My craft show experience as a vendor

I have come to realize that the Glenda who volunteers herself to do something in the future, or the one who signs up to be a vendor at a craft show, is a different person from the Glenda who has to actually do those things.  The Glenda who has to fulfill the obligations really resents the Glenda from the past who made them.

Back in April of last year, I signed up to do the Dickens on the Creek craft show later in November of 2021. If I’m honest, part of me signed up just because wearing a Victorian outfit was encouraged.  As the weeks for the show grew shorter, I began to dread the event. I was wondering if I could cancel, I knew I would not cancel though, because there is a part of me who loves to keep my commitments.  However, I fantasized with the idea of being liberated from the obligation.  

I realized that the sense of dread diminished as the days grew shorter toward the event. Perhaps it was because by then my costume was ready, the soaps were labeled and priced, and most everything else was ready. (I had made the dress years ago for a party and the fabric must have shrunk, so it needed adjustments :-). To give credit where credit is due, my mom did most of the sewing because at the time I was afraid of sewing machines.

In my soap making journey (5 years now) I have only done three shows as a vendor, including this one.  Because of the look of my soaps, they tend to be bought as gifts mainly, so Christmas time is when I make attempts at selling them in person.  The first show I did one was sort of last minute where I just brought every soap I had, so it was a bit of a random assortment.  For The second one, I tried to be better prepared. However, it was for this third one that I made proper preparations, and I planned and made specific soaps for it, which allowed me to see what designs and scents were popular and which were not. I also took into consideration things I learned from the prior two events.

Now that the event is behind me, I need to consider if I want to sign up to do it again next year. Knowing that I have become that Glenda who signs up for stuff and that there might be another Glenda in the future who dislikes me for it.  

Here are the pros and cons if I sign up:

PROS

• The drive time was manageable 
• It was well attended and sales were good
• It is a juried event. And unknowingly, I was the only soap maker there
• I like receiving feedback on my soap, it gives me a sense of validation

Cons

• it is a two day event: Friday and Saturday. Which requires me to request and use a vacation day from my day job, and if I set up on Thursday, I would need to  be off from work that day as well (at least half a day).
• I may or may not be able to secure a spot in the high traffic area. Though I did well where I was, it was not accessible for people in wheelchairs.
• It will probably induce anxiety again in the weeks leading to it, since in that month daylight savings time happens, seasons change, and several birthday parties and events take place, and I apparently only do things when a deadline is approaching 
• I don’t like the setup and breakdown time. Though my husband made it so easy.

In the event I decide to do the event again, here are some good points I learned about the show in general:  (Keeping in mind this was a Christmas event where most of the shoppers come to buy presents, so it is a different mindset from shoppers who attend a farmers market)

The good:

• I had prepared soaps specific for this event, which helped me see which fragrances or designs were popular or not.
• I also brought random soaps of which I only had one left and some of those sold as well
• Though It took time, half of the plain soaps were sold too (though I had only made a handful)
• The first soap to sell out was the Sugar plum fairy soap, it has ballerinas as decoration and this was the main reason why. I have gotten requests for it after the event as well.
• The Second soap to sell out was the lavender one (video link). I know people either love or hate lavender but I only found people who loved it. Someone said she liked lavender if it was soft, and this one was. (It is very similar to the Lavender 40/42 essential oil)
• The third best selling soap was the peppermint candy one.  It seems this is a love it or hate it scent, from feedback received 
• Several people expressed interest in patchouli scented soaps, of which I only had one. It sold and made me think of making more. I do not like patchouli, but I do not hate it.

Things to improve:

Check out time. Although I had learned from this blog from modernsoapmaking some very good tips on improving check out. I believe there is still room for improvement here. I did have a small check out table that was a lot better than doing everything behind the display. Next time I will use the Square app for both the cash and the credit/debit card sales.  Now that I have figured it out. I found myself writing the paper receipt and then repeating the process on the credit card on the Square app again if they were going to pay with a card (which about 60% of customers did),  so this was double work.  After the show, I learned that I could also use the square POS system to record for the cash purchases and that they would not charge a fee. During the show, I remembered someone posting in a Facebook group about their POS provider charging them a fee for recording the cash transactions as well, I don’t remember who the provider was but I think that’s what prevented me from attempting it during the show.  To accomplish this next year, I will need to update the entire inventory of the show prior, so that I’m able to keep track of sales properly.

Labeling: I should include the scent names or fragrance description in the label somehow. Often people wanted to know what the fragrance was, even though they were smelling it, but it seems they needed confirmation or just information. It was hard to remember for some of them, while checking out another client. Also, for bath bombs, I should include in the list which ones have toys inside.

More varied price selection:

I was surprised to see that the soap samples sold (they were much thinner than the regular bars, and therefore lower priced.). I have heard of other soapmakers usually giving them away, so I was glad people bought them.

Packaging

• Streamline soap bar sizes for easier labeling and packaging.

I am sure there are more things to improve, but so far this is what I remember. Do you have any tips?