Selling in Person at the Market!

We are planning to be a vendor at The Market in the Park at Memorial Park in Grove City this summer, so what better thing to research is how best to sell things at farmer’s markets and try to find some fun ideas to make our stand different!  This is a link to our little business so far.

There is quite a lot of information available out there.  A lot is intuitive with an entrepreneurial and marketing mind I was glad to see.  Appearance is important.  Make your stand look different from the rest and make it stand out. Have a theme and cover the tables and make the whole presentation appealing.  Display things so people can see them.  Keep things clean and neat and orderly.

My research gave us some good ideas with pricing.  And also with making some combination purchases.  Instead of just selling individual items, give some options.  Purchase a succulent and a greeting card together for one price that would be slightly cheaper than purchasing both individually.

Another idea was to have a punch card, where after so many purchases, a person can receive a free bouquet.  Up-selling was another great idea.  You can add on a gift tag for a dollar to your purchase.  This could be helpful if someone is purchasing something as a gift.

One thing I have been passionate about for years is houseplants!  Ever since I read a book called “How to Grow Fresh Air” I have collected and propagated houseplants and love to share them.  I am planning to sell succulents at the farmer’s market as well.  In my research the pot that they are sold in matters.  Instead of just a plastic pot, using mugs, glasses and other interesting looking containers can really help to sell them!  Reading about building your own bouquet caused me to think instead of a build your own succulent garden, where customers can select both a pot/container and then also the succulents that they would like it in and we could build this for them while they watch.

Height variation is also important in displaying.  It is a good idea to not have everything flat on your table, but to use shelving or crates stacked to display your items.  This would be good for visibility as people walk past they can see all that you have easily. There is lots of fun ways to have a great stand at the farmer’s market and lots of great ideas!