NI Craft Fairs 2010

belle87

mumoffour77 wrote: »

yes i do.....just the name will be fine! No date yet as they cant decide!!

whats the name?

Anyone wanna add me to msn its [email="shellemurre2003@hotmail.com"]shellemurre2003@hotmail.com[/email]

mumoffour77

Harry is the name

Rachael i sent you a message on F/B.........text me if you know the answer......
Also the fair in london......my sister lives just outside london.......are you gonna do it Rach??

Heading out now to bowling!!!

mumoffour77

How should someone be dealt with if they have said they are going to do one thing in a craft fair yet come with something completly different?

Should an organiser ask them to sell only what they put down on the form?

Im on a comittee that has an upcoming fair. (Hence the reason for me not being at the jethro centre today)......And this came up at the meeting for forseeable problems with having a fair at all!!!

Answers on a postcard please!! (they would be gratefully appreciated as I couldnt answer this)

belle87

Sent ya areply sinead

Rach39

Good point well made mumof4 - particularly applies to jewellery as quite a few people to a 'wee bit of jewellery on the side' which can ultimately mean that a fair originally meant to have 3 jewellery stands ends up with 5 or 6!!! I think everything sold should be on form. I once went to Carlingford after speaking to the organiser but due to a mix up she thought she'd been speakin to someone else and told me when i got there (over an hour drive!) that she couldn't take more jewellery that day and could i just put out my other stuff! - this amounted to 3 russian dolls and a pashmina............ I went home! i was annoyed at the time but later realised she was actually quite right to insist on limiting jewellery to a couple of stalls. Everyone should state clearly everything they sell, whether or not it is hand made and if so whether or not made by them!!

mumoffour77

Thats the problem.......crafters obviously have paid their fee!

So the question is....Who is liable....crafters ins will not cover losses for other "jewellers" being there.......
Fairs have advertised 3 jewellery stalls.....thats it... no more!! But say like in newcastle last year Rem? there were 8/10 jewellers there there were only supposed to be 3....Is it up to the organiser to tell the stallholder can you remove the jewellery and sell what you told us you were going to sell.... Is the organiser liable for the other stallholders fees in coming and getting there stock etc...

Rach i know your legal backround...where do we stand as organisers?

Rach39

well... probably no real comeback in terms of compensation, but it is the duty of organisers to check all exhibitors in terms of what they do, valid insurance etc and if a claim were to arise and they hadn't asked for evidence of insurance they could be joined to an action against a crafter (sorry that's off subject but seemed relevant as a 'by the way'!) I would therefore think that all organisers should have the following info for all crafters attending their event:

1. Name, address, email, phone and web (where applicable)
2. Details of ALL craft to be sold at the event
3. Evidence of public liability insurance
4. Whether or not the product is hand made - and by whom
5. whether they plan to bring any additional tables or stands
6. Whether or not electricity is required
7. whether there are any veggies so they can cater the sarnies accordingly!!!

that last one was a lol! but you know what I mean - we all work bl***y hard and with fairs being fair to middleing at the best of times we all deserve a fair crack of the whip!! Joe Public does not want to walk in to a hall full of jewellery - however much we bleat that 'everyone's is different!' neither do they want a choice of 5 card stands (it's not just us jewellers who are common!!) If you're organising a fair you surely want it to be a success and that, mainly, is down to your promotion, your venue and your choice of crafters (after sayin that i wouldn't want to organise one.....!)

Book_Lady

I remember filling in a booking form once & there was a disclaimer on the form saying that all products that were being offered for sale must be listed on the form & if there were any products on your stand that werent listed that you could be asked to remove them.. which was fair enough I thought.

SuperMum2010

I agree Book Lady - I think it is up to the organisers to get a detailed description of what is being sold on a stall and to say they will check stalls before the event opens. If this is made clear on the booking form, then traders know where they stand. Booking forms should maybe even be as specific as asking approximately what percentage of a stall is made up of each type of product, so that if they turn up and there is a problem, items could be removed but the stall still look reasonably full.

I dont think you can ever really expect a church fair or even a small school fair to be as detailed as this and to police it - they just dont have the resources and will spend the highest proportion of their time organising the tea and buns and the raffle, and will leave the rest of us to battle in and out with our stuff and make the best of a not always perfect situation.

I also think it is up to the goodwill of traders to sell what they have said they will sell. I think to turn up at a fair and set up a marvellous display of stuff that you're not supposed to is totally unfair to the other traders, and not in the spirit of the way we operate especially on this forum - generally speaking we are open and honest!

Its a really tricky one and unfortunately we cant really influence what organisers do. I guess we will just have to make sure we keep asking pertinent questions like who are the other traders, what do they sell - but maybe its time for us also to be asking "what happens if I turn up and there are more people selling the same as me that you are anticipating?" and "what happens if I turn up and people are selling things they are not supposed to be selling, putting me under more trading pressure than I was expecting?"

Maybe its time to update our list of questions to ask the organiser?!

SuperMum2010

PS Love the veggie sarnie option!! I was once offered Tuna sarnies as a veggie option at a church event because "fish arent animals are they?" LOL!!!