Etsy Made Local Craft Market Singapore
My first craft fair ended a month ago. It was the result of days and nights of shopping for material, actual hard work of making the items for sale and anxiety over the endless possibilities of failing. I swear I am a Daiso expert by now because I know everything they have and where they are.
Preparation:
I opened my ETSY store early this year to sell my framed water colour sketches. I only needed to upload pictures and click "open". I just cross my fingers and hope for the right person to come along and buy my sketches.
After much persuasion from my sis, I did a portrait of her bunny and she suggested that I sell pet portraits at a craft fair. "Nay! too much work"' I told her but secretly I started to brainstorm how I could use the image into something more practical . "It might work on a charm" I thought and I made one after watching countless YouTube videos. My sis loved it but I left it at that and carried on with my life.
Then I came across an email asking for existing ETSY sellers to apply to be a vendor at the inaugural ETSY craft fair organised by craftivistSG. I sent pictures of the bunny portrait and charm over and waited. The organisers actually said YES! My mind was racing~ I have nothing else to sell other than my watercolour sketches and at $100-400/ piece, I would most probably come back not selling a single piece at the craft fair. I had to make it work.
After countless insomniac nights, I came up with bag charm designs and my bespoke pet portrait concept. A week before the event I was running around borrowing props (thanks Awong and Hwee Lee), buying materials/props, making the actual products/ packaging/ name cards/ stall props/ order forms/ stall signs, getting small change (thanks Doris), doing marketing on facebook/ Instagram/blog/ETSY and arranging for transport for the event. I made a total of 20 charms, 10 mini magnets, 12 watercolour sketches and I was prepared to accept portrait commission.
Finally the day arrived ...
The fair:
My sis volunteered to help at the fair on the Saturday. Hubs' dad dropped sis and I at the Capitol Piazza one hour before set up time. When I saw the tables and black cloth, it occurred to me that it was really happening. After a quick breakfast we quickly put everything together. The venue was located at an outdoor atrium so we were exposed to blazing hot sun. I immediately regretted not bringing a fan.
My dear friends from secondary school came just after set up and they bought charms. One of them commissioned a family portrait.
The crowd came during lunch and I managed to sell several charms and took orders for pet portrait commission (Fishball the maltese, Pumpkin/Pudding/Potato the guinea pigs and Alfie the king Charles cavalier).When the first day ended I sold almost half the charms.
Hubs and his aunt dropped by on Sunday to help out while I chatted with people who visited. My parents visited and took many pictures. Many urban sketcher friends came and it was nice to catch up on happenings and exchange pointers on art sale.
A colleague dropped by and she eventually commissioned a bag charm of her neighbourhood cats, Honey and Biscuit.
A friend from the previous lab came with her husband and she commissioned a portrait for her bunny, Chingu. It started raining heavily towards the end of the fair and we packed up and left with just 5 charms. There were many commendations for my watercolour sketches but I didn't sell any. I wonder if I had priced them too high.
My thoughts:
Eventually I managed to cover my material cost and a little more. But I probably made more non-monetary gain from this experience. It was my first attempt at marketing, promoting or selling something. During the craft fair, I got to speak to real people about my art and crafts. They told me what is working and what is not. It was encouraging and enlightening.
Final advice. Don't be afraid to try something new. Every success begins with a small step. Just do it.
And... My ETSY shop is always open. Take a look?
Preparation:
I opened my ETSY store early this year to sell my framed water colour sketches. I only needed to upload pictures and click "open". I just cross my fingers and hope for the right person to come along and buy my sketches.
After much persuasion from my sis, I did a portrait of her bunny and she suggested that I sell pet portraits at a craft fair. "Nay! too much work"' I told her but secretly I started to brainstorm how I could use the image into something more practical . "It might work on a charm" I thought and I made one after watching countless YouTube videos. My sis loved it but I left it at that and carried on with my life.
 |
| Bag charm |
After countless insomniac nights, I came up with bag charm designs and my bespoke pet portrait concept. A week before the event I was running around borrowing props (thanks Awong and Hwee Lee), buying materials/props, making the actual products/ packaging/ name cards/ stall props/ order forms/ stall signs, getting small change (thanks Doris), doing marketing on facebook/ Instagram/blog/ETSY and arranging for transport for the event. I made a total of 20 charms, 10 mini magnets, 12 watercolour sketches and I was prepared to accept portrait commission.
Finally the day arrived ...
The fair:
My sis volunteered to help at the fair on the Saturday. Hubs' dad dropped sis and I at the Capitol Piazza one hour before set up time. When I saw the tables and black cloth, it occurred to me that it was really happening. After a quick breakfast we quickly put everything together. The venue was located at an outdoor atrium so we were exposed to blazing hot sun. I immediately regretted not bringing a fan.
My dear friends from secondary school came just after set up and they bought charms. One of them commissioned a family portrait.
The crowd came during lunch and I managed to sell several charms and took orders for pet portrait commission (Fishball the maltese, Pumpkin/Pudding/Potato the guinea pigs and Alfie the king Charles cavalier).When the first day ended I sold almost half the charms.
 |
| Pumpkin/Pudding/Potato -freshly delivered! |
 |
| Fishball |
 |
| Alfie-freshly delivered! |
Hubs and his aunt dropped by on Sunday to help out while I chatted with people who visited. My parents visited and took many pictures. Many urban sketcher friends came and it was nice to catch up on happenings and exchange pointers on art sale.
A colleague dropped by and she eventually commissioned a bag charm of her neighbourhood cats, Honey and Biscuit.
A friend from the previous lab came with her husband and she commissioned a portrait for her bunny, Chingu. It started raining heavily towards the end of the fair and we packed up and left with just 5 charms. There were many commendations for my watercolour sketches but I didn't sell any. I wonder if I had priced them too high.
My thoughts:
Eventually I managed to cover my material cost and a little more. But I probably made more non-monetary gain from this experience. It was my first attempt at marketing, promoting or selling something. During the craft fair, I got to speak to real people about my art and crafts. They told me what is working and what is not. It was encouraging and enlightening.
Final advice. Don't be afraid to try something new. Every success begins with a small step. Just do it.
And... My ETSY shop is always open. Take a look?
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