Markets!

"Have you ever tried doing markets? You should sell at markets!"

How many times have I heard this over the last five years? And I was never interested, because I didn't want to pay the table fee, or travel, or buy table decoration, when I could reliably sell everything I made online.

Oops! What happened??

Well, I stopped reliably selling everything online.

Aside from the limited run christmas tree ornaments, I was pretty quiet at the end of last year. I was working on a big commission that took pretty much a whole month, so I didn't make many products for the store or much content. One of my fav things about taking commissions with custom paint jobs is that I always end up with a bunch of leftover eyes, and then I get to turn those eyes into accessories.

I sold a couple of them straight away, but the vast majority sat untouched in my store.

I like vibrant colours, so I decided to do a couple of rainbow books. And the videos were really popular on Instagram and Tiktok, but they also sit untouched in my store (I include the previous successful tiktok because this should mean lots of traffic to my store, and yet...)

So, it seemed like a good time to try something new.

I'd not done any proper markets before - only one free one, tacked onto an art event/club night in an abandoned mansion nearby. I only sold stickers that night, and the stories I heard from browsing attendees made the event sound like a riot, so I would have much preferred to be attending as a guest!

Anyway, no proper markets. So I had no idea what to expect, and no idea as to whether I'd be accepted. So I found as many as I could, and applied to all of them. I started a spreadsheet to keep track, of course.

 I got an offer for a small one really early on, that didn't seem like the right vibe. But all the others were stil unknown, and I was pretty anxious at the time, so I accepted. That one turned out to be a scam D:

They had an instagram page with a long history, and lots of photos of past markets, posts announcing vendors. Shortly after I paid my table fee, they announced that the Feb market was cancelled and that everyone would be moved to March. Shortly after that, their instagram page was disabled. It's difficult, running a business online. You grow up, being told never to share personal or payment details online, or send anyone any money. But then, all your business happens online, with people you'll likely never meet. And I was so paranoid, but every opportunity turned out to be legit, so I slowly started to relax. And then this one came along.

Still, not much to be done now (ok I filed a fraud report with my bank - maybe I'll get it back. Who knows).

More offers started to come in, mostly from the smaller markets that I was less interested in. But they all have an acceptance deadline - if you don't confirm and pay the table fee within a few days, you forfeit your slot. So I paid up. And then I got acceptances for the bigger markets, that I had really wanted to do. Things started stacking up quick. At one point, I had three markets within 8 days (but the third was the scam, so it was actually kind of a relief that it didn't happen!).

I buckled down and started making stock, working evenings and weekends to get everything done. You've already seen the bow tie content in the previous post.

My first market was in Leeds, for the Festival of Gothica. It's 10 - 4pm, with two hours of travel, plus setup and teardown time. I had no idea how long it would take me to set up, so I wanted to get there as early as possible. I'd not been to Leeds before, but I found my first bit of street art within minutes of arrival, so it felt like I was in a good place.

 I love that mix of classic and modern architecture, and the light installations along the high street.  

The venue for the market was gorgeous, all elaborately painted wrought iron and glass.

 I found my zone, and my table, and started setting up. I'd been out earlier in the week to grab some fabric to cover my table, and I'd bought an earring display stand and a bust, and that was the sum total of my table gear.

The first thing that became apparent was that I was lacking verticality. Everyone setting up around me was building UP.

 I don't really have space, or a spare 6ft table to practice my setup at home (or time, frankly, given how long those bowties took to make) so I just laid out what I had, and started frantically writing out signs and price tags.

 I noticed, pretty quickly, that my stall was not typical. Around me were printmakers, 3D print artists, people reselling wholesale factory goods. I had my lasercut earrings, of course, but most of my wares are time consuming, handmade items with an accordingly high price tag.

I chatted to a lot of people. I'd see people tapping their partners on the shoulder to point out the books. I'd get laughter, confusion, and occasionally fear, all of which were delightful to witness. Several people told me that I was doing a fantastic job and should keep doing it. But no one actually bought anything of value.

All around me, I watched the tables selling cheap machine or mass manufactured goods making dozens of sales. I sold six pairs of laser cut earrings. Just enough to cover my table fee and my train fare for the day, but not the 12 hours of packing, travel, and market time.

I got home, listed a third of my bow ties for sale in my webshop, and sold most of them overnight. My savings had dwindled significantly with the failure of my last two shop drops, but at least my next month's rent was mostly covered.

I had a week until my next market. Since I still had so much stock, I decided to make another large piece that would look fancy on my table, and hopefully attract attention. So I put together another Devourer Crossbody in black & purple, and filmed the process so I'd have the content to advertise it in my online store later on.

I ordered some of those modular grid cubes I'd seen other people using, so I could build some height into my dispay, and waited for the weekend to roll around. I'd been using my suitcase as my main means of transporting product, but it wasn't big enough to accomodate everything, so I packed a 30x30 box as well. With the grids, I now had a second box to cart around. I sold my car at the beginning of the year, so all my travel to and from markets happens on public transport. Here's me waiting for the bus.

My second market was, thankfully, a bit more local, so it was only an hour and two bus rides. I was amused to find that my table sat in front of a portrait of the late Queen Liz, and hoped that she would bless my table with good sales.

I set up my wares, borrowing some extra fabric from the lovely, kind vendors next to me...

 ...and once again proceeded to sell bugger all of significance. These leather hair bows and bow ties take hours of work, and are priced between £35 and £95, depending on the design. A few stalls over, I saw people selling hastily glued plastic hair flowers for £7 apiece. To my left, a guy selling prints of pop culture figures that he most definitely did NOT have the licencing for.

I had a really lovely time chatting to people, and I sold just enough laser cut earrings to cover my table fee, but not the travel cost, or time.

I don't want to whine, or make excuses, but it's hard to compete in a market where I'm being vastly undersold by people who can churn out dozens of prints or machine made goods, or who simply buy and resell factory wares. 

I think my table layout still needs work, so that the smaller pieces like the bowties and bolos are more visible, and vertical, but I also don't want to spend more money on the table setup if I'm not making any money at markets.

I don't feel comfortable listing the product that I do have, up for sale in the shop, because I need stock for my remaining markets. Which is a very stressful situation to be in. Buuut clearly these markets are not the place for me. I've withdrawn from a couple of markets (and been lucky to receive a refund on my table fee), and turned down the latest offers that have come in.

Maybe it's a factor of the location - everyone around here is just as broke as I am. I'd like to try at least one market in London, but it's hard to justify the travel and accomodation costs right now.

As it stands, I think it's better for me to focus on my online presence, and maybe find myself a regular-ass job, working for someone else who can offer me a stable salary, paid holiday, and sick leave. I'll keep working on the leather, on the side, and hopefully without so much financial pressure, I can start to enjoy it again.