Monday, May 3, 2010

Our Market Debut

Yesterday the lovely Rosey and I had our very first stall in the Petrie Markets.Ah, the smell of success.Yesterday it was in the atmosphere along with smells like fresh air, camp fires, kettle corn and lavendar.



The day went very well, and lots of my creations have gone home with new owners. I sold 17 of my quilled cards (hmm, caught 18 fish, sold 17 cards...weird...)I will be very busy making more of the ones that sold, so more pretty cards will be available soon. If you missed out on one that you wanted, let me know via the email address to the right and I will make you one (keep in mind it won't be identical, I am doing this all by hand. But hours will be spent to make your card wonderful.).



By the end of the day the table was starting to look bare, so I'm hoping to make more than I had this time, so that I can keep placing more cards in the empty spaces as they appear.



I have learned lots from this experience. Like-
1: Bring a calculator next time. When you are all flustered and excited because you are making a sale, it takes longer to add up in your head, and that could look unprofessional. Plus it will just make the experience easier and I'll have more brain power to chat with.
2: Going by what sold early on in the day, I now know the style of items that sell best, and can focus on them.
3: Lots of stalls sell jewellery, so my little bit of jewellery was hardly noticed. None of it sold. I haven't decided for sure whether I will try to sell it there again, but clearly the cards are where my talents lie.
4: Get some sort of brochure-type stand to display the better cards in a way that will draw people in more. We did get lots of sales, but I think with more of the good stock and displayed better, it could do even better than that.
5: Wind is a factor. Don't have anything displayed on anything that can fall over due to the wind.
6: People are interested in quilling and it might be a good idea to sell starter kits and instructions, and perhaps even do some quilling while I'm there to show people how the cards are made. I'm going to start a "How To" page here on my blog too.
7: The Petrie Markets are wonderful. Beautiful place, great sounds and smells, fresh air, lots of families, delicious food and so many cool stalls there are too many to list. I sincerely recommend them.
8: Rosey is an excellent market buddy
9: People are nice. Thank you to all of our shoppers :)
10: People in my family who came out just to see my stall are the nicest. Thank you to my Mummy and my Grampa, my husband's Mum, Dad and sister Louise, to Kathy and Matt, and to Rosey's beautiful family and friends. You all helped our debut go very well, and you are all gorgeous.


My First Sale. An obvious choice I must say. I will be making lots more of these butterflies in lots more colours to sell at future markets and on my madeit shop.

We won't be at the markets every week, as my fingers just don't work fast enough to create that much stock, but we will go regularly, like once a fortnight or once a month or something. We haven't settled on the dates for sure just yet, but I'll of course be posting here when the next one is coming up. So stay tuned.


Stay gorgeous,

xnata

3 comments:

Anna Rosa Designs said...

Hi Nata,
Sooo glad to hear your first market with Aunty Rosey went well.
Sounds like you had way to much fun as well as selling your handiwork. What more can you ask for.
Looking forward to your tutorial.
Happy creating,
Hugs,
Anna

nart said...

Thanks Anna!

I will be preparing my first tutorial on quilling today, and it should be up either today or tomorrow, depending on how busy the day gets.

Selling feels good, this could become an addiction :)

xnata

ittybittyandpretty said...

it was soooo much fun!! very nice way to spend half a sunday :) i was very pleased and am keen for the 23rd (wish it could be sooner) of this month.
love your work nata, as did everyone that stopped by.
xxrosey