August 06, 2007

Marin Farmer's Market - Round 1

Okay, okay, I know I've taken too long to report back to you on my farmer's Market experience. I just thought I'd wait a few days until I'd done two. I was super busy on Friday and Saturday with orders, I just didn't have time to blog. :)
You'll notice that my actual booth setup looks pretty much identical to the mock-up I did in the driveway a few weeks ago. I guess that's a good thing, I must have gotten it right the first time. (I used to do this type of stuff for a living, I better be able to do it right! lol) Anyway, Thursday's market was my first ever public sale of my handmade goodies. It's typically a pretty slow market for artisans so I'm pretty happy with my sales. I made a profit, so it was worth my time in the end. And of course, a great experience. Nick came along to help me set up and then left as soon as he could, haha. While manning my booth I was able to add three new monkeys to the basket, so I was able to do my usual multi-tasking. I'm hoping to get some photos taken today so I can fill my Etsy shop with them. For the Sunday Market, I used a larger basket to display my monkey friends. It was a lot easier to see their shining faces this way. You might be surprised to hear that in the two markets I've done now (seasoned vetran) I've sold ZERO Gadget Monkeys. Shows what I know about what people like, eh? I got a ton of, "Ohhhh, these are so cute", and "What a great idea!". But not one was adopted. I still am not able to take credit cards too, so that might hinder sales a bit.
All in all, I had a great time out there chatting with people. I made a possible contact for wholesaling in a boutique in the city and met a very nice wedding planner whom I'd love to work with in the future. So, two thumbs up. For now, Ihave no markets scheduled again until next Wednesday at another location. I got some great tips from other sellers this weekend about which markets offer the best business, so I'm trying to work more things into my schedule now. Here's hoping for some cancellations.

Now it's back to the sewing table for me. I have that custom quilt to finish and two custom bags too. phew. It's fun to be so busy. And on a final note, here's the custom bag I made and sent out this weekend. She liked a bag in my shop (which I sold yesterday), but wanted a larger version with a zipper pocket and closure. Here's the result, I may make more like this & add them to my shop. It turned out really well I think.
Have a great weekend, sorry for such a long winded post.

13 comments:

lulusparkles said...

yeah! I have been wondering how it went :) I am shocked about your cute monkeys-what is wrong with those people?! heehee.

Anonymous said...

fun!! is this "marin" as in the marin in the bay area???
i'm in sf...i'll have to come up and check it out one these weekends...
p.s. LOVE your zipper tutorial.

iSew said...

Yes! I live in Marin County, California. I'd love a fellow Etsian visitor. I don't know anyone here!

Jenn Maruska said...

I am just shocked that you didn't sell any monkeys.... what lulu said: "what is wrong with those people?!"

Maybe you need to have a fake phone or camera to put inside one so that people can "visualize" it...? Perhaps you could get a plastic toy phone at Toys R Us or something...?

Wacky!

Your booth looks beautiful - and three cheers for being busy!

: )

Jenna Lou said...

love the booth set up!! I'm about to do my first "real" show in September and am fretting about the set up.

Karen said...

I love the bag! Congrats on the successful venture.

jessica said...

it all looks great! Congrats on your success and on being so busy! Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

I've decided that there is absolutely no way to predict what will sell and what will not at my local farmer's market. Like you I hear MANY oh how cute's about my creatures. After few sales I decided I had to diversify! LOL So now I've got a mix of fun and practical items. I'm glad you did make a profit :)

Christina J. said...

Congrats on the successful farmer's market experience! I really can't believe no one bought a monkey!

Mrs.Kwitty said...

Add me to the group saying "what's the matter with those people?"! Of course, I've learned, doing shows and markets all those years, that you can NEVER tell what will sell. AND what sells like hotcakes at one show, won't sell at all at another. It's so crazy. Well, I think your monkeys are adorable and they look nice in the big basket with their shiny faces smiling up at everyone!

Have fun being busy!!
Smiles, Karen

LeeAnn said...

I love how one opportunity turns into another. Your monkeys will win the hearts of California yet!

Beth Lemon said...

Your setup looks great. I'm glad you did well. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Now go get set up with propay! It's easy.

...Coveting that bunting for the Lemon Cadet booth. I really need to maximize the space like you do.

Beki - TheRustedChain said...

Wow, your booth looks GREAT!