Cheers John.

I made another BBQ fork/meat serving fork yesterday. Obviously I've got to food safe finish it but how does the purchaser (fingers crossed there will be one!) clean it without it rusting? They haven't got to re-finish it after cleaning it, have they?!

If they dry it and put it away they'll be ok, if the throw it in the dish strainer of the dishwasher it will rust. I have a mild steel ladle that is over 20 years old and carbon steel kitchen jives that are over 50.

The "Tommie sticker" uses a thin spring like cup to hold the candle, the "sticker" is for sticking it in to wals, beams, treas and "Tommie's"

Thanks Charles, I like the look of them.

So if they hand wash them they should be ok? They won't wash out/off the olive oil finish?

Candle holder display below. The light was a bit bright for the pic but hey ho. The wall mounted ones have spikes, the tea-light ones don't. I'm think £8.50-ish for the tea-light ones and £12.50 each for the wall mounted ones or 2 for £20.

If it is applied hot (like seasoning cast iron) it won't wash off with hand washing, but it will wear off. But will be just fine as long as the dry it off and keep it dry.

A cashier/assistant preferably knowledgeable about your work and product.  Whenever I try to demo and sell, just about the time the iron is hot, someone wants to buy something.  And the cycle goes on and on.

Hi Joel,

your hooks have caused a bit of debate over here, we are keen to hear how you get on, who buys them and what they are going to use them for. Oh, and more specifically what type of surface they are fitted on.

 

We are assuming there are a lot of buildings with exposed solid timber around Kent, not chipboard, plaster, brick, stone and steel like they mostly are here.

Hi Yahoo,

 who buys them 

I've only sold a few directly myself as I haven't done my stall yet but the way I've been "selling" them is by knocking a few into lumps of oak (as per the pic) and "selling" them sale or return to places like local antique shops. Up till now that's just meant getting paid for my practice really  - if they sell then they sell, if they don't then they don't - I had to make them anyway for the practice as I'm a novice.

 

who buys them and what they are going to use them for. Oh, and more specifically what type of surface they are fitted on.

I can't answer that as I haven't met the buyers but the screw-to-the-wall hooks I've made sell better than the nail in ones I've noticed. The one guy I did actually sell a few to directly was an antiques dealer, so again, I've not met the end purchaser. This is the sort of reason I want to get onto doing stalls. 

 

We are assuming there are a lot of buildings with exposed solid timber around Kent, not chipboard, plaster, brick, stone and steel like they mostly are here.

The vast majority of homes here are brick and plasterboard, but Kent (and East Sussex where I am also near), does still have it's fair share of old timber buildings with exposed beams and such. There is an area of Kent and East Sussex called The Weald - I need to get a stall in that area - it's an extremely wealthy area with lots of historic homes.

drywall being the norm these days, perhaps a trip to your local hardware store for a box of screws with somewhat decorative heads (i know i have seen websites recommended by people here as well for such things, cant remember what they are though) and a box of correctly sized drywall anchors could lube your sales pitch.  offer a little ziplock bag with a screw and an anchor with each of your hole punched hooks as a 'ready to mount kit' so your customers have no excuse of 'oh thats nice, but then i would have to go buy hardware...' :) might even let you get away with another pound or two on the price tag.

 

a properly sized little bag also makes a dandy way to slip customers your business card without needing to hole punch it and tie it to the piece itself, making it easier for them to call you up and ask for a few more to match the first!

 

snap a picture of your stall after you set it up so you can remember how you did it for future lessons learned or to remember things that worked well for the next time you go public.  might help some of us do the same too!

Gees I'm glad i started this thread, hadn't even thought of bags! Easy to overlook the little things i guess.

I just thought, will I need Public Liability Insurance or any other type of permit/license for selling at a market or fair?

That depends greatly on your location. Around me they have recently started cracking down on the bigger permanent local flea markets. The State wants their tax revenue, and many municipalities want "dealers" to pay to have a business license at a minimum. All of this is because they are loosing tax revenue as more and more "traditional" stores close shop in the poor economy and people are starting to derive more and more income from less regulated areas like markets and the internet.

 

 

As far as insurance, I don't know. I'd guess in a more "formal" market where you rent space, there's probably some blanket liability insurance that at least partially covers you as a vender. That insurance probably won't cover say injuries if you are doing a demo though. If the market is more of a public area where you can just set up, you probably aren't covered much if at all. I'd check with whom you are renting space from and see how much they cover you as a vendor.

I just thought, will I need Public Liability Insurance or any other type of permit/license for selling at a market or fair?

 Yes, normally you will be asked for proof of Public Liability Insurance before you're allocated a pitch, especially if it's controlled by the council. You may get away without it if it's another body, but it is the norm to have this. You can get it fairly inexpensively with the market traders federation, but I have mine included with my professional insurance.

 

With regards to bags, don't bother with the cheap plastic ones, ironwork pokes through them, and we have too much plastic flying about anyway. Go for reuseable paper gift bags, fairly inexpensive when bought in bulk, and give the right impression. (quality!) Although I always ask customers if they have their own bags with them, they usually do.

 

Personally I think your prices are a little low, but only you know what you're time is worth and your overheads and profit etc. Don't undervalue yourself, handmade has a premium price attached to it and people do appreciate this! I'm not saying charge extortionately though, either!!  Also if your footfall at the market are well-heeled, you can probably afford to charge more. I sell at a market each week that is quite mixed, have items in a range of prices brackets,  I use it as my "shop front" and advertizing, and to me the commissions I get through it are worth more than the sales on the day itself.   

 

have attached a pic of my stall, one day I'll get around to getting a banner painted for the front, it needs something like that as it's a bit plain I think!!

I like your display idea, I did something similar but then got tired of moving heavy lumps of wood around, so went for small blocks of wood and planks to create a tiered shelf, and boards to hang to display hooks and wall mounted stuff. 

 

good luck!!

I was thinking of smaller bags, say 2 inch by 4 inch plus or minus.  just large enough to hold a business card, a screw, and a drywall anchor.  not like a flimsy plastic grocery bag.  but you are correct, paper would be more sustainable, though not see through.

 

heck, for that matter hole punch the business card and thread it onto the screw, then put the screw through the hole in the hook and lightly tighten the anchor on the back :) no bag, no need to fasten, truly grab and go.

oh yeah, bags for the screws! I misunderstood! Thought you meant bags for purchases!! For the screws,  I use just what you said, screws and wall plugs in a little zip ended plastic clear pouch bags, hole punched through that and business card and tied through with ribbon. Your idea of having it "screwed" right onto the business card is a great idea, maybe have one or two like that on display, but wouldn't work (for me anyway!)  if all like that as after a few shows/markets with the stock being transported around the tags tend to get a bit bedraggled!!

Cheers Colleen. Any particular prices you're referring to? What something is worth and what people are willing to pay are two different things unfortunately, a lot of people round here have deep pockets and short arms.

I would double all of your prices. Most are small amounts, anyway, under £20 which is small change to most people. Those people you describe are not your customers, they can and will go shop for the cheapest item in B&Q or equivalent, let them, you can't compete with mass produced imported goods, so don't try to. If you're selling at a farmers market, farm produce will be sold at a premium.  Add in a unique blacksmith made item and they will feel good about "buying local"' handmade" etc. Of course you can do what you like and charge what you like, completely up to you, but better to start higher than lower, leaves some room to haggle as people increasingly do this as well.

 

Cheers, food for thought certainly! In part I've been trying to guage my prices againt what others are charging for similar items, but even then prices vary wildly.
Oh well, whatever I get for my stuff at least I'm not bored to tears working in a shop for my money anymore.

Well I'm here and have made a few sales. If only you could charge for business cards I'd be rich already haha. Apparantly it's a very quiet day at the market...otherwise i wouldnt be on my phone!

Very nice!

Thank you for the excellent post Joel, very informative. Please keep us posted as things progress.

Cheers. A few things I learned from my first stall:

People will miss things right under their nose.

Men that did metalwork at school many moons ago but haven't done any since are like flies to drawn to...

Making someone's kids go "wow" can pretty much sell the item for you.

So, How did you do?

 

Awesome:  Told your boss what he could do with his job and put a down payment on a Ferrari. .

Great: made big bucks...thinking about quitting your day job.

Good: made a semi decent profit... At least enough to cover lunch. 

Fair: Basically broke even...Was able to buy coffee ( not counting Starbucks) 

Poor: Lost your shirt.... Customers seeing your naked chest ran screaming down the isles.. Added to the loss was your bail to get out of jail for indecent exposure.

No comment: Trying to maintain low profile to avoid unhappy "investors" in cheap suits who would like to break your legs because you owe them large sums of money you borrowed to make this happen.

 

:P

Hahaha, on your scale I'd say I did "Good". Like I said it was a slow day but I sold £125 worth, the pitch was £22.50.

The larger picture though is that I already quit my job at the end of July for health reasons so now doing stalls + DIY odd jobs for neighbours is how I make money.

now doing stalls

 

 

I have a customer who has horses. "Doing stalls" usually involves a wheelbarrow, a shovel and a lot of horse manure.  :P