Wednesday, October 9, 2013

From one vendor to shoppers everywhere...

It's that time of year---Craft show time!  (Vendor fairs, craft fairs, "festivals", bazaars, etc...That glorious season of holiday shopping is upon us!)  With another show looming ahead of me this weekend, I have decided that I should help out other vendors everywhere and let you in on some "secrets" from one vendor (little 'ole mwah) to shoppers everywhere...

Shoppers, we love you!!  Please come visit us, walk around, talk, buy... However, after 3 years of craft show participation (large and small, indoor and outdoor, schools/churches/parks/parking LOTS/gyms/convention centers- I've done 'em all).

I have compiled a list of "DOs and DON'Ts" for fairs/shows.  (And all the other business owners simultaneously cued their own personal hallelujah choruses)  Keep in mind, fans that these are ALL THINGS THAT I HAVE ACTUALLY HAD HAPPEN TO ME at a show...in person.


First, the easy stuff...

DO

1.) Come on IN the booth and look around!

2.) Compliment the items you see that you like or are interested in (this could also include mentioning if you enjoy the way things are displayed and the booth set up, etc.)

3.) Ask questions pertaining to what items are made out of and ALWAYS feel free to ask if they are handmade (mine ALL are and it makes us feel good to know that you recognize the time and effort it takes to make the products!)

4.) Of course...find something you can't live without and buy it!  Spread the word on where you got it and make me smile!  :-)

5.) Ask about custom items- if you have something in mind I will try to make it for you!  If I don't think I can pull it off, I will do my best to find one of my fellow "boutique bellas (or beau)" who does!


DON'T (please...pretty, pretty please...)

1.) Ask me to "let you in" on my process of making my products.  These items take time, energy, love and creativity to put together!  I have had many sessions of trial and error to get my items to the "final" stage, ready for you to purchase!  This includes the veiled "clever" attempts of: "Can I ask you...?" as well as "Do you just use ______ from ______?" and the ever popular "I don't want to buy one, but can you tell me how you ________".  No, No- I cannot tell you.  It's a secret.  MY secret and it's a LOT harder than it looks ;-)

2.) Just to take it up a notch...PLEASE DON'T mention to the person you are with that "...you could make that yourself...it would be easy...we can find it on 'pinterest'...it wouldn't be that hard... etc."  (YES, this has happened to me at just about EVERY show I have done.  It's called TACT, people. 

3.) Going along with the first 2 "don'ts", please don't come into my booth and start snapping photos of my products to try and re-create yourself at home.  My items are my intellectual and creative PROPERTY and you are in essence stealing them when you do this!  This includes the "sly" cell phone snap.  Yes, I know what you are doing.

3.) Criticize my art.  Please don't take it upon yourself to suggest "another" way to do something...or say "You should have....".  This also includes commenting on prices being set they way they are (Maybe shoppers don't realize this, but boutique owners like myself are NOT getting rich off of their business- I love what I do and I price my items according to supplies + time and effort).  YES, it has really happened...in front of me.  Didn't your mama ever say "...if you can't say something nice..."?

4.) Have group "reunions" with friends and family, therefore blocking my entire booth from other visitors OR come in and "loiter" while doing the aforementioned sly "cell phone snapping" and "criticizing".

5.) Were you raised in a barn???  CAUTION: I am not jumping on a soap box, here.  ALL of the following jaw-droppers have actually happened to me (some more than once). 

-Please don't bring yucky, messy food and drinks into my booth and set them down to pick up my items (or leave them behind on my tables or under them- My booth is not a trash can).
-Please don't come in, move my items around or spend 10 minutes picking items up from across the booth then set them all down somewhere and leave...
-Please don't let your pet have their leave to run under my tables, come in my booth and especially WATCH YOUR PET.  (Yes, I am talking to the rude teenager who let their dog urinate on one of my products then picked up said dog and ran away)
-The above sub-category also includes unruly children handling my items and/or ruining them as well as the unruly adults in charge of them who put broken or damaged items down and clearing out as quickly as possible...

**And the other business owners are finishing up with a HAAAA-LLLLEEEELLUUUU-JAAAAAAHHHHHH- jazz hands.  Big finish.**


Yes, I've attempted to take a humorous approach with this post.  But seriously... As someone whose dream it is to one day have her own storefront, I consider my current "booth" to be a storefront too- a traveling one!  I put a lot of myself into my booth set-ups and displays and of course the products that go into it!  I have stressed over the weather, advertised, invited, priced items, organized and transported all of these hand-made treasures all just to *hope* that you will find something you love and take it home!

On that note, one more DO...DO SHOP HANDMADE!!  Handmade items are made from the heart!  Happy Wednesday- go forth and shop this weekend!  :-)