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Craft malls


Robin29

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I just sae a flier for a new craftmall that will open soon. Has anyone tried to sell through these? You have a booth in the store and they sell it, you don't have to be there.

I have seen them where they are like consignment and where you just rent a booth.

Thoughts?

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I am in a Market place..kinda a craft mall..i have a 10x10 space and I am there every sat/sunday..those are the only two days they are open..9-5..tons of vendors..but the place is wonderful..they did like $2,000,000 in renovations on the place so i guess it depends on what is in there and how it is ran.

Does not hurt to check it out and see how it is ran..I man my space every hour they are open I ring my own sales and everything..it is kinda like my own little store in their store. :wink2:

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First time i was at a place like that is, last year , in lexington ky. my son and i went to a big place , it was called peddler market and , after i was looking and found something i wanted, in a booth i was wondering whom it belonged to so i could check out, my son said mom, you just put it in your shopping cart or what ever, it has a tag with # on it, they know the booth and whom it belongs to, i gather everbody gets a certain number. is the way they keep it straight. his girl friend & her sister had a booth there and no problems, i think they paid like a $100 rent each month. they had antiques in their booth, but there was all types of booths set up. it just seem odd to put stuff from different people in cart and go check out LOL! this might be same thing you are talking about.

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I just sae a flier for a new craftmall that will open soon. Has anyone tried to sell through these? You have a booth in the store and they sell it, you don't have to be there.

I have seen them where they are like consignment and where you just rent a booth.

Thoughts?

Hi Robin, I have a space in a craft mall. It's a small space. I brought in my own shelves and display items. I pay them rent every month and they also get a % of each sale. I only have to keep the shelves stocked and check in here and there. I keep track of inventory and sales. This particular craft mall is open 7 days a week, retail hours. I like that the candles are always out and available for purchase. I've had this space about 6 months now. It's been a geat learning experience for me. I've really had fun with it.

Now for the down side. I have to pay rent whether anyone buys a candle or not. And this summer I could barely give them away. I hardly covered the rent. The sales are totally unpredicable. Good days and bad days, and it sucks when I hit a dry patch. But that isn't just craft malls is it? I don't know how much longer I'll stay with it(the mall). So, the bottom line for me is that it just hasn't been very profitable. But I've learned what I can sell, what I like, and what works for me.

I would suggest you check out the traffic that your mall gets. See if it gets a lot of bussiness. How many other sell candles there? Are they going to be any competition for you? It could be worth while. Especially this time of year.;)

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I have a craft booth/space in a local gift shoppe/craft mall. We are in a very small town, I think there are about 40 booths in there. Mine is 35.00 per month plus 10% of my sales. I have been there 2 1/2 months now. First month was a 1/2 month, I made 70.00 or so after my fees. Second month (full month) I did 180.00 after fees, now this month as of 5 days ago I was already at about 115.00. Not bad for our size town. I have it jammed packed full of unique candles, lamps, dolls, and stuff that isn't on my site. I am the only one in there with that kind of stuff so that is good.

Go for it!!

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Now for the down side. I have to pay rent whether anyone buys a candle or not. And this summer I could barely give them away. I hardly covered the rent. The sales are totally unpredicable. Good days and bad days, and it sucks when I hit a dry patch. But that isn't just craft malls is it? I don't know how much longer I'll stay with it(the mall).

Welcome to retail.........i hear this same story all the time from my accounts, thats why i do wholesale only...but it works both ways if my retailers ain't selling then they ain't buying, the difference being I don't have to pay overhead....

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Give yourself TWO WEEKS OF CHECKING THEM OUT before you make a decision to booth up in a craft mall.

You will be very happy you did when you don't sell one thing between the months of Jan - April *lol*

Supposedly, the one that by me (Peru, IL) is the "largest craft mall in America" - that is what the sign says. Someone come and prove me wrong - I've never really looked into it before to see if it was the largest. (really didn't care)

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Kristine: I don't do candles, I do B&B. I will likely add candles one day, though. I think I will check out the mall for a while before I get a booth. Make sure they get good business, and don;t have 50 other vendors selling bath bombs and such.

This will also give me time to actually come up with a business name, lol.

Gramma: Sounds like you do fairly well. Christmas season should be good for you. :)

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I am hoping to see a good increase in sales at Christmas time :D

I know that there are a few months that will be awful.. Jan, Feb, March and April are usually really slow. I am just hoping to sell enough to cover the fees those months.

All in all for me it is good advertising. I get alot of repeat orders on my website from stuff bought there.

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