How to make PROFITABLE polymer clay earrings for your stall.

We've all been there...sitting for hours on a freezing cold day contemplating our life choices and why the hell we thought it was a good idea to attend markets when we barely even break even. But if that is happening we need to step back and look at a few things:

1) Display: the first thing you need to do is take a long hard look at your stall layout and ask yourself "would I shop there?". Is it a light and inviting space? Are the product prices labelled clearly? Is it obvious what you are actually selling? This may sound like a funny thing to say but people have a nasty habit of drifting by and if you don't immediately grab their attention they will continue to drift and not even bother looking in. In my personal experience I saw a vast difference when I changed my dark navy blue gazebo for a white one as it let so much more light in! Height is also a really big draw. If people have to look down at your items they are likely to miss things so try and display at eye level where ever possible.

2) Cost of your products: this is a tricky one as none of us want to sit for hours making something to then only sell it for a couple of quid. You have to be able to balance the time it takes to make something against the cost people will realistically pay. If this is not achievable you perhaps need to look at your workflow - not reduce your prices. Using good quality sharp cutters will reduce sanding time. Making a few of the same in batches is much quicker than making them all individually. For example if you are using our tropical stud cutters it is worth making a large batch, baking them for 5 mins so they are easy to handle and then dot all of the eyes at once before baking for the correct time. Little tricks like this will drastically reduce your production time which will in turn increase your profit margin.

3) What you sell: Its very tempting as a creative to just "make a bit of this and that" but quite honestly, this muddles your aesthetic and actually gives people too much choice in some cases which quite often prevents them from buying! Curated collections with as little clutter as possible are the way forward as it often encourages people to buy an add on - especially if you can offer a mix and match promotion. Three sales is always better than one even if you have to take a hit!

4) Engage with people!! Honestly I genuinely can't believe the amount of stall holders I meet on my travels that sit there with a face like a smacked ar$e an wonder why they don't get any sales. If you are sat there on your phone, not engaging and generally looking miserable (even if you are) then it is vastly off-putting to your clientelle. On the flip side being too overly friendly can put people off too so a simple hello and a smile should suffice until you have sussed out it they are generally interested in your work or if they are just window shopping. Try and "look busy" behind the scenes too - make something, stuff your bags with business cards, prepare your packaging etc - it all helps to stay engaged but keep the pressure off your browsing customer.

5) Don't be put off by a bad day - The economy is absolutely rock bottom at the minute with the cost of living crisis, the war and everything else in between. People genuinely don't have as much spare money to spend so please don't take it too hard if you don't make sales. If your products are well made, professionally finished and aesthetically packaged there is absolutely no reason they shouldn't sell well at the right markets. Make sure you pass a leaflet out to every customer you engage with, even if they don't buy from you. I have often had people come back to my stall hoping to see me again and sales from people after the event. Just because they didn't buy from you on the day doesn't mean they wont ever buy from you so remember that!