I worked a 'normal' job for a day & made 💰💰💰

For those interested, another cost I forgot to mention was that we had to have public liability insurance, which I already had as a freelancer; it isn't much per year but if you're doing this as a one-off, it is an extra cost :)

/// SUPPORT ///

Being in the club means you get: a free weekly podcast, access to a secret facebook group, a free poetry collection and play written by me, access to livestreams AND you get to access to all my videos before anyone else sees them!

Nab yourself a POSITIVE PANIC PATCH:

// COME AND HANG WITH ME IN BETWEEN UPLOADS //

I use Octopus Energy which are a clean green sustainable energy company - if you're in the UK and are curious, here are the two videos I talk about them in:

[TessaAvonlea]

Incoming opinion: I think the patches are only half the product. Guides and scouts often create their own badges which they sell accompanied with a "challenge pack" which tells you what you need to do to earn the badge. There are often different levels of challenges according to ability and how much time you want to spend on it. You have to complete a certain number of tasks from various categories to earn the badge. I think if you created a more substantial challenge element to go with the patches, you're selling more of an experience. And buying experiences are popular these days.

[pk]

Maybe prop up a cork pinboard on the table and pin the patches to it, so they are less flat. And so they are visible from a distance you could print and laminate some A4 size versions of the designs to decorate the front of your stall, with your “Positive Panic Patches” sign and a second one… “Are you up for the challenge?” :-)

[Jodie_May]

I really appreciate this conversation. I knit and crochet and the amount of times people tell me I should sell items and that I’d “make a tonne of money doing it” is maddening. The look on their faces when I explain that a UK average size jumper in a very cost effective 100% natural fibre often costs me £30-£60 for materials alone and so I’m unlikely to make any money as people aren’t even willing to pay the cost of the materials for the finished item that could take me upwards of a full working weeks worth of hours to make is priceless.

[kerry]

Hellloooo! I was the mad middle aged woman that was over excited to meet you that day! I was on a random weekend visiting my Mum and we just happened to go to Lemington Spa and found the festival whilst wandering about. I was tellingher about you and then looked to my right and BOOM there you were! I then proceeded to wibble at you about the randomness of it and you were very sweet and humoured me and my fangirling 😂😂

[The.o.k]

As someone who's worked at markets for around the last five years (not selling my own stuff though) I appreciate you talking about the costs! It can be really disheartening to have folks pass by your stall remarking about the price or just flat out saying they think it's a bad product. I think some people don't understand that the real world 1) doesn't have an algorithm that only shows you things that interest you 2) has real people with feelings who deserve your baseline respect and 3) is more generally sustainable? When you're viewing a business at the market, they can't hide poor treatment of workers behind a snazzy website or curated store. Not only that, but the majority of market sellers are there because they're trying to create a business that's focused around people, both the customer being treated fairly and catered to in-person, and the sellers / makers of the product getting reasonable wages and treatment themselves.
I'm glad to see someone with your platform talk about it. And your stall looked fantastic, by the way! :)

[spiriterised]

kinda random but let me just say that the bit where you're practising your selling skills on craig is absolutely adorable. you two are the sweetest

[zanzibarkasmith]

You could take big jacket or something like that, with more patches on it, and hang it on a hanger in front... like to be more visually clear and obvious than when it's on small shirt laying down.

[jjaanneettjc]

I love how transparent you are with the costs of running a market stall - I'm not a business owner so this is not something I would normally think of but it is incredibly insightful!

I bake as a hobby, and it occurred to me that should I sell the baked goods, I'd need to charge £5 per slice just to break even- for the ingredients and to pay myself minimum wage. That really brings into perspective how challenging it is to run a small business. It's eye-opening to see how equally challenging it is for independent businesses that sell non-perishable products

[everythingbylau]

I remember when you first launched these patches it kind of sounded like a short-term project that you just wanted to give a go, so I'm really glad to see you commit to it long-term!! I love seeing people give themselves & their ideas a chance, and it's even more fun when they take us behind the scenes :)

[kronotoop]

Just wanted to say that I once took a "starting a small business" course and there they said that only 20% of the customers you interact with make a purchase. So 1 in 3 is actually quite good. :)

[fionamoody]

It's so interesting the economics of this, it does make me question how anyone actually makes money from stalls/handmade goods!

[mouseluva]

It was very cool to see you flex your business skills with this video! People who see me crafting are always saying I should start doing them for profit, but very few people understand how little profit there is in crafts/being an independent seller if you aren't working for free!

[AnnaThomas]

81 badge sales might equal 81 positive actions for the climate! That's such a good outcome!

[hayleyvonbose]

My first and only experience was participating in a local D&D club booth at a fair, and my GOD. It was the three ex's - expensive, exhilarating, and exhausting. We weren't selling anything, just opening up tabletop roleplaying games to the public, but we bought snacks, dice sets for each player to take home, pencils, coloring pages for kids, fliers, our own tables/tents, etc... It was fun to talk with people about their RPG experiences, but never again. At least not without selling drinks or snacks.

[alexhreadsaudiobooks]

I used to sell at several markets a year when i was running my etsy shop as a more "official" business, it is exactly as you say, the amount you have to pay for stall space/marketing gubbins and public liability make it quite unprofitable on the whole. It is however absolutely great to get out and meet other makers and customers, see what kind of things people gravitate towards and get real-time feedback. Christmas markets were most worth doing imo, I don't think I ever broke even at another time of the year....

[elliegracelatham]

Loved this Leena ❤ I'm a jeweller and I make at least 60% of my sales at craft markets, so it was so fun watching you have a go at my job! Running a creative business is hard but so so fun. I think you did a great job finding a festival that fit your niche, I've learnt over the years that you have to find the right kind of event where your ideal customer is, for me that's art galleries and more pricey exhibitions.

[emmeline-tyler]

I am a keen crocheter and i spent about ten years trying to make money from my hobby - not heaps, just enough to cover expenses - before i realised online doesn’t work because people really need to touch and feel the products in order to buy them.

I tried market stalls a couple of times and I think they would be worth doing if you were extraverted and enjoyed meeting the people that came to your stall. This was not the case for me. I found it soul crushing to have my energy drained for three hours, have people browse and not buy which felt like a rejection. I only ever sold zero or one item per market event.

So I think your enjoyment of the experience is a really important factor. If it is fun for you it might still be worth it even if you don’t make money.

In terms of my crocheting hobby, my circumstances changed so now i can afford to buy wool and lately I have been crocheting 🇵🇸themed beanies that I donate to a local bookshop and they donate the money to a refugee charity ❤️

[indiabilly]

I have tried selling at markets, both were financial disasters, I am a textile designer, I took a variety of items with different price points, my stall looked lovely, other stall holders were really lovely about it but there were no people- almost zero footfall so I sold a few tiny items but didn’t cover the cost of the train getting there…. X

[ana-morgana]

I turned my "no books on a dead planet" badge into a bookmark for reading "feral". It lives in my scary climate books now 10/10 recommend!

[raccoonsnacks]

I did a market in August selling my handmade coasters, I pinned a string of bunting along the front of my table and found it really helped jazz up the table. If I do a market again I think I want to add letters to each triangle to spell "Coasters" so that people know what I'm selling. You could also do bunting and then put a patch on each triangle maybe? Or, a pinboard style thing with the patches pinned on.