This article contains affiliate links to some products and a small commission is earned through purchases made through these links. All affiliate links are marked as such.
This past Small Business Saturday (November 25th), I had the pleasure of being able to do my 2nd ever market!
While my first market was a great success for me and such a great way to get into markets, there were a few notes that I took home with me to make my next markets even better.
The Market
This market was hosted at a local banquet hall and was open 9 AM-4 PM. While it was a fairly long market, I thought that it was relatively steady - with people trickling in through the day. It seemed to slow down a bit later in the day, with it picking up a bit more just before the 4:00 mark for the day.
If you haven't done markets before, I highly recommend having at least 1 person with you to help out during the market. Maybe it's just inexperience on my part but bagging up items and ringing up different items while conversing with customers was made so much easier by having some extra hands on deck. Not only that, but it also made the hour-long setup and take down process so much easier as well.
Perhaps market tips I learned so far are an idea for another post.
The Setup
With my first booth, I used a lot of things that I had laying around my house - including IKEA pegboards, amazon boxes, and blankets. This time around, I used some of the same items, but decided to upgrade a few of my displays to spruce my booth up a bit.
Another thing that I wasn't a huge fan of with my first setup was how the tablecloths looked. While the tablecloths were great for an outdoor market (with a lot of wind), they were not super appealing to me. I decided to swap those out for draping tablecloths this time around!
New Display Additions
While my first setup had a huge focus on using things I had around my apartment and keeping costs low, I decided to put a little bit more into my setup this time around. Some of the things I really wanted to add was height as well as some natural wood elements.
I also swapped my fitted white tablecloths out for some draping ivory tablecloths (yes I ironed them before the event) to better fit my brand.
- Large Wooden Crates from Michaels stores
- Folding plant hanger from Amazon (affiliate link)
- Rotating Jewelry Stand from Amazon (affiliate link)
- Puck Lights from Amazon (affiliate link)
Puck lights were added to brighten up some of the darker spots, which ended up being a great idea! The banquet hall we were stationed in was great, though some parts of my booth would have definitely been a bit darker than I would have liked if I didn't bring them. Thankfully, I was able to just borrow the ones from under my kitchen cabinets for the event!
Best Sellers
Overall, I brought with me 156 items to the market - this included a ton of small projects as well as a few of my larger pieces, ranging from things like potholders to amigurumi.
But mostly amigurumi!
So, without further delay - here's a few of the best sellers at my most recent market as well as where you can get the patterns!
Itty Bitty Mushroom Pops by Cable + Canvas
While I had many best sellers, these itty-bitty mushroom pops are one of the best sellers at not one, but two markets! They're so easy to make and one of my favorites to add a keychain to. Bonus - they're poppable and fantastic fidget toys! You can find the pattern for these pops on Cable and Canvas's Etsy Shop.
Cat Plushie by AQCrochet
While I expected the cats to be popular - I didn't expect them to be that popular! I actually ended up selling out of a few colors and got so many compliments on them! I also sold a few custom cat plushies after the market to a few looking for specific colors or markings.
At the market, I ended up doing a sort of "build a cat" type activity when a cat plushie was purchased. I offered a bowl of different colors and let customers choose their own collar color. Because adding a collar only takes a few seconds, it wasn't super difficult to keep up with demand, but if I were busier it could have been a lot more difficult to keep up with things. Overall, it was a good idea, and a great selling point!
Better yet - this pattern is completely no sew! This pattern can be found on Etsy at AQCrochets' shop!
Mini Velvet Beechains (Personal Pattern)
One thing that I wasn't 100% sure on this time around was bees. I know in the past year or so that bees have been very popular for some crocheters at markets, so I was thinking of not even getting on the bee bandwagon - but I'm glad that I did!
I managed to sell quite a few bee friends at this market - but none of my Christmas themed ones, only the normal black/yellow bees, which was a surprise.
There's no pattern for these specific bees, but if you would like a pattern for these to be posted on my blog, please let me know in the comments! I just feel like there's plenty of bee patterns floating around the internet at this point, so I wasn't too concerned with writing this pattern down thus far.
Finley the Snowman by Alpine Stitch
One of the last additions to my market prepping was the adorable Finley the Snowman! I ended up making a few of these with different colored scarves and selling out of them! They were a hit - and also a hit at my consignment store location as well!
This is a debut pattern by my friend the Alpine Stitch. You can find the pattern for this snowman on Etsy!
Keychain Wristlets by 99% Coffee
While I still have a ton of Keychain Wristlets leftover from the summer, I'm glad to say that they made the best sellers list!
I love making these keychains and swapping them out for the holidays, they're a super quick make so I'm glad to see some of them go out!
You can get this pattern for free on my blog here or shop the PDF version in my shop!
Notable Mentions
While not best sellers, given that these are higher price points, I feel like these plushies deserve their own mentions! I love making larger items to help attract people to my booth. They won't always sell, but it's always a nice surprise when they do!
Hoodie Penguins
One of the big items that really got a lot of attention was these adorable little hoodie penguins! Primp the Penguin is a pattern by Big Momma Bowerz available on their Etsy.
I ended up making a few alterations to the original pattern to make them a bit more Christmas themed, but everyone loved how cute they were and their little hoods! The hoods ended up going up and down all day long, before one of them was eventually sold!
I sold these little guys at a bit of a higher price because they took longer to make - and materials ended up being more than I would have preferred.
Unicorn Plush
Another one that I got a ton of compliments on were my unicorns! Sadly, I only have a picture of the unicorn that hadn't sold, but they were both so popular! Aside from the penguins, I feel like these guys also brought in a lot of attention to the booth.
You can find the pattern for this unicorn on Etsy from Crochet Grove!
Triceratops Plushie
I've made quite a few of these triceratops plushies, and absolutely love them! While this blue one is different than the one, I brought to the market, they are both great attention grabbers!
This specific pattern is the Topsy Triceratops pattern by HannerGurumi on Etsy. This is another one that grabbed attention and eventually sold just before the end of the day!
Final Thoughts
While I love how this event went, I know there's always room for improvement!
Some things I want to focus on for my next market:
- Spread out market prepping over a longer span of time.
- One month was definitely not enough time to comfortably market prep this time around.
- Better behind-the-table organization
- Behind the table organization was a train wreck - having better organization for the checkout items (bags and thank you cards) are some things I can benefit greatly from
If you have any tips or tricks for me to try at my market - or even some that you want to try at your next market - please let me know in the comments below!
