The Craft Fair Delusion (with a nod to Mr Dawkins)

A number of times Craft Fair Stallholders have proudly told me, at the end of the day, that they'd "done all right". When questioned this usually refers to "I've taken enough to cover my stall costs". When questioned further it transpires that they are referring to the fact that the turnover for the day has equalled or exceeded the cost of the stall hire AND nothing else.

This is a delusional state. Let us look at a brief breakdown of your costs as a crafter/stallholder.

1. The cost of your raw materials.

2. The time you needed to create your crafted items.

3. Insurance, usually public liability, costs.

4. Promotional costs (leaflets, business cards, websites etc).

5. Travel costs, both to and from craft fairs but also travel to suppliers as well.

6. Energy costs, such as electricity and gas, required as part of the craft making process. If you use a kiln, a light, a sewing machine then you're also using energy and that is a cost.

7. Any costs associated with learning your craft. Books, courses, even watching videos on Youtube. It all costs money and time.

8. Stall/sales kit. That includes a cloth to go over your table, stands to display your wares and the price labels.

9. The cost of hiring a stall.

10. Your time travelling to a Craft Fair and the time spent sat at your stand trying to sell your wares.

Now isn't that a bit of an eye opener?

Let's create a hypothetical crafter called Sue Smith. She makes 500 knitted hats each year and sells them at 10 Craft Fairs in her area. A breakdown of her costs for one item could be as follows.

1. Each hat needs £1.00p of wool and thread.

2. It takes 1 hour to create each hat. At National minimum wage that is a labour cost of £5.80p.

3. Annual public liability is £35.00p. Divide that figure by the number of hats made per annum equals £35.00/500= 7p per hat.

4. Annual promotional costs are £200 (printing, website etc). Divide that figure by the number of hats made per annum equals £200/500= 40p per hat.

5. Travel costs. 10 Craft Fairs attended. Total distance covered for Craft Fairs equals 500 miles. Notional rate per mile (including fuel cost, insurance, maintenance etc) set at 25p a mile equals 500 X £0.25p = £125.00 that equates to £125/500=£0.25p per hat!

6. Sales time and travel time. 10 Craft Fairs at 8 hours combined sales and travel time each = 80 hours. 80 Hours at £5.80 per hour = £464.00p per year. Per hat(500) = £0.93p each!

7. Sales Kit costs of £40 per annum. Equates to 8p per hat.

We will assume that Sue already knows all about hat making and that her energy costs comprise of a couple of bowls of cheap porridge per day. Hence no cost.

8. Stall costs. Each stall costs £20 per Craft Fair. That makes a total of £200.00p per annum and a per hat cost of 40p.

This gives us a total of £8.93p of cost per hat. If Sue Smith follows the usual pattern for crafters she'll be charging below her per item cost for each hat. Thus making a loss on every sale she makes. How long can anyone keep that up for?

The bottom line is that too many crafters appear to under price their wares. They don't take into account all the costs involved and appear to be throwing good money after bad. I'd encourage all crafters to sit down before they book another event and work out their costs as accurately as possible.

Finally, tax. A dirty word in anyone's vocabulary but we're all adults here and we have to face the issue of tax. What you call a hobby Revenue & Customs might well call a business. Are you registered with them as a trader? Do you complete your tax return every year? Even if you haven't made a profit, sadly the situation most crafters will find themselves in, you may well be required to fill out the requisite tax forms for self assessment. It's not a joke, people. I wonder how long it will be before our friends at Revenue & Customs start visiting craft fairs, pick up cards and then start back checking their records? A chilling thought.

Kirton-in-Lindsey Christmas Market Anyone?

I have been passed this email extract concerning a Christmas Market on the 4th of December, 2010.

We are holding a Christmas Market on 4th December 2010 and are looking for local purveyors of high quality goods, with the aim of making ours the best local Christmas Market in the area. As you may have heard, our Town Hall, the focal point of our market area, has recently received a £1m restoration and is due to be re-opened by HRH Prince Edward next month. We are planning, therefore, to hold a traditional Christmas event based around our fantastic newly restored Town Hall, which will be lit with brand new heritage floodlighting. There will also be entertainment including a brass band, choirs, Father Christmas, small children’s rides and various street performers.

Our stall hire is priced at just £25 and includes a traditional market stall canopy and lighting, which I believe is much more competitive than some Christmas markets!

I attach a flyer with more information and a booking form. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me via email or on (*&(&&(&**(*( (Number withheld by Craft Fair Eye).

