Selling At Fairs

[mancitymark]

I’m interested in selling at fairs around the UK - how would one go about getting a patch at a fair.
_________________
Every Man Needs A Hobby

[ToffeeDan]

Surely you can turn up and pay your pitch - someone here will know.

[andyfromboston]

Mark,contact this guy

** Removed by Craig. Another thread on here suggests David Stacey passed away last week. RIP. **

He runs a lot of the fairs in the south east (you are MK based?) and see if he has any vacancies at future fairs. Don't just turn up, most fairs are over subscribed and you have to go on a waiting list. I know the little Peterborough fair I attend has 2 or 3 dealers wanting to get on board but we don't have the room.

David runs the fairs at Lincoln,Southend,Dagenham,Norwich and I think Bedford amongst others.

Also if you get a chance call in and see John Dee in his Dunstable shop, he'll be happy to point you in the right direction.

[andyfromboston]

Well thats really sad news, David was a true gent and a lovely guy, I'll miss him at Lincoln no end.

I don't know what to say now, John Dee for sure and try Dave Allan at footballprogrammes.com, I know he helps run the Sheffield and Manchester fairs.

[Auchinleckian]

Don't rush into something without thoroughly researching it first. You need to know what the collectors want; what they will pay; the kind of attendance you get at fairs, the cost, etc. etc.

Cost - I moaned like buggery on here last year because I had a stall at the Widnes Fair, and took £90. Travelling down from Scotland cost me £50 in petrol; overnight stay cost me another £50; stall rental was £35. Total loss was therefore £45. Never had a fair like that before, or since, but they do happen. I pride myself on having all my programmes in acid free polythene bags with acid free white backboards. This costs me 13 pence a programme, but it keeps my stock in the same condition, time after time after time. It's worth the expenditure, believe me, and collectors appreciate it.

What to take - I firmly believe that the vast majority of dealers take far too much wholly unsaleable stock with them. Fairs are totally different to ebay. You do get people turning up looking for bargains, but you also get people prepared to pay good money for quality items. Humping 30 odd boxes of prot 1950's programmes all over the country for a few quid each fair isn't worth it, and if everybody's got them, the punter's going to look for the cheapest, so it's self defeating.

Although I do 2 or 3 fairs in the north of England each year I always sell a good amount of collectable Scottish programmes, because I'm the only person there with them, and there's planty of ex pats in England. There's also plenty of collectors of European / Internationals / friendlies etc who rarely get the opportunity to inspect Scottish items of that particular genre.

I would advise that you might want to try out a few car boots first. You'll not take a lot, but outlay is cheap, and you'll know what people collect from talking to them. You may also pick up an odd collection from someone approaching you. I do a couple a year and for about £7 stall outlay it's great advertising, and the potential for picking up the kind of collection that so rarely turns up nowadays is possible.

Lastly, building up really saleable stock, sufficient to attract punters at a fair, and getting them to part with their money is hugely time consuming. If you're thinking of doing it just with modern day issues I'd advise you to steer well clear, you'd lose money.

[mancitymark]

andyfromboston & Auchinleckian - Thanks for the info
_________________
Every Man Needs A Hobby

[Footiebadgebloke]

What sort of stock have you got with regards age and teams?

[mancitymark]

Footiebadgebloke wrote:

What sort of stock have you got with regards age and teams?

Most of the stuff I have is from the late 70's to the presant day and have around 3000 items covering all English league clubs.
_________________
Every Man Needs A Hobby

[Footiebadgebloke]

Mark, At the moment I would advise you to keep building your stock up, I'm a veteran of well over 100 fairs selling and you need to get more stock around you before "doing Fairs" is a go-able concern.