What kind of market is best to sell at and why it matters!

First… our story so far

Pickers Ridge Hardwood Designs was started in 2017 and has kept us busy since the beginning. We are a married couple who both work in the business, and we design, make, and sell our products at markets ourselves. We have no outside help and this has been both a blessing and also a curse.

It is a blessing as it allows us to work at our own pace, and it also protects ideas from the public before they are ready for sale. What I mean by this is we have proprietary methods and products that are our bread and butter and keeping the IP protected is vital for our business.

It is a curse because we have to do everything ourselves. This includes product development, process design for manufacturing each product, website development, advertising, selling at markets… everything. We could outsource certain things such as the website development, but we heavily reinvest back into the business, so keeping the cashflow within the business is important.

Why listen to what we have to say?

For seven years we have operated our business as craft market participants, along with a small online presence that is now beginning to grow. Pre 2020 we attended up to 7 markets each month and we clocked up countless hours of travel, stall setup, selling to the public, pulling down, and more travel.

We are comfortable saying we know this game well, and we enjoy sharing what we learn if we think it can help others. This article is one of these times.

Learning the different types of markets to sell at

As I mentioned above, we attended many markets each month, and over time we discovered the character of each type of market we attended, and cross checked that with our expectations for that particular market.

It took quite some time to distill each market down into the who, what, when and where details. These things matter if you intend to grow a small business out of this process.

Each craft market has “personality” hints to help with your expectations, as you will discover. The next section is where we break down the different types of market we have attended and the benefits for each.

What types of craft markets are there?

Let’s start with a small list of craft market “types” first.

• Farmers markets
• Tourist markets
• Cotters markets
• Indoor markets
• Curated handmade markets

Farmers markets.

These types of markets are frequented by hobby farmers and urban gardeners generally speaking. This is the place where you get orchids, bromeliads, chickens, the odd wood craft stall, transient body product vendors, and a few food vans and such. They pop up in semi-rural areas and attract fruit and veg shoppers and are usually small affairs in our experience. Great for a hobby seller happy to make a few dollars on the side.

Tourist markets.

This type of market is the kind that people ‘discover’ while walking around or driving. They tend to be held weekly and are located in tourist hotspots. This market exists because of the steady flow of new visitors each time the market is held, and while this can be great for a food vendor, it may not be so good for someone looking to grow a business out of a market stall situation. It can be very hit and miss.

Cotters markets.

These types of markets have good intentions when it comes to the types of stalls and products they allow to participate. A good market will filter out the made-in-asia products as best they can whilst providing a place for the true craftspeople to sell their items semi-protected from the cheap stuff stalls. The low-priced imports do kill the artisans unfortunately. These markets are often held monthly.

Indoor markets.

These are often well attended, and stall holders enjoy the freedom from setting up an outdoor stall and contending with the elements. We have not attended any thus far and the only one we were to attend was cancelled in the mayhem of 2020. By all reports we have personally heard from participants, they are a worthwhile venture to investigate. These types of markets are usually held quarterly or annually.

Curated handmade markets.

These are a step up from the cotters market and all participants are usually vetted and screened before being accepted as a vendor. These markets are great stepping-stones to building a business because of the customers they tend to attract. This will be explained further in the destination category section below.

So those are the different types of markets we are conversant with, and you probably recognize a few yourself. Knowing what type of market is usually stated in any fliers or local adverts. Now, let’s categorize each type of market to get a better understanding of the varied opportunities they all present.

The different categories of craft markets.

The list above is able to be redefined into “categories” that will start to put meat on the bones of this article. There are two primary categories, and these are not advertised anywhere at all.

NB: Any of the market types can and will fall into either category but will belong in only one.

• Destination craft markets
• Entertainment craft markets

Destination craft markets

This category describes the kind of market where customers will plan a trip and travel to this event. The market will have history behind the market story and can often have decades of events to lean on for credibility and context. These markets are great for building a solid customer base who will return often.

They are reliable income generators if your product is up to scratch, and I suggest reading this article to understand what this means. The key take-away here is it is a destination in and of itself and people plan shopping trips around these markets, so the customers are intending to buy. This category of market is not held weekly in our experience, the destination market we attended was a monthly event.

Entertainment craft markets.

As the title suggests, these markets require fresh visitors to survive. While they do have their regular local visitors they mostly depend on the itinerant activity of the random visitor. People don’t usually plan a shopping trip around these markets (some folk will) but will treat themselves to a frozen yogurt or a coffee as they wander the stalls.

The stalls are the entertainment, not the destination. You will sell at these markets, sometimes surprisingly well, but in our experience, it is difficult to have consistent results week in, week out. This category will run each weekend all year long. Add a seasonal effect to this category in some locations. The typical visitor is primarily interested in the coffee and ice-cream, with the option of buying a trinket.

Where we operate, we have a very distinct wet season followed by a dry season. The wet season comes with very high humidity and often hot days as well, so southern visitors avoid the region during the wet summer months.

How to recognize what category a market comes under.

For this process you need to look at the location of the market. If the location is a tourist hotspot and is easily walked to, the odds are it is in the entertainment category.

The kind of items that are available at these markets are generally small items like jewelry, touristy trinkets, Asian manufactured imported items, and multiple food vendors, coffee vans, frozen juices and yogurts. The odd small artisan will scratch out a few sales with spotty reliability and will usually be the result of an impulse purchase.

The typical purchase at an entertainment category market is closely related to the holiday/vacation process and can be considered memento buying. Travel luggage capacity plays a huge role in purchase decisions.

If the market location is slightly out of the way, is held regularly each month, and is consistently supported by regular stall holders, it can be considered a destination category market. These markets have worked out the optimum balance between offering a great destination experience and how often to hold the market. If held too often there is a risk of exhausting the customer base.

Over time the average stall holder will know what to expect from each event after becoming a regular attendee. The customers travel to the market with the express intention of purchasing items, with the option of the coffee or ice-cream. It is the opposite of the entertainment category market.

Benefits and downsides of each category of market.

Benefits of Destination markets

Let’s start with the customers. Nothing happens without their participation, and since they have travelled to the destination and intend to shop, they often make a day of it. They are willing to chat about your products and often share details of family members who do what you do. They are very willing to support a small business if the quality meets expectations, and they will return.

These markets allow trust and connections to grow, and this translates to Brand awareness. Your customers will then support you online in the future if you take this path. For the stall holder looking at growing a business, these markets are a must attend if it is possible. They are fantastic for product trials and development.

Downsides of destination markets

The only downside we are aware of is the regularity, from a business perspective. The best case for a growing business is to have 4 destination markets that fall on different weekends so you can spread your reach organically. This would allow the benefits to spread across a larger group of customers.

Benefits of Entertainment markets

The typical visitor to this category of market is busy. They are on holidays and are cramming as much as possible into the day. They stumble across your stall and will interact sometimes but often just browse and leave.

The positive side of this is there is a constant flow of people and while the sales per head are far smaller than the destination market, the numbers are made up through having a market held every weekend in the same location, with a fresh group of visitors.

Downside to Entertainment markets

Entertainment is what it is, it is not a shopping trip. There is little opportunity to connect with the customer and build trust. A common request is for a business card with no follow up later. Small gifts will be purchased for friends and family looking after the pet or house while your customer is holidaying. Size is critical for luggage reasons. The typical purchase is similar to the impulse buy at the chocolate stand at the supermarket checkout.

How to choose the best market for your business.

To choose the most appropriate market for you and your products, take an honest approach to where you would like your business to be in the future. If you are content with a few extra bucks to help buy the next tool for your favorite hobby, the entertainment market might suit you best. These markets can be easier to get into as a stall holder because stallholder churn is a real thing.

If you want to grow a small business, the destination market is recommended. While the early attendances can be slow, perseverance is required because the typical visitor is often a regular and they can take time to warm to you and your products.

You will know when they have accepted you because sales climb steadily and they spread your brand for you through word-of-mouth. They open up about themselves and come back as friends the next time they visit.

There is often a waiting list for applicants with the destination market so keep that in mind. This suggests that the market stalls are viable concerns, so you want to be a part of that.

How google ads taught us to see these observations

This is the section where we explain why this article exists. It was quite by accident that we had an ‘aha’ moment. As this article is being written we are dipping our toes into the world of online advertising… with no experience to lean on. Remember at the beginning of the article we stated we do everything inhouse, well…this is no different.

After many YouTube sessions, we discovered some of the terminology that is used to describe the method of ad presentation. On the Google platform there are several methods to present your business to the public. The primary two we are interested in are Google Search and Google Display. When we dug into the differences these platforms offer and how they are described within the advertising agency world, we realized how similar they are to the physical craft markets we all know.

The destination market is the equivalent of Google search ads.

People search online for something specific, often with the intent to purchase. If your business and product is that thing they are searching for, you stand a chance of a sale. This process is called intent driven.

The entertainment market is the equivalent of Google display ads.

This method of advertising is where your ad is displayed on websites as one of those sometimes-annoying popups. They are called interruptive advertising because they attempt to place a shiny object in front of the user while they browse. This is very similar to the entertainment category market, where the stall holder is hoping for a sale while the visitor browses.

Both methods have different dynamics to be aware of, just as the different category markets have different personalities.

Conclusion

Recognize your markets for what they are. The information above is based on seven years of experience. This article is not trying to be definitive because there will be crossover behaviors from market visitors in both categories and as such, the information above is generalized. The question to ask yourself is does the behavior support your business intentions reliably.

We hope you found something of value and can move forward with your ventures effectively. No doubt there will be a future article on the process of transitioning from craft market attendance to online selling, touching on wholesale vs advertising, as we are deep into this process as this article is being written.

Any questions or comments are most welcome. If we have personal experience to offer, we are more than happy to help.

This article was written by Tim Blanch as Co-Founder and co-owner of Pickers Ridge.