What a day! This was my very first time selling at an event, in person, with my very own booth and it. Was. So. Exciting! For those of you not in the Cleveland area, or in the area but just not aware of this awesome event,
The Last Minute Market happens every year on the last Saturday before Christmas and features over 100 unique artists selling everything from jewelry to soap to baby onesies. The perfect place for all you procrastinating shoppers to get one of a kind gifts (hey - I don't judge. I'm definitely one of you).
The morning of was raining cats and dogs which taught me my first lesson of the day -Don't pack your stuff in cardboard boxes. Luckily the wonderful staff at the Screw Factory (the most beautiful, old building in which the market is located) very quickly helped us load everything from the car onto the dock without damaging any of my product. Once I got everything to my space I was ready to go, since I had meticulously practiced my booth set up in our dining room nearly a month a head of time. I'm a bit of an over planner.
My second lesson of the day came as soon as my third customer was ready to checkout - Make sure you have a good internet connection and/or a back up device for credit card payments. And to add to that - Make sure you have power to charge said devices. Trying to appear totally calm and under control, I was secretly panicking and could feel my upper lip start to sweat as the card reader kept freezing as I scanned the card over and over. Being my first time using a credit card reader I wasn't exactly sure if I was charging this poor woman every time I swiped it. It didn't help that a line was now starting to form. This was pretty much my one and only freak out and everything from there on out went rather smooth and I must say, I thought I made an excellent sales person. *Note: I did research later and discovered that I did not, in fact, charge her card 10 times and all was good in the hood.
All in all, it was a very successful and fun day and I look forward to trying out more shows in the near future. It was great meeting and talking to people in person, since my only interaction so far has been through the computer. I hope you can all come to one someday!
