Prepping for my first out-of-state market of the year and what I'm bringing
I drafted this a couple months ago, but it's still relevant to share
(Written back in March 2022)
You should know, I am no stranger to travel. Drive 12 hours to attend a market to sling candles at? No problem. There’s a few cities left on my list that I want to establish TERRA in; Denver, Austin, Seattle… to name a few. But tomorrow, I’m returning to Charlotte for the weekend.
Many people have asked me why I bother with markets that aren’t local, with some boldly asking ‘do you even profit after the travel expenses?’ Nope. I usually don’t. This isn’t to say that I haven’t profited or broken even, but I always expect to not recoup the costs.
For me, it’s a marketing expense. Some people choose to spend their marketing dollars on ads, community sponsorships, content, etc. But if I had to choose any of those versus meeting my customers IRL, I will always choose the latter. There’s magic to having your customers put a face to your business, especially if it’s followed with a memory of conversation or some interaction. It’s priceless.
I’ve decided to return to this market because after I attended last year, I noticed an increase of sales and audience growth from in and around Charlotte. And that’s exactly what I want to achieve when I do out-of-state markets. Much like how I’ve established TERRA’s presence in my city of St. Louis, I want to do this in as many cities as possible.
This past week was spent getting candles in and out of production, collecting my thoughts on what to bring this weekend, and what to put the focus on. For the most part, out-of-state markets are exactly the same as ones I participate in locally.
I also spent this past week working as normal between TERRA and Inventora, so having the additional tasks for the market do make the week difficult for me. But it’s Thursday, I’m down to only a tiny amount of tasks left, and I’ve survived. Actually, all that’s left is to pack.
With that being said, people tend to be curious of what I bring to market events and how to know how much product to bring. So, I’m just gonna list out what I typically reach for:
Market Setup
6ft folding table
White linen tablecloth
Chair (because I’m lazy and like to sit as much as possible)
Square reader / Shopify reader
Popup tent (white because brand aesthetics)
Table accessories for height
Baskets, wooden boxes, folding shelves
Faux plants for decor
Portable battery (at least, I used to, but I’ve currently lost mine)
Price menu
1x additional callout material (my story, spotlight of a limited scent, etc.)
Tent banner with logo
Business cards
Winback materials
Large storage totes to lug everything around
Hand-truck (dolley)
4x cement blocks (tent weights)
Products
Ah… the constant question of ‘what all should I bring?’ and I think this is situational. For standard markets that have 10+ vendors, I bring 2 bins worth of my single wick candles, which ends up being around 96 units. Of course, I try to bring all my scents that I have available in that size.
My double wick candles are larger, obviously heavier, so I bring less of them. But I try to at least bring 6 of each scent. I’d say I bring about 36-50 units of these.
And then after these main products, I tend to bring whatever I have left in stock from the studio. Usually these are enough mini candles to fill a basket, wax melts that fill a smaller basket, and wick trimmers also have their own dedicated basket that I can just grab and go.
Do I sell everything? No, not usually… have I? Yes. This amount that I bring is a safety net. It’s a lot and if I sell it out, then I made a great amount of money that day. But if I don’t sell it all, I’m actually pretty happy because then I don’t have to spend the next week making and restocking endlessly.
Now, for smaller markets, less than 10 vendors or even pop-ups at shops on my own, I bring only my single wick and double wick candles. And about half of what I listed out previously. I do not bring anything else, it’s a lot to carry around. And these size of events typically don’t have a lot of foot traffic anyways.
Overall, if I’m being totally honest – I don’t put too much thought into markets anymore. I bring as much as I can, within reason, and leave it at that. If I forget something, not a big deal. That’s why I have a website, right? And my goal is to always capture people to continue buying from me after all.
Markets that I do put much more thought and preparation into, however, would be large craft fairs… iykyk.
Do you have questions about markets? Drop it below, I’m happy to help! I’ve also been logging my expenses into each out-of-state market, and I’m hoping to start publishing some posts centered around the specifics there. I know we’re all curious about numbers!
xo, Dianna