I was late getting there but we still managed to get set up, more or less, before the starting time of 8. Not everything was unpacked but that saved us having to pack it up again afterwards so all good. I was a bit surprised when I did get there as there weren't as many stalls as I was expecting. Our
markets are held at the town hall and there are inside and outside areas. The outside areas are bigger and we liked the idea of being out on the grass under the tree.
Last week when we sorted through some stuff to take we had 2 tables set up out here and as we priced things they were put on a table. This morning I only took one of the tables and not everything fit on it. It looked too crowded and things were hard to see as we had stuff on top of other stuff. If I had taken the other table it would have been better so next time we need 2 tables or less stuff. I could have/should have taken the second table as there would have been room for it on our patch. The tables we have don't fit in either my or T's car so I had to use the van and only put in one big table and a smaller table that I was going to use for the honey.
Not sure what to do next week when we go out of town to some markets, the van might be OK but it is old and I worry about it conking out when driving it now.
Though my main reason for wanting a stall was to sell my honey I have been saying for months that we should have a stall and try and sell some of the
crap things we no longer want. These markets are called Farmers Markets but most of the stalls have nothing to do with farmers or fresh produce. Today ours had a bit of both.
Here is daughter T putting some jars on the honey table. This table also had some Easter gifts that she had made up to sell.
A cute little bear holding a 1kg tub. I had 1kg tubs, 500gm plastic jars, 400gm glass jars and 100gm glass jars.
Last night I wrote up a bit about the honey, where it comes from, how it is processed, printed them out and laminated the sheets. I had it with a price list on a board.
This is the round table with the honey and all of the Easter things. It looked good. We had extra stock under the table and the *system* worked quite well. Sell a few thing, get more out, sell something else, replace that too...
Notice the tray of Chokos? Picked in my rush this morning and we sold these plus more from under the table.
Granddaughter had boxes of stuffed toys to sell and made a few dollars to spend next time.
This is us. Are they customers that T is ignoring? No, just lookers.
Looking down the path. There are usually a lot more people, both with stall and people wandering through. A few people said how the day was so quiet and we heard that there were other, bigger things happening.
This is looking at us from a different spot. I think we need to work on setting up an inviting stall.
All in all though we think we did alright. We can't afford to retire yet but we more than covered our costs and had a good time too. And have already made plans for next week in Pinjarra. Hmmm, maybe
we I should get a proper float together and work out better tables and make sure the alarm will work and get together everything that we needed today but didn't have at the ready...
Well done. In my book, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and if it was worthwhile after the tally-up then points were scored all round :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, very nice that three generations were involved in the day... :)
Btw, what are chokos????
DeleteI never saw the chokos.
ReplyDeleteAbout tables--I had a car to use for craft shows and most table would not fit my car. I bought a sheet of plywood. Here, they are 4' x 8' and come in different thicknesses. I had them cut into four pieces that were 2' x 4'. I bought legs that screw on and will fold up. These fit in the back seat on the floor in the car I had then.
Round tables are harder to stage to look nice. As a consumer, I prefer to buy honey from a table that has only honey on it. I suppose I like to be overwhelmed. lol If you have rectangular or square tables, people can walk along the front and sides, leaving you the backside as a place to sit, put cooler of food under the table or the stock. Plus, people are more likely to see all you have if they don't have to go around this table and that table. However, your traditions may be different and people may expect exactly what you have.
One thing that helped me to be on time was putting everything in the car except me and food that needed to be in the refrigerator over night. The morning of the event, I just yanked on clothes and grabbed food and packed it. I ate on the way or when I got there. But, I never lost the clothes I had ready...lol. I still laugh about the handy clothes on the floor.
It all seems to have worked out in spite of everything. That is a lot of stuffed toys! And, they look clean and the price seems very cheap so they will sell.
Chokos grow on a vine, are known as Chayote in some countries. Easy to grow, they tend to take over everything and can be used in any dish. They don't have much of a flavour by themselves but take on the flavour of what they are cooked with. Apple pie or soups and stews...
ReplyDeleteLinda, yes I would prefer square table but used what we have. Other stalls had smaller foldup tables so if we get into doing this we may have to look at buying some of them. I have not seen foldup screw on legs...but haven't actually looked either! Thanks for your ideas.
Barb.
The foldup tables are certainly lighter than the ones from plywood! However, they are not sturdy. I would not want honey on one. The legs are at some hardware stores. I have some tables I intend to dismantle. It's too bad we are not closer. I would trade you legs for honey, maybe chokos.
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