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Another day, another Market
May. 19th, 2019 10:43 amI didn't expect much from Market this last Saturday. Mother's Day was over, and with it the bump in sales. Weather had been uniformly horrible all week, grey and rainy, and the prediction wasn't much better for this day. Lots of vendors believed the predictions; our neighborhood was pretty full, but big swaths of the middle of the fountain block were empty, and there were gaps on our side as well, despite the draw of music stage and food booths.
We set up for rain, putting up the sides of the booth, stacking all the empties inside, even installing the reinforcing pin that keeps the wimpy spring-loaded center pole from sagging and letting rain collect on our roof.
And then the sun came out.
It was gorgeous all morning, through lunch and into early afternoon. Sales were slow but steady, a bit over half of last weekend, but that one was a record, after all, so I was happy we'd braved the (predicted) weather. Sometimes just showing up is its own reward.
And then, around 2:30, things changed with a bang. Thunder, lightning, pouring rain. Not much wind to speak of, but lots of flash, splash and bang. The lightning rod on the courthouse across the street was struck three times, I was told by the pizza vendor. She's always a little worried about that, what with propane tanks for her ovens, but nothing and nobody at ground level was affected.
After about an hour, things dried up again, and we even made a few more sales. Showered briefly during load-out, but I had some drop cloths to throw over the boxes to keep the rain out, and it stopped again before we finished.
Had a nice chat with a new vendor, Nick, who'd just gone through standards approval on Wednesday*, and really didn't expect to get a full booth, what with no points and all.** So his display of chainsaw sculptures looked a little sparse, spread out in an 8x8' space, but nonetheless adorable, as this little fella, who had to come home with us, will attest.
Think we'll call him "Woody."
*Saturday Market doesn't jury for quality, like many craft fairs; we let the buyers make that decision for us. We do, however, require that the seller actually make their wares, and the work has to be assessed when you join, and again if you add new products that are substantially different than your previous work. You can use commercial components--beads, or jewelry findings, for instance--but the handmade component must dominate. We wind up with some amazing craft work for a non-juried show, just by trusting the artists/craftsfolk to bring what they make.
**If you haven't paid extra for a reserved booth, like us, you put your name in the lottery for a booth space before 8:30 Saturday morning. Priority is by points, which you get by joining and selling over time. There's a complicated formula that assigns a total based on things like how many years you've been a member, how many times you sold last year, and most importantly, how many times you showed up to sell this season. (Nick, being a new member, had zero years membership and zero times selling, for a total of...) Names within each point level are randomized, so you might be first in the 8 point range today, but at the middle or end of the nine pointers next week. On busy Saturdays, they might run out of booths before they finish the list, but as long as you signed up***, you still get your point.
***And paid your fees. $50 annual membership, then $13+10% each Saturday you sell. Considering I paid $450+17% for the three-day Ceramic Showcase, this is dirt-cheap. And it's a great place to get your start, learn what sells, and how to sell it. The entrepreneurial world calls this a "business incubator," but remember, we started doing this 50 years ago.
We set up for rain, putting up the sides of the booth, stacking all the empties inside, even installing the reinforcing pin that keeps the wimpy spring-loaded center pole from sagging and letting rain collect on our roof.
And then the sun came out.
It was gorgeous all morning, through lunch and into early afternoon. Sales were slow but steady, a bit over half of last weekend, but that one was a record, after all, so I was happy we'd braved the (predicted) weather. Sometimes just showing up is its own reward.
And then, around 2:30, things changed with a bang. Thunder, lightning, pouring rain. Not much wind to speak of, but lots of flash, splash and bang. The lightning rod on the courthouse across the street was struck three times, I was told by the pizza vendor. She's always a little worried about that, what with propane tanks for her ovens, but nothing and nobody at ground level was affected.
After about an hour, things dried up again, and we even made a few more sales. Showered briefly during load-out, but I had some drop cloths to throw over the boxes to keep the rain out, and it stopped again before we finished.
Had a nice chat with a new vendor, Nick, who'd just gone through standards approval on Wednesday*, and really didn't expect to get a full booth, what with no points and all.** So his display of chainsaw sculptures looked a little sparse, spread out in an 8x8' space, but nonetheless adorable, as this little fella, who had to come home with us, will attest.
Think we'll call him "Woody."
*Saturday Market doesn't jury for quality, like many craft fairs; we let the buyers make that decision for us. We do, however, require that the seller actually make their wares, and the work has to be assessed when you join, and again if you add new products that are substantially different than your previous work. You can use commercial components--beads, or jewelry findings, for instance--but the handmade component must dominate. We wind up with some amazing craft work for a non-juried show, just by trusting the artists/craftsfolk to bring what they make.
**If you haven't paid extra for a reserved booth, like us, you put your name in the lottery for a booth space before 8:30 Saturday morning. Priority is by points, which you get by joining and selling over time. There's a complicated formula that assigns a total based on things like how many years you've been a member, how many times you sold last year, and most importantly, how many times you showed up to sell this season. (Nick, being a new member, had zero years membership and zero times selling, for a total of...) Names within each point level are randomized, so you might be first in the 8 point range today, but at the middle or end of the nine pointers next week. On busy Saturdays, they might run out of booths before they finish the list, but as long as you signed up***, you still get your point.
***And paid your fees. $50 annual membership, then $13+10% each Saturday you sell. Considering I paid $450+17% for the three-day Ceramic Showcase, this is dirt-cheap. And it's a great place to get your start, learn what sells, and how to sell it. The entrepreneurial world calls this a "business incubator," but remember, we started doing this 50 years ago.
