Is this common?

[Former_Member]

I noticed something interesting yesterday. I've done two shows so far and at both shows, all of my sales were from people who looked at my stuff early in the show and then came back later to buy. I don't mean the majority of sales, it was all of them at both shows. Is that pretty common at shows? My husband thinks it's because my prices are high and people want to think about it longer before paying. Do you think thats the case? Is there something I can do to make the sale the first time they come around?

[SomeKindOfPretty]

It's not common with jewelry, but it might be for other products. I don't think it's because your prices are too high, but maybe it is a large purchase to them. Did they pay with cash?

[Former_Member]

They've all paid with a card. About half of them came back and knew exactly which item they wanted and the other half came back knowing they wanted something and still needed to pick it out.

[AmandaDoster]

The last show I was at, I was pretty close to the door. Many people came back after walking through to see everything.

[TheSalvagedEdge]

I have many people do that. And other vendors who sell larger or more breakable items have it happen often. Sometimes people do a quick run through of everything so they know where they need to spend their time. When an item is larger or breakable people will wait and come back when they are ready to go so they don't have to carry it. It's not a bad thing at all. :-)

[BitsandPiecesCrafts]

I get that a lot but most of my pieces are heavy and/or bulky. There are quite a few people who want to look around first to see if there's something they might like more.

There really isn't a tried and true method (that I know of) to get the sale the first time around if they want to see what the other booths are carrying.

[TheSalvagedEdge]

You could tell people you can hold items (after they pay) until they are ready to leave so they can just grab and go.

[Former_Member]

Thats really interesting. Some of my items are pretty large and they're all breakable. That makes more sense that theyd wait until the end to pick it up.

Thanks guys!

[FlameOnGlass]

That happens to me all the time & I sell jewelry. I am at the end of the market where I sell every Saturday & people want to look at everything before they purchase.

When I started selling there 5 years ago I was surprised at how many of the people that said they would be coming back actually did.

I don't do anything to convince them to buy right away. I am not into high pressure sales & it is not that type of market.

[Former_Member]

That frequently happens to me. I had one woman come back 3 times to look at selected pieces. On her last visit she bought several items. I am not into high pressure sales and usually just thank people for stopping by.

[Former_Member]

I'd mention to your lookers that you will be glad to hold their purchase for pickup later, but if they don't buy it now, it might be gone by the end of the day!

But other than that, I'd just be happy they are buying!

How do you all handle requests to put something aside? I've noticed a lot of times these people do not return and so I've lost the chance to sell it to someone else. But other times they do come back, and really did need to do ... before buying.

[Former_Member]

This happens all the time. The line I get is: "we just got here so we have to look around at everything and then decide what to buy".

[Former_Member]

I will set things aside for someone, but only for 30 minutes or maybe an hour. So I just put a little note on the purse when i set it back with the time on it and then after 30 min. or what ever the agreed time was, then I put it back out.

[ClaybyStacia]

Usually when people tell me they will be back, they won't. But sometimes they come back.

I don't hold things without pay.

[WillowSwitchDesigns]

I made almost all of my bigger sales at my first show that way. I know my rule when I go shopping for anything that is a want and not a need, is to walk away and look at other stuff, and if I still can't get it out of my head 30 minutes later, it's bought. Don't know if it's common or not.....

[Former_Member]

If they buy it and you hold it for them make sure you get their phone # cause they might forget to come back for their purchase.

[TigersandDragons]

I get people looking then coming back all the time, there is so much competition with jewellery. When they ask for a hold, I will only hold for an hour, and I ask for their name. Since I started asking for a name, I find that 99% come back, even if just to tell me that they changed their mind, though 90% still buy the item they put on hold.

If they want customization (example if I need to change a bead on an earring), then they must pay first, and can come back to pick it up later. I no longer will waste my time while set up at a show sizing or customizing without payment, because that time could be spent making something else, or just talking and selling.

[stringnstone]

My DH and I used to go very large trade shows and his strategy was to walk the show write down the # or name of the booth or mark the map of any booths he wanted to return to...I do that with an annual fiber show I go to that way I see who is doing what and what is new...

That said this past Sept I had a customer say she had marked her map of vendors with all the types of the things she wanted to see and went directly to them to shop.

[BettieKawaii]

Maybe they were looking for gifts and wanted to see if that was the best suited item for their recipient :)

[jill2day]

It happens to me for one of two reasons. One, because some of my items are also higher priced and they "think about it". Secondly, at the last show I was about half way down the first aisle of the show, and people wanted to scope out the show before buying, so came back later.

It happens.

ETA: it is why I write my booth number on my business cards at shows, so they can find me again!

[LizArti]

I usually have lots of extra inventory, so I'll put something aside for someone and just replace it with something else, unless it's something extra popular or special.

If I don't have extra, I'll only hold it for a few minutes, but usually that's all they need to run to an ATM or find their spouse with the credit card.

[Former_Member]

I also see that often. I think is is partly that people like to see everything around them before settling on a buy (maybe they only have x amount of dollars for spending that day) OR they are trying to decide if the item is worth the splurge. I never see people hesitating to buy at the booths full of really inexpensive stuff, and people don't hesitate when buying my single cards, but the people looking at sets or custom things do often cruise around and return to buy.

[Former_Member]

We have a lot of those returning customers; I think people like to scope out all the vendors and products before purchasing. We also offer to hold purchases until the end of the day--but make sure you always get contact info for them! Then we have a little tag on their bag with the name & cell phone # ready for them at the end of the day.