There’s something pretty darned special about being a vendor for the first time…exhilarating, nerve-wracking and downright vulnerable, too. Actually, these feelings may exist each time you do a market or show because putting yourself and your creativity out there is not for the faint of heart! However, it’s what makes the Horseshoe so special, and it’s what makes Denver so colorful–all of the awesome creative soul’s we’ve got livin’ the dream 🙂
Check out this fun post from The PostScript Society sharing their experience as first-time vendors at the Fall Market, 2012.
We are a team of creative girls, The PostScript Society, from a little bitsy town in the country south of Denver. We kind of fell into our vintage business via the wood shop we inherited. In a way, we were fortunate to be given our first pieces. Simultaneously finding it hard to part with them, and falling in love with their future possibilities gave us lots to talk about. We dream of our own vintage space in that little wood shop someday, but our journey started when we were first time vendors at the Horseshoe.
It can seem an overwhelming and daunting task, preparing for your first market. Thinking through “behind the scenes” at a market is challenging. Especially when you’ve never done it. Here are just a few things we found helpful.
- Read this post. It was our bible.
- Get your sales tax license.
- Get Square.
- Bring a friend to help you.
- Bring lots of business cards. It’s nice to be able to direct your customers to a website, blog, etsy shop, twitter or facebook account.
- Give them a way to contact you for special requests, like your email address.
- Plan the way your space will look ahead of time, especially your first time. We completely set up our booth weeks before, we took pictures to help us with market day setup and prepared an inventory list and price tags ahead of time.
For us, market day looked like this: Having packed the car the night before, we, seemingly woke up before the sun went down. We were driving to Tennyson Street (halfway across the country) with chair legs hanging out the windows.
Sometimes vending at a market can also look like moving day. Photo via www.theleantimes.com
We were really early. It was cold and dark. We went and got coffee. We came back. And got in line. As we rolled in to the parking lot, we were nervous. And then we were intimidated. We got to work setting up our space and changed it a little bit from our mock up a few weeks before. Mostly because we forgot the pictures we took.
Things were going pretty smoothly, but we got shaky on time as we fastened price tags to our items. Amy and Charlotte came over to check things out. Intimidating would be a huge understatement. It was a bit surreal for us that such very talented women were cheering us on. Denise from Dandy Social Club was our first official sale. Ever. And Concious Leigh gave us our first blog review. As the day went on, different customers and vendors gave us suggestions that we had never considered. We started to see glimpses of where our creativity may take us some day. We left the Horseshoe with so many ideas and so much encouragement.
pretty vintage things from the PostScript gals
You are very lucky to have been chosen as a vendor at the Horseshoe Market. From what I hear, this was an especially competitive season to get into. You are one of those talented and amazing artists/ collectors/ creators that we stood in awe of last year when we were chosen for our first time. Open your heart to the possibilities. There is no telling where this opportunity may lead. Take the time to do it right. Prepare your space. Do your homework. Selectively choose your best work. Take a risk and put yourself out there. Go all in. People will notice your hard work. Have fun, and we’ll see you at the Horseshoe on May 5th!
If you’re a creator, artist, repurposer or vintage junkie, take a leap and apply to the Horseshoe Market!
