5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

We've all started somewhere and maybe you're at the beginning stage of selling at markets, or newer to the scene.  It's ok to make mistakes, that's how we learn and grow after all.  But, if I can help save you time and money by sharing what didn't work for me so that you can get ahead faster, I by all means am willing to do that.  So, let's dive into the 5 beginner mistakes to avoid when selling your handmade goods at markets.

Sales Tax

Don't wait until the last minute to figure out what the sales tax is for the location you're selling at.  It's the worst feeling when you go to ring up your first sale and you realize you missed this step.  Then you're frantically looking for the correct rate and trying to set it up while your customer is standing there waiting to move onto the next booth.  You'll want to do this ahead of time and set it up in your credit card processor.  Inside of square you can setup and activate/deactivate multiple sales tax rates.  I'll title them the name and location of my event and only activate the sales tax for that event.  I personally like to do this each quarter (since in my state sales tax can change from quarter to quarter, do be aware of that so that you're charging the correct sales tax rate).

Charged Devices

Make sure you have a full charge on every device you will be using at your market.  For me it's my cell phone, charging stick, and credit card processor.  I also have extra batteries on hand the lighting in my booth (I am currently looking into rechargeable lights also, so I would add those to my list).  I've had my credit card processor run out of battery before during an event and it was super stressful to try and find an outlet to plug it into just to get enough of a charge to finish out the day.  I also had to manually enter credit cards which was a bummer because they charge an extra percentage on the processing fee when you do that.  So don't make that mistake.

Cell Phone Data

If you don't have unlimited data for your cell phone or iPad (whichever device you'll be using to ring up sales) you'll want to make sure you're aware of how much data you're using outside of your event for that billing cycle so that you have enough to process cards quickly.  You typically need your GPS location turned on to run cards and that alone takes a fair amount of data.  If you run out of high-speed data, it can take an uncomfortable amount of time for you to run your card.  Your customer will have to patiently wait or impatiently wait, and you'll have to make awkward small talk.  I now have unlimited data so I don't typically run into this issue anymore.  But for the many years that I had a low data plan I simply had to be aware of this and markets went on just fine.

Putting all of your eggs in one basket

I see this ALLLLLL the time.  Vendors think that their product alone will attract customers and close the sale.  Heck, I made this mistake too.  I get it, you put so much time and energy into just making enough inventory for your market you ran out of time to design the displays that will actually showcase your product(s) in their best light and attract your ideal customers.  Make sure you take a break from making inventory to put some time and energy into creating your booth displays.

Making Assumptions

Don't assume that your booth setup will fit in the designated vendor spot.  Make sure you do a dry run at home (if you haven't used your complete setup before) before your market to make sure your displays will fit in the area you paid for.  I also recommend having different setup options/configurations as many spaces are not all alike.

There you have it!  The top 5 beginner mistakes to avoid.  I can't wait to see where your creative side hustle takes you and I hope this info has been helpful to you!

If you haven't yet, make sure you grab my free "Ultimate Guide to Selling Handmade Goods at Markets" this will also fast track you on your journey to successfully running your handmade biz.