Had my first ever stall this weekend!

After years of procrastination, I finally had my first ever stall this weekend in the E17 Designers marquee at the Walthamstow Garden Party.

Carole, thanks for all the advice on the display - I didn't get to do everything I wanted and ran out of time to do the ring/fishing weight thing so had to do an emergency dash to a jewellery display supplier for a perspex block and some ring clips, but I think it all turned out kind of okay!

We had loads of people visit, so many people said nice things and took business cards, and I even sold some stuff! I was really nervous, but it actually ended up being really fun and I met some nice new people.

Here are a couple of pictures:

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Well done you!
It looks fantastic and very professional. The branding is strong and really connects well with your website.
Do you think you'll be doing more?

Lordy doesn't that look fab. Well done Lauren :)

Beautiful creations you make, so it was wonderful to hear that sales happened. Too right they should.

Great start hope it continues so successfully for you xx

Good for you Lauren, I bet you got a buzz out of showing your work to people actually in the flesh

Do you guys definitely think these shows are worth doing from a business / advertising / sales point of view?
Would you be tempted to do them more regularly Lauren?
I'm still happily procrastinating on the matter ;)

Thanks guys :)

Lucie, that's good to know about the branding - I am clueless in such matters so I think it was more of a happy accident than by design! I'm planning on getting something built to replace the middle shelf as I felt like the display lacked height and depth - the front of the table looked a bit empty and people had to bend down to look at most things.

I think I would do more. It's difficult as I work four days a week as well as running the jewellery business the other three days, so I'm somewhat lacking in prep time for things like shows. I actually wasn't expecting to sell things, I was just looking at it as a marketing opportunity, as no-one will ever know I exist unless I put myself out there doing tada, here I am!

Also, I think it depends on how much it costs to do a show. This one was £65 for the day, which isn't super-cheap, but a lot cheaper than others I've seen in London. It's more of a risk if the upfront cost is high I think. I've applied for an Etsy Christmas one, but think there will be a lot of competition for that one so not expecting to be chosen, but there are also some local Christmas shows near me.

I'm pretty shy in real life, so putting myself in front of the public and trying to talk to strangers about my jewellery doesn't come naturally to me, but I got better at it as the day went on :)

I also got one of the those card readers (I went with iZettle as Payleven's customer service was shockingly bad) which I think really made a difference. Only one person paid in cash, everyone else asked to pay by card.

Once you have done a few of these things you will start to dream of some sort of stall which just puts itself up and puts itself away again. When I was starting out I was doing events every weekend through the summer months and came to hate the in and out.
Keep notes on each event - how much it cost, what you took (proft and loss) plus general notes on whether people were spending or looking generally. I did a huge county show once with an enormous craft tent but it cost families so much to get in that they grimly walked around everything but spent nothing. None of us even covered our costs. general weeping in marquee.
btw trading standards will pick you up on no hallmarking act sign if you are selling precious metal. displaying the things is a legal requirement (HI Stevelao)Happily they are a free download now, used to cost a tenner and I was always losing mine or forgetting it

I did remember to display the Assay Office dealers' notice :)

Display took about 45mins to put up and a bit less time to take down, so not too bad. Would definitely love something like Carole's that is super-easy though! I don't have a car, so I needed to keep things small and dismantleable (I know, not a real word) as well.

Once you've done one Lauren, you'll find them much easier. I was a gibbering wreck when I did my first event many moons ago and couldn't stop shaking! ha ha I still always research shows before booking one if I can and love exhibiting. You get to meet new potential customers and see current ones who come along to add to their collection, plus its 'free' advertising and gets you out there, as you say. As to the shyness thing, you just have to 'pretend' that you aren't and just be enthusiastic (I hate that overused word 'passionate') about your work and I'm sure you'll get lots of sales.

Just re-reading your thread ... you didn't have a car to take all your stuff! Good grief, is there any way you can get a cab to the next one, or borrow a friends car, so that you can get a bit more height into the display - it makes a massive difference. The only other thing I'd add is that I like the beautiful frames, but wonder whether having a bit of colour at the back of them would make the jewellery show up more? I'd maybe think about having a bit of blurb on the table about how you make your jewellery, I find it draws people in and they like to find out a bit about you and how the jewellery is made.

All the best and good luck with all your future events!

Thanks guys. Some really useful information.

I'm purely looking at wedding shows to start with and then the London Baby Show for 2016, as I've had some pretty good feedback from a few photographers I know. That's probably not a fair comparison with jewellery sales though!
That ones £1375 + vat, so I want to make sure I've freed up enough time to deal with it.
I have a few lovely ex-shop display cabinets. They're quite slim and compact, but they're glass & require electric, so I'm not sure whether they would be acceptable for most of these venue's.

I completely know where you're coming from Lauren - I'm really not very brave :)
You're posters are beautiful. Did you design / photograph them yourself?

Thanks Jules, that's really helpful advice :) I should point out I did get a taxi to the show as it was only down the road! If it was further away it would cost a fortune though. I can't drive, so borrowing cars is probably out...

I like the idea of having a bit about how the jewellery is made on the stand. Might get the boy to take some photographs of me whilst I'm working and make it into a little portfolio book or something, with design sketches and stuff.

Lucie, I tried a couple of wedding events but found they didn't pay at all. Brides came with entourage and scooped up all the free stuff but spent nothing and in spite of all the ooohs and ahhs I didn't get a single follow up. My experience is that brides spend a fortune on the dress and everything else then go for an ebay level tiara with lots of sparkle, or the ones on display in the bride dress shop. I know there are peeps out there making bridal stuff successfully and good luck to them but it is a specialised niche and my perception is that it is hard to crack

Wow Lucie, that's a lot of money to pay out! Although I guess balanced against how many people would go through a show like that and see you, it's worth the advertising investment.

The poster I just made really quickly the night before using my website background, my business card design and a couple of my new photos! It turned out alright, given my general cluelessness with Photoshop.

I'll stick up some of my new pictures in a new thread when I get home this evening, as I wanted some feedback on whether I've exposed the silver correctly. I'm so used to taking pictures on a dark background that anything else just looks all wrong to me now!

Oh, I know what I meant to ask everyone...

Lighting!

What do you use for shows? I didn't need any as the marquee was super-bright, but I'm assuming on a less sunny day I might have done.

If there is no power, what is the best to use? I found these: http://www.display-lighting.com/batt...bkit-tsp3.html but am slightly afraid to email and ask how much they are!

Any budget battery display lighting out there?

IKEA, their lights are brilliant and approx £10 - £12, but you need power.

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Originally Posted by pearlescence

Lucie, I tried a couple of wedding events but found they didn't pay at all. Brides came with entourage and scooped up all the free stuff but spent nothing and in spite of all the ooohs and ahhs I didn't get a single follow up. My experience is that brides spend a fortune on the dress and everything else then go for an ebay level tiara with lots of sparkle, or the ones on display in the bride dress shop. I know there are peeps out there making bridal stuff successfully and good luck to them but it is a specialised niche and my perception is that it is hard to crack

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That's really great to know thank you. I have no experience of shows at all, so really want to avoid wasting time & money. Looks like I'll be saving my pennies for the baby show instead. It would be great if the organisers could give you some indication of sales from other "similar" stands, but I guess that's too much to ask for :)

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Originally Posted by Wallace

IKEA, their lights are brilliant and approx £10 - £12, but you need power.

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Agree 100% I love Ikea lighting. If you have a stand with large back boards, they used to sell the clippy lights (nice looking ones) with daylight bulbs.
Make it a day trip. Their display units are worth a look too (and the cafe :-").

I've looked at the Ikea ones before (and had one clamped to my bench for the past 10 years!). Most of the shows I'm looking at have no power though, so need to find something battery operated, which is where I'm getting stuck.

I love going to Ikea Lucie - most of the furniture in our house is from there!

Looked great Lauren. I love the frames - they really go with your baroque sort of image (not you personally!) Could you have some sort of folding box covered in a cloth to give you some height? You could always use the box to put the rest of your display in for travelling.

I like these Argos lights http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/4312134.htm . They're very easy to direct and cast a large pool of light. Best of all, I think halogen makes your jewellery sparkle better than LED.

I've done shows for years and only a few have been consistently good. Some really expensive ones can only really be counted as advertising as although I've always made money, sometimes I've wondered whether it was worth the hassle, particularly as I have to travel so far to the south east. I agree that wedding shows aren't worth doing. Not sure about baby ones but I suspect they're the same. Christmas shows are definitely the best though as everyone really needs to buy then and not just to browse.

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Originally Posted by Lucie

That's really great to know thank you. I have no experience of shows at all, so really want to avoid wasting time & money. Looks like I'll be saving my pennies for the baby show instead. It would be great if the organisers could give you some indication of sales from other "similar" stands, but I guess that's too much to ask for :)

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Have you thought about approaching wedding dress shops to see if they will have some of your cards & stock; some of them are up for having 'artisan made jewellery', or perhaps I've just been lucky...?

It sounds as if I might have to have a complete re-think where shows are concerned. I have a 6-8 turn around for most things, which is never a problem online, but might be in person.
Wedding dress shops are definitely a viable option, but I'd mostly be hoping to sell wedding rings, so I'm not sure.........

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Originally Posted by caroleallen

Looked great Lauren. I love the frames - they really go with your baroque sort of image (not you personally!) Could you have some sort of folding box covered in a cloth to give you some height? You could always use the box to put the rest of your display in for travelling.

I like these Argos lights http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/4312134.htm . They're very easy to direct and cast a large pool of light. Best of all, I think halogen makes your jewellery sparkle better than LED.

I've done shows for years and only a few have been consistently good. Some really expensive ones can only really be counted as advertising as although I've always made money, sometimes I've wondered whether it was worth the hassle, particularly as I have to travel so far to the south east. I agree that wedding shows aren't worth doing. Not sure about baby ones but I suspect they're the same. Christmas shows are definitely the best though as everyone really needs to buy then and not just to browse.

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Thanks Carole - I have always been drawn to baroque style, much to the the annoyance of the boy who is more a modernist, let's paint everything white and have nice neat corners kind of person. Our renovation/decoration plans for our wreck of a house are an interesting compromise!

Going to go and speak to the lovely furniture makers who have a workshop near me and see if we can build something taller to replace the middle shelf, but that kind of fits with the baroque frames and isn't too hard to transport. They are going to hate me aren't they...?

Have you got a picture framer near you? They can get hold of all sorts of wonderful mouldings that can come in handy for displays. You could also ask your taxi company to send you out one of the big Euro type vans. They're usually only a pound or two more & have plenty of room :)

Congratulations Lauren, for putting your toe in the water and liking it. Regards, Dennis.