Farmer’s Markets

One of the ways I sell my artwork is at that staple of 21st-century suburbia, the farmer’s market. Unlike what the name imply’s, many of these markets also allow artists to set up. For this season, I have three regular weekly farmer’s markets that I sell at.

Who is in the crowd?

There are several kinds of visitors to these markets. The interesting thing is that they seem to have particular time-tables, which makes it a bit easier to figure out if the market is just not performing well or if it’s too early in the market for your crowd.

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1. Produce buyers. They show up early. They want the best of the selection, and they understand that growers are only selling what is in season. Some markets do allow growers to “carry” produce that they didn’t grow to enhance their selection, your mileage may vary. All of my weekly farmer’s markets start at 8am. I can generally count on most of the visitors at that time to just quickly look at the outward facing art, and then to move on to get their tomatoes, onions, microgreens, and whatever else. I still occasionally sell something that just catches the right person’s eye, but typically that first hour is the time non-food vendors network, chat, compare recent event notes, or bitch about the weather. Vendors love to talk weather!
2. Bath, Body, and Home product buyers. While they’ll be around the whole day, I notice that when I’m set up near a soap or candle vendor, the buyers for those wares are the next to come out, especially in the summer. I think it’s related to the heat of the day, but I could be wrong.
3. Art buyers. Finally around 10-10:30a the folks looking to decorate a room, or second home, or send some art gifts have finished their breakfast and are making their way to the markets. I typically sell most of my items from 10 to 12. Seriously, if I’m selling a lot outside of those times, I know I’m going to have a great sales day. Regardless of how long the event is, it seems those two hours are the best times for my stuff.I can also expect a last-minute sale around 1p when these events close for the week. Some of the time its people that didn’t know the event was going on, which is more common in areas with high tourist traffic like in my area. Every once in a while it’s someone playing the “bargain game” where they try to talk me down on price. This can be a terrifying thing to deal with, especially if sales have been slow that day, but I tend not to budge on pricing. I already give discounts for buying multiple items at one time, I feel that’s enough, I know my work is worth the full price.

Some artists choose not to sell at these kinds of shows because they’re not all about the art and the artists, but that’s not specifically one of my requirements for doing an event. It’s probably because I’ve identified what kind of artist I am, and have made my plans accordingly, and they tend to include these markets. I’ve written about my take of the three types of artists, complete with snazzy chart, elsewhere.

Lesson: You’re going to have to vend at a variety of events to discover where your tribe is at. Don’t be afraid to try new options, and don’t stick to an underperforming venue out of a sense of loyalty. This is your career now, it’s not personal, it’s business.