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Markets and fairs · find me again
You saw it, you didn't buy it, and now you can't remember my name.
It happens at every fair, to everybody. Describe the thing — badly is fine, "the blue one with the handle" is genuinely enough — and it gets identified. There is a card in every bag with this address on it for exactly this reason.
Where I'll be next
- Tue, Aug 25 · 5:29 AMTown hall winter fair📍 The main hall — stall 14, by the back doors
Ten until four. Busiest between eleven and one, and the small things go first.
- Tue, Sep 8 · 5:29 AMMakers' market, the old dairy📍 Outdoors under cover — stall by the coffee van
Nine until three, and it goes ahead in rain. Card works here; the signal at the town hall does not always.
- Tue, Oct 6 · 5:29 AMChristmas market, two days📍 The square — same pitch both days
The biggest one of the year, and the only fair where things sell out entirely. Come Saturday morning if you want a choice.
Replace these with your own dates and timezone. Say the stall number and a landmark — "stall 14" is useless on its own in a hall of ninety.
Photographed plainly so a piece can be recognised from a phone in a crowded hall. Styled shots are lovely and useless for that one job.
Find the thing you saw
Describe it badly — "The blue one with the handle." "A bowl, sort of green, about this big." Both of those have worked, more than once
Say which fair — And roughly when. That narrows it to one table's worth of things and usually settles it in one message
A photograph beats everything — Even a bad one taken across a crowded stall. Nobody minds being photographed at a fair and everybody forgets they can
If it's already sold — You'll be told straight away, and whether another is possible. Sometimes it is and sometimes it genuinely isn't
It can be posted — Anywhere, packed properly, paid by a link. Nothing needs you to come back to a fair you can't get to
Nobody thinks it's odd — This is the single most common message a stallholder gets. You are not being a nuisance by sending it
Say which fair — And roughly when. That narrows it to one table's worth of things and usually settles it in one message
A photograph beats everything — Even a bad one taken across a crowded stall. Nobody minds being photographed at a fair and everybody forgets they can
If it's already sold — You'll be told straight away, and whether another is possible. Sometimes it is and sometimes it genuinely isn't
It can be posted — Anywhere, packed properly, paid by a link. Nothing needs you to come back to a fair you can't get to
Nobody thinks it's odd — This is the single most common message a stallholder gets. You are not being a nuisance by sending it
What's actually on the stall
A fraction of the range — A table holds maybe a third of what exists. If you want something specific, say so before the fair and it comes along
The small things go first — Usually by lunchtime. Not because there are few of them — because they are what people buy on a whim
Come early for choice — Between ten and eleven the table is full and I have time to talk. Both of those stop being true by midday
Come late for a conversation — The last hour is the quietest and the most interesting. It is also when things get discounted rather than packed
Seconds come to fairs — Marked and cheaper, on the end of the table. They never make it onto a website
What's never on the stall — Anything fragile enough that a busy hall would break it. Ask and it can be brought specially and kept behind the table
The small things go first — Usually by lunchtime. Not because there are few of them — because they are what people buy on a whim
Come early for choice — Between ten and eleven the table is full and I have time to talk. Both of those stop being true by midday
Come late for a conversation — The last hour is the quietest and the most interesting. It is also when things get discounted rather than packed
Seconds come to fairs — Marked and cheaper, on the end of the table. They never make it onto a website
What's never on the stall — Anything fragile enough that a busy hall would break it. Ask and it can be brought specially and kept behind the table
Holding something
Yes, until the end of the day — No deposit and no name taken. Just say which one
No hard feelings — If you come back and change your mind. That happens and it is completely fine
Why — I would rather hold it and lose the sale than have you buy something you regret on the train home
No hard feelings — If you come back and change your mind. That happens and it is completely fine
Why — I would rather hold it and lose the sale than have you buy something you regret on the train home
Paying
Card, usually — Reader on the table. Contactless, phone, watch, all of it
Cash always works — And it helps, because some halls have no signal at all
If the reader dies — Take it and pay by a link that evening. Nobody has ever not paid
Cash always works — And it helps, because some halls have no signal at all
If the reader dies — Take it and pay by a link that evening. Nobody has ever not paid
Custom orders
Talk at the stall — It is the best place for it — you can hold the thing you're describing
Nothing is agreed there — You get a note by email afterwards, and it is only real once you have said yes to that
Timescales — Weeks rather than days, and never promised for a date without checking first
Nothing is agreed there — You get a note by email afterwards, and it is only real once you have said yes to that
Timescales — Weeks rather than days, and never promised for a date without checking first
For fair organisers
Pitch — Two metres, or three with a rail. Table supplied if you don't have one
Power — Not needed. Everything runs off a battery and the reader uses a phone
Insurance — Public liability held, certificate sent the day you ask rather than the week before
What makes a fair work — Footfall you can evidence, parking for unloading, and telling stallholders the layout in advance
What doesn't — A pitch fee that assumes a good day. Most makers will take a smaller fixed fee over a bigger gamble
Power — Not needed. Everything runs off a battery and the reader uses a phone
Insurance — Public liability held, certificate sent the day you ask rather than the week before
What makes a fair work — Footfall you can evidence, parking for unloading, and telling stallholders the layout in advance
What doesn't — A pitch fee that assumes a good day. Most makers will take a smaller fixed fee over a bigger gamble
Ask about a piece
Describe it however you can. A bad photograph, a vague colour and the name of the fair is plenty — that combination has never once failed to identify something.
Ask about a piece
"Can't remember" is a completely valid answer to the fair question and it is picked constantly. It has never yet stopped anything being found.
Live preview — every color, word and block is editable after you pick it.