Are markets worth doing?

So, I'm currently weighing up whether to keep on doing in person markets, particularly those a bit further away. So I thought I'd make a post about it, and figure out the pros and cons of doing them, as writing them down might help make me come to a decision.

Before this year I'd only done a handful of markets at Christmas time, so doing markets all year round has been a new thing for me, particularly ones a bit further away, so I was going into them not knowing how they would play out. I've done five markets since May, and when putting all the numbers together on a spreadsheet, they are all pretty averaging the same amount of sales! But the cost of being there is definitely not average across all markets...

The pros

• Exposure/advertising of your business. This is the main pro for me. You're putting you business in front of 100's if not 1000's of people who most likely have never heard of you before, so it's another form of advertising, and one in my experience that has always had a return. At my markets this year, I've averaged between 20 and 30 customers, alongside having lots of other people not buy but look, pick up business cards, so that's a lot more people who are now aware of me than if I didn't do the market.
• Market research. You get to see what products get reactions out of people, and what people seem to be drawn to. It does seem to differ slightly between markets, but as a whole, I've been able to see what sells well - bookmarks, coasters, stickers and cards all sell a lot better, particularly as individual items at markets compared to online. Most people will spend more and buy multiple items through my website, whereas its usually single items at a market. So it's great for market research too as well as diversifying your type of orders
• Interacting with customers and other business owners. I'm not an overly social person, so to me this could technically be a con, but for the business, it's definitely a pro! It is lovely to be able to talk to customers and nice to hear their thoughts and compliments in real life, as well as speak to other stall holders too. Interacting online just doesn't have the same feel to it.
• Dogs at markets! I'm 100% a crazy cat lady but I still love seeing dogs at markets

The cons

• When you don't make a profit or very little profit. This for me is the biggest con, but it's also very dependant on the market itself. With most markets, you don't know how it's going to go, it's always a risk to pay for a stall at a market you haven't done before (or even one you have done before, every market is different!), plus getting there whether it's paying for petrol and parking or the train, and then more times than not having to buy things like food too - you could be prepared and take food with you, I do usually take snacks but sometimes you need something a little more than snacks particularly if it's a long day. I did a market in July in London, the stall cost me £99, train fare was £60, and then I spent about £20-30 on food. I took about £180 in sales that day, I expected it to be more considering the footfall and location, but some days it just doesn't go that way, and so taking away the costs of being there from the sales I made, profit was probably only a few pounds.
• Very long days. Again, this is dependant on the market, but my most recent market, I had to leave the house at 6am, and then didn't get back home till 8:30pm. That is