But yeah — Always take at least your tools with you to a show, maybe a few jump rings and/or clasps. You will create a ton of goodwill by being able to fix things whether you charge or not. I’ve heard from my customers that jewellery stores will make people wait for six months to have a simple repair done and charge $20 up front just to look at the item. Sure, they have their overhead and all, and I get that some of these repairs aren’t worth doing (or can’t be done, like when it comes to soldering what ends up being base metal, not silver or gold like the owner believes) but still… the goodwill that they are throwing out the door by not treating people with a little common sense, if not compassion, is stunning to me. I can’t tell you how many people, even if I couldn’t fix their piece (but I explained why I couldn’t) now come to me to buy gifts.

What had happened was each of us vendors thought we were alone in being targeted and because the markets were so busy at the time (summer) we weren’t positive who was doing it. The other ladies who sell jewellery are sort of my competition in that we all make and sell jewellery, but not really — different styles, different price points — and we do try to visit with each other first thing in the morning before the market starts, as well as if someone is looking for something we don’t carry/make, we send them to the lady who does. So it wasn’t until the following week that we found out these particular people had hit all of us the previous two or three weeks, and that’s when I found out about the guy at the outdoor Thursday market getting hit, as well. I specifically went to that market and talked to him and he told me exactly how they were doing it. He also had to completely rearrange his tables.

Also, when I talked to the market manager (who used to work in retail) he told me the law around shoplifting. You cannot stop someone you suspect has stolen something until they are outside of the building. That’s the law. And like I said, what are you going to do? Leave your table and follow someone you *think* has taken something all around the venue until they finally leave? And then what? There are no cops, no security people to help you once you get out there, just a huge outdoor market filled with tents, displays, hundreds of people, families with little kids, etc., all coming and going. The only thing is that now that we have a description of the people who are doing this, they can be obviously followed from the moment they enter the building. All of my friends, as well as the vendors themselves and the manager who is in constant circulation (so it’s easy to holler for him!) are aware that if one of these people comes to the table, then to move in and hover, watching them and their hands. The people whose table is located such that they are both always sitting facing the main door have the description, and they keep an eye out for these people, as well.

But luckily, for some reason — maybe they figure they’ve stolen too much and we *must* be onto them — they haven’t been back. Maybe they’ll come back in the summer when there are lots more people to hide behind and they can wear loose clothes — who knows? — but at least we’ll be ready for them now.

B

Of course you put down what you’re working on and greet and pay attention to the customers!

As far as theft, good luck. All the vendors I talk to are having a terrible time with theft, but you do what you can, pinning things to your tablecloth, anything to slow thieves down — but especially if you’re talking to one person and there are other people there keep your eyes moving around your table AND WATCH THEIR HANDS, not their faces. We’re so accustomed to maintaining eye contact when we talk to people, and that’s precisely what thieves bank on. They work in teams, with one person engaging you in a fascinating conversation at one end of the table. They’re very good at figuring out the blind spots (from your vantage point) on your table: if you have things on stands or large busts, they’ll be busy working behind those filling their pockets. They even train their little kids. I could tell you stories!

I used to let people browse in peace and quiet because I know what it’s like to have someone hovering over me while I shop, but not now: I stop what I’m working on, stand up and I watch the person the whole time. It’s a crappy thing to have to do. On the other hand, the people who are doing the stealing are now so well-known in town that they know they can’t come back to these markets and stores. This is another argument for developing relationships with other vendors so that you can get some kind of early warning system in place. The venue managers can’t or won’t do much, most of these places don’t have cops, and you sure can’t leave your table to run after someone who you *think* might have taken something.

Having said all that, you protect yourself as best you can and have fun. If nothing else, working on a piece of jewellery while you’re waiting for customers looks a whole lot better than standing/sitting there with a bored look on your face or worse, reading a book or a newspaper.

Barbara

I like to put a black felt on a corner of my table with various components in different construction stages laid out- kind of like showing the steps in a tutorial. I use almost all recycled wire, so I’ll lay out an unstripped piece next to a fully stripped piece, some partially finished coils wrapped around some of the household oblects I use as mandrels. I lay out a straightened length of wire next to a shaped piece and the same thing after hammering, etc.

Buyers find it facinating and it shows that my price points are time driven.

I once had someone say “My husband’s an electrician, why aren’t I doing this?”

And how much I enjoyed Lisa’s story! 🙂

At that point, the father bought his wife and two daughters an assortment of earrings.

When the market is slow, particularly in the post-Christmas doldrums, I’ll have four mostly unbroken hours to work. I’ll make a lot of earrings, say, and as above, bring pre-sorted bags of projects to work on. Making beaded chain segments is a good use of time because that’s pretty mindless.

I’m lucky at the market as I have an extra table to work on w/o being charged for it. However, at shows, I always try to carve out a space where I sit (I’m disabled) in the middle of the table next to my cash/bags and have a bead mat out with tools particularly to do small adjustments if people require them. People have even brought me stuff to fix/adjust that they just bought from another vendor.

Barbara