Lisa's thoughts: Consignment, Markets, & SCAMS

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Consignment shops are a good way to showcase and sell your product with minimal effort on your part. A shop will either take a percentage of your sales, charge a space rental fee, or sometimes, a combo of both. It is up to you to do the math and decide if you will be profiting at all. 

I would never sell at a shop that takes more than 40%. Especially from an artist/maker/creator. 

If I put my wares in a shop, I raise the prices enough to cover the percentage that the shop takes. while still taking into account the price that a customer might pay for my item.

PROS: someone else sells your stuff when u aren't there, u get money

CONS: they take a percentage or rent

Due to necessity and want, we created our own free sidewalk market. Heather and I said to ourselves "Wouldn't it just be rad if we had a free market close to us?"  so then we decided to make one. It wasnt as easy as pie, but it wasn't very difficult either. I went into every shop along the stretch of sidewalk on SE Foster that we deemed fit to hold vending tents or art tables. Most shops said they would love to have vendors set up, as long as we were clean, courteous, communicative, and able to change with daily situations, etc. Three years ago we started our free market, and none of my profits go to anyone else but me. 

This is not a "join my market" paragraph. This is a MAKE YOUR OWN MARKET campaign. PLEASE go make your own market if u cant find one you like! You can make the rules! Make it when u want! Especially if you are bold enough to bypass a lil ol red tape.

THEY EXIST

Free markets are the best way to get out there and sell stuff as a new vendor. They also don't hurt as a veteran vendor either. 100% of the sales are yours, you just have to do the work. Driving, setting up your stuff (table, canopy, etc), manning your shop, engaging with humans... it can be a lot. It is your time and effort. But the rewards are all yours.

PROS: FREE, great vendor networking

CONS: usually don't have paid advertising, often outside, no staff, no bathroom sometimes

PAY-TO-VEND is TRICKY

$20? go right ahead. no problemo. Over $50 a day? I hope you have heard of this market before, have seen them around insta, have heard feedback from folks, etc. If you do not make money at a market that cost you $50, you have given away $50 and lost a day of your life. Maybe you "had a nice time" WOOHOO. I can have a nice time at home.

Yes, yes, I know, any market can have a bad day. But a NEW market, that you haven't heard of, that no one knows about... don't assume u r getting that $50 back in sales. You are rolling the dice.

As far as market fees go, they are all over the damn place. They cover cost of renting a building, porta potties, staff, and even paying the market runners and employees.

This is not a bad thing. But do the math for your market. If the market fee is $100 for one day, and you would like to make sales equivalent to artist-friendly consignment shop percentages, (let's call the $100 the 30%), then you will want to make $333.33. Now you have profited the same you would in a consignment shop that you didn't have to do any work for.

Let's say you only made your "table fee" at this market. You have given away $100 of your craft. And lost a day.

One way to help yourself out in higher-price-to-vend situations is raise YOUR prices a tad for this market. A slightly higher percentage may help make your goal of a profitable day!

If you are unsure about whether a market is worth doing, please, ASK EVERYONE! Most vendors will be happy to tell you if they love doing a market. If they have done a market multiple times, ask them "what makes u keep coming back?"