my best seller anytime of year is sleigh bell straps.

[rawcustom]

Thanks to everyone who contributed. Although it would have been nice to sell more, I have to say it was a success since I walked away with more money than I started with. Learned a ton since this was my first time ever doing one of these, and I thought I would post a few observations to help out anyone else who tries one. Please feel free to add.

1. My biggest mistake was expectating other fellow humans to behave as I would or do. Personally, whenever I attend a car show, gun show, craft show, etc., I always take a good 'once over' on everything at an event before moving to the next step of purchasing anything, even food. I may not stop at each booth, but I make a point to walk by each and look over their setup, afterall that is why I am attending. Also I would never buy from a booth before my entire walkthrough because I want to be sure I'm spending my money in the best way possible. I would hate to find a similar item for cheaper, or an item I desired more only after having dropped my spending money on the first thing I saw. Now it is a biased observation, but both of my behaviors seem extremely logical to me (beacuse they're mine), and led me to assume that the vast majority of other humans would operate in a similar fashion.

Lesson Learned: Most people aren't like me. I now understand why used car lots have big inflatable signs, and why so many advertisements sparkle, move, and make noise. I like people, but it seems many are operating on more of a fish brain mentality, and are attracted to movement, and shiny objects. Also there seems to be no problem with buying the first item they see. My small booth size, combined with lack of signage was likely more damaging than I was expecting.

2. Like the saying goes "location, location, location". Now I'm not sure I could've changed this if I had tried since I had a spot assigned to me, but what a difference it can make. Since my first two assumptions listed above were failing miserably, I was becoming more and more intrigued with watching scores of people make their rounds on the perimeter booths, and never be seen again. I'm not sure if this is programming from grocery stores that stock essentials on the perimeter, or some other innate behavior, but it seemed very prevalent at this show.

Lesson Learned: If you can get a booth towards the entrance or the perimeter (close to the entrance), you're likely to have more attendance.

3. Signage is important but so is displaying your items so that people can see them as they walk past. Now I didn't have a table, but my items were laid down on a shelving type set-up, very unique set-up but required you to visit my booth to see my items. Better signage could've helped with bringing people over to inspect, but so would of having items displayed upright to where you could have a full view by simply walking by. Many people who did walk by, once again surprised me by not really looking at the booths. I made an effort to watch them in front of other booths as well so it was not strictly my own, and still many would walk right down the middle of a row talking to each other with maybe an occasional glance, and that's it.

Lesson Learned: Some potential customers are only going to give you part of a second to grab their attention. If you expect your goods to do this part of the job for you, you better have them highly and fully visible.

Lesson Confirmed: After the event, a photgrapher from the event posted 117 photos to the event's facebook page. Only 1 of the 117 photos was of my booth, and it was of a leather fishing journal I had made. The first and only comment for ~24hrs on this posting was on my leather journal saying "Wow, I must've missed this, who's booth was that?".

4. Interact with people and be happy to only give out business cards. In all reality I did this show to advertise for my leatherwork. My knifemaking has a dedicated base and although it is great to expand, it keeps me plenty busy as is. So really, as far as advertising goes, simply talking to people about my leather, and handing out business cards is about all I should expect, especially at my first show. I was fortunate and was able to make a few sales, but I also was able to talk with many people and that could pay off somewhere down the line.

Lesson Learned: Stay positive and be thankful for whatever you can. I found that standing in front of my small booth, greeting people was way more productive for my sales, cards, and just getting people to come over and take a look. The booths around me were "seasoned" artists and they sat behind tables and stands, one working on crossword puzzles as people filtered by. I'm sure they thought I was a green horn for my actions, and one may have been getting a little irritated that I was drawing people from his booth to mine, but honestly I didn't care. I was there to sell myself as well as my goods, and I've always hated those types when I am the customer. I can see where you could get discouraged since most people aren't ever going to buy, but simply greeting people to me sounds better than sitting on my ass doing a crossword puzzle.

Biggest Lesson Overall: People aren't like me (which is good because it keeps down the competition).

Thanks for all the prior tips and suggestions and hope this can help others avoid some of my pitfalls.

[snubbyfan]

I have personally found that my best selling item at area fairs and festivals is a simple unfinished leather pouch. I make them out of 2-3 ounce milled veg. tan.

I also have samples of my work and hand out lotsa cards.

Most of my sales are from orders after the event's over. Some are placed on the spot.

[Reegesc]

I did shows for a while and what I discovered was...

1. It's a whole lot easier buying than it is selling.

2. Putting a sign on my dog that says "$1 Hugs" doesn't work, but "Not For Adoption" does.

3. People are more fascinated with cool custom displays than what is in them.

4. Booth waiting lists are just a way to make you feel lucky about getting a crappy booth that nobody was waiting for.

5. Estimating there are 2,000 cars in the packed parking lot and multiplying it by the $10 parking fee is depressing.

6. Illegal parking is a lot quicker than calling the Show Assistance Line.

7. Food vendors will say "Not interested" before they even hear what you are willing to trade.

8. "Will ya take less than half for it?" is best answered with "No, but that Cuban Sandwich Vendor right over there likes to bargain".

9. The 3:2 Rule. Take two of everything but you will still end up using the third one that is at the house.

10. The 2:3:1 Rule. It will take two trips back to the house to get that third thing you forgot on the first trip.

[club49]

I just want to thank you all for your post on this subject matter. You saved me a lot of wasted time. I am planing to set up a table at a local Flee Market. This is a well known one in NJ, it is opened on weekends during the summer as far as I know. My plans were to take a few dozen belts that were all finished, except size. I am looking to make a little money to help pay for my materials.I have no notion on making money on this venture, I am only trying to break even. As you all can tell, I am a new comer to this fantastic art form. I love the work you all do, thank you all for being so helpful. After reading your post and seeing some of the things that you are making and selling, I have to rethink my strategy.Snubbyfan, you have some great stuff. You gave me some ideas that I am sure will help. I think I will wait until next year. I am retired, I have the time.

Jim