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| The combined stalls of Artefacts and NexusMaille |
This weekend represented the first time I have ever been able to display my wares in the offline, real world. Melody Tallon from Artefacts enabled me to ease my way in, by offering to share her stall with me at the Great Train Weekend Markets, Mt. Victoria.
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| The main part of my display |
This was a great experience - for the first time ever, I was able to gather all of my jewellery together, and see it as a collection of pieces, rather than as individual listings online.
The stall itself was indoors, with a lovely log fire, comfort food available, and a free hot breakfast for stallholders on Sunday morning - all of which was most appreciated when Sunday turned out to be cold, wet and windy.
Unfortunately, however, I only sold a single pair of earrings over the entire weekend ... to Melody. And even though I said that I was doing it for the experience, and it didn't matter if I didn't sell anything, in the end, well, I was disappointed. It turns out I did want to sell something.
I'm sure there are many contributing factors as to why I was unable to make a single sale. Thinking about it, it could be:
- The markets were out of town, with minimal signage or advertising.
- There was an unexpected second market right in the middle of town, visible from both the station and the Highway.
- The demographic for steam trains is mostly senior people, or parents with young children.
- Some of my pieces could be considered to be very expensive.
- My display needs work.
These are only the ones I have identified. I'm sure with research, I could find many more valid reasons, any of which, alone or in combination, may have contributed. Having said that, in some way I feel as though I am making excuses - that it really comes down to me and my jewellery. I take some heart that I did get comments about my lovely pieces; people just weren't ready to purchase, it seems.So where to from here? Revise and polish my display. Make more affordable pieces such as earrings. Research my next market. Research my ideal demographic. Learn to take a step back from my jewellery as a personal reflection of myself. Finally, to remember and appreciate the primary reason I do this - because I love chainmaille. It provides me with a satisfying outlet for the creativity I have only just discovered within me.
Onward and upward!
Trust me, it's not you or your jewellery! I honestly feel that you would have sold a lot at say Ironfest. It was mostly a senior crowd walking around Mt Vic or people with young kids. Your display looked really great and the pieces were lovely all lined up together :-)
ReplyDeleteTake heart, I don't think the lack of sales has anything to do with your jewelry. I've been selling for 5 years at art fairs and I've learned a lot. For our type of jewelry, you need an art fair, not a craft fair. (Lesson learned the hard way) People appreciate the time and effort it takes to make chainmaille and know it's worth the price. You just need the right audience. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteI think your display looked fantastic. I definitely think the fact it was a cold, miserable weekend, minimal advertising was done for the market, another market was held in the same small town and that maybe your target market wasn't there this weekend were contributing factors to lack of sales. Keep your head held high Sam, your jewellery is gorgeous and you should be proud of yourself. Question: How did Melody go with sales? Was it the right type of environment for her jewellery?
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