need advice re: glen park sale

o.k many of you know or have been to my glen park sale...now i am having issues with this..i have inside and outside venders, the outside venders seem happy with sales..no? but the inside complain all the time that they dont sell enuff stuff! i charge $20 inside and $10 outside wich i dont think is allot of money i do allot of advertising, i have to pay for hall rental ect... i thought there was lots of people there both years...but continualy i get complaining from inside people that they are not selling... not sure what to do i cant make people buy their stuff..!? should i scrap the inside venders or keep them or what shoudl i do?

I hear your frustration.
It always takes time for people to figure out that there is a sale and that it is every year. Your sale will attract buyers looking for birds and small livestock. The other items are not really what buyers associate with the sale. You might try changing your poster just a hint (keep that colour and format etc, it is a recognizeable symbol of our sale) to talk a little mor about the crafts adn home made items etc. You might try to get commitments from people who have done the two years prior and mention what they are offering more specificly on the poster.

For example, you could say Homemade Pet Items, pottery, quilting, woodwork. Your poster says small livestock in its imagry and wording, that does not need to be flogged as much. A picture really can be woth 1000 words. A pic of a chicken and a bunny and a duck will say that there are those things with out needing a lot of words.

Another option would be to have a small list of indoor vendors ont he poster somewhere.
TrippleJ Quilting
Sunset Hills Doggie Duds
Smith Wood Working
Petra's Pottery
and more

More signage at the sale for the indoor stuff is never bad
You might consider a couple of big sandwich boards for the highway. You might even put the out a few days before the sale.

o.k i will try that shannon, thats the thing my sale is geared more towards the poultry but the crafts ect are a bonus.... we will see if anyone even wants to be venders next year lol i put sighns up saying "concessionn & venders inside" wher as last year i didnt have that... should i change the name, "glen park critter & craft sale"??

Sales are about flow. People arrive, see all the booths in the field and head over there. They do the circuit then go home, not realizing that there are actually people inside. I would not have any parking around the building, and make that area a booth area as well. Do not block the door or even the whole front of the building, There was a tent kind of blocking it. Move the tent away from the door and have a circle of small booths encouraging flow to the door. Have those booths curve around and direct traffic to and from the building. You need a HUGE sign directing people inside. Do not let that sign be blocked.

Inside vendors also have to realize that people are there to buy birds and that is where their money goes first. Their products have to be really well priced to make people want to spend their bird money on soap, jewelery or art.

In advertising, have two separate ads. One to appeal to those that are looking for crafts and baking, and an other for bird buyers.

In the field, make sure there is an obvious path from the birds to the building. Not only was Marsha's set up in a low wet area (poor Marsha) but her trailer blocked the path that people wanted to use. It was a struggle to find a way around Marsha to the parking lot. I would set people up on the south, west and north of the field, completely leaving the east side open. People will see both the booths near the building and in the field.

Your booth prices are reasonable and should not dissuade people from getting a booth.

People in the field MUST bring a tarp or a tent to protect from sun and rain.

It was a great sale Triple J. It is only your second one, and I would consider both a success. Give yourself a big pat on the back.

ye ai hear ya sue, thats one thing i dont like about having the sale there is everything is split up.... the hall is so far away from the field, and split up with trees... i was going to have venders in the front parking lot in front by the sign, but there is so limited room there, wassnt sure whho was coming for certain , then i thought people right infront of the hall would have a advantage over people in the field..? then i thought there be more complaining...i dunno???? i can try that next year leave the north parking lot strictly for parking, the south infront of the hall small venders, the swing around the side to the field>????

Schip has great points. People wont go to something if it is not blatantly obvious. A clear path and directions to the indoors is important.
And yes, I would change the name. that alone tells people what to expect.
s

very good ideas thanks guys! i am changing the name, and advertising the inside guys more! its hard on your own to think of this stuff!! LOL

Ya know, if you hammered some stakes in the ground and made a little fenced path with colored tape or tape with flags you could create an obvious path where you want people to go.

triplejfarms wrote:o.k i will try that shannon, thats the thing my sale is geared more towards the poultry but the crafts ect are a bonus.... we will see if anyone even wants to be venders next year lol i put sighns up saying "concessionn & venders inside" wher as last year i didnt have that... should i change the name, "glen park critter & craft sale"??

Name change could help. As it is now, buyers are going to Glen Park looking for poultry and small livestock not crafts. Also sellers that are offering poultry and livestock relate items and produce, would likely do better than a seller with jewllery or crafts. Perhaps the name change along with advertisement as such will change that.

However, it does come down to what buyers are looking for on a given day. As this is a 1-Day sale held annually, sellers at this point shouldn't be expecting to make a fortune. Your sale is in its growing stage and has to make a name for itself. It's still finding its niche. As it does, sellers will learn what sells best and will do better.

I would close the inside sales and make it all outdoors.
Put the craft tables at the entrance of the venue so that everyone has to walk past all the crafts..

Felix wrote:I would close the inside sales and make it all outdoors.
Put the craft tables at the entrance of the venue so that everyone has to walk past all the crafts..

Good point Felix. Inside of the building is also too dark to show off the goods properly.

humm there is a good point as well...what could be inside then? just eating area, raffle? the whole front of the building could be crafts? i will have to think of all this...

What about crafts in the front, us chicken/livestock people in the field and leave the interior for raffle, concession, and maybe talk to CHB, Alberta Lamb, Northstar Doves and places like that about setting up information booths along the inside. These organizations could also have animal related products for sale in there as well.

I liked the general set up and I don't know if I would change it much. I think those vendors that do the market circut with their jewellery, purses, spice mixes, candles etc would be expecting an indoor booth for their table display. It would be a bonus if there were more agriculture/livestock related vendors as msmall mentioned.
I wonder if that is part of the reason some of the indoor vendors were not happy with their sales...the products they were selling are available at many markets all summer long. People came to Glen Park drawn towards the birds and animals and not especially interested in those products they see regularly at the farmer's markets? I don't really know...just throwing that out there.

Ok, I will kick in this door. If you bring junk that nobody wants or stuff that is not related to what your target group is after, then it won't sell and it has nothing to do with where it is presented or who organized the sale. If you place something real nice of quality in the darkest shittiest corner, people will still find it and it will get sold fast.

Piet

And with that said, change the name to reflect the presence of crafts so that people know that there will be crafts there.

It was glen park poultry , craft sale. Already but I am changing it to glen park critter, craft sale to reflect all critters not just birds... And I kinda have to agree with piet...thanks for all suggestions guys!!

lol, me not smart today... too much sun...