Hi from Finland

Thanks so much for the advice!

I diffinetly was planning to incorprate crafting on site to draw people in and add value to the products through people actually seeing the skill involved. The market has also given me the opportunity to give a small workshop on leatherwork so hopefully that will also bring in interested people.

Ill see if my wife is up for chatting with visitors, that a really good point about people not wanting to interrupt the work.

Thanks again

Cool! Craft markets are an interesting deal.

I would recommend having a setup where you are hand stitching some pre-cut card wallets/ key fobs etc. This is for two reasons:

1) Customers love to see something being hand made with a skill they don't quite understand. It proves that it is all hand made and attaches the human element.

2) If you don't do well on the day, you haven't also lost a days worth of production.

If possible, have someone else there available to talk to customers while you work, some customers think it's rude to disturb you and will keep walking.

If this is not possible just keep looking up to catch peoples eye with an engaging smile as they go by.

Let us know how it goes!

Philip

Hey Phillip,

Great question! Its not something I had given a ton of thought to before.

I would say I craft European(??) style leather work. Veg tan and chrome hand stitched wallets, key fobs, folders, belts, bags etc.. Nothing earth shattering :-)

Ill be having a booth at my first craft market in the beginning of March here in Helsinki. Would you happen to have any wisdom to share about that sort of thing? How much stock to have on hand?

I'm planning to offer simple stitched belts, wallets, key fobs and maybe a tote or 2 with complimentary embossing on site.

Thanks in advance

Hey Sam, thank you for joining the group! What kind of leatherwork do you do?

Philip