We do hope you consider joining us, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Now the first thing that strikes me about this event, which is soliciting crafters and stallholders to attend, is the date. The 4th of December is slap bang in the middle of the Lincoln Christmas Market. One of the biggest Christmas Market events in the whole of the UK. It is also only about 20 miles away, or 30 minutes by car. If someone is really interested in visiting a Christmas Market are they going to stick to a small local event or go along to a huge event that attracts crowds from around the world?

The email goes on about the refurbishment of the local Town Hall. All well and good but it suggests to me that this whole event is to promote the Town Hall and not the stallholders. Do we have another example of stallholders being used to attract people to a location at their (the stallholders) expense? Perhaps it would be fairer for the crafters/stallholders to be paid for their time? Especially as they are a form of entertainment and being used to attract visitors to the event in Kirton-in-Lindsey.

I do love the bit about "Our stall hire is priced at just £25 and includes a traditional market stall canopy and lighting, which I believe is much more competitive than some Christmas markets!" It wouldn't be too far a stretch of the imagination to assume that this is a reference to the Lincoln Christmas Market. The difference between the two events? The Lincoln Christmas Market attracts a reported 150,000 visitors over a couple of days. Somehow I cannot see Kirton-in-Lindsey managing to reach that kind of footfall. Also, if you are a crafter/stallholder you have to ask yourself what is the point of attending an event so close to Lincoln during the Christmas Market. The Lincoln Christmas Market is heavily advertised and would be a major competitor. Drawing customers from all over the region and beyond. To sell you need people. If the people are elsewhere then selling becomes impossible.

If this event was being run at another time then it might be something you'd consider. But the date is a killer. It's the crafter/stallholder equivalent of opening a small clothes shop next to a new Primark store. 

Caistor Craft Fair and Art Show

The grand entrance to the event

Location : Caistor. But where is Caistor? Well, I'd never been there before this weekend. It's located some miles south of the town of Brigg. Located along a long windy road that can be a little scary to the unwary. Local population of about 2,600 (care of Wikipedia) and to quote one person of my acquaintance "it's the pimple on the arse of nowhere".

Promotion: There were signs on the way into Caistor and a damned good thing to. Without them I'd never have found the place. Apart from that I saw or heard nothing else that indicated an event in Caistor.

First Impressions: Not good. The event was being held in what I believe is the Town Hall. The small car park adjacent to the Town Hall was small and had only one empty space when I arrived. There was an overflow car park "nearby". "Nearby" means beyond walking distance and up a steep hill. Not somewhere that an elderly or infirm person (the majority of stallholders and visitors came into these two categories) could easily access without suffering a heart attack.

General Comments: The event was really two events. An art show/competition and a craft fair. The art show was so well hidden that I didn't even notice it on the way in. The craft fair was in the usual arrangement of stalls round the walls of a hall with some stalls in the middle. The stalls seemed, to me, to be very cramped. Too many stalls in the hall? Probably.

The merchandise on sale was the usual stuff. In fact I am now getting very bored with these events. It always seems to be the same "stuff" for sale. Greetings cards, jewellery, knitted goods, bags, some turned wood objects, pottery, some original artworks. It all sounds the same. Looks the same and is the same. It is dull. Little or nothing that might attract a man to make a purchase.

Watch out for that crowd!

In fact that is what I really want to talk about. A quick check of this event threw up an interesting fact. Nearly all the stalls were run by women. At all the craft fair type events I've attended nearly all the stallholders have been women. That accounts for the plethora of feminine products that are offered for sale. And that is the problem. Why? Because it is the men who have their hands on the cash not the women. So even if what you produce is fantastic and cheap the money holders (men) won't release the cash. I have even seen women about to make a purchase dragged off by their male companions. 

Another issue is age. Many of stallholders appear to be "getting on in years". One comment I overheard was "god's waiting room". So true. A great many of the stallholders are retired and elderly. Perhaps craft fairs attract the older person. But it also has a detrimental affect. Young people, whether you like it or not, don't like older people at all. They also, from what I can see, don't like what is offered for sale by older people.

This craft fair, like so many others I have looked at, offered nothing new and exciting. It was located in the middle of nowhere, in a location far away from the bustling shopping crowds of Scunthorpe or Brigg. It was dominated by elderly ladies and was stocked with items that, frankly, left me cold or bored. I think that unless the craft fair movement gets an urgent injection of young blood, and I cannot see that happening any time soon, then it will die off over the next ten years. The question is would anyone care or even notice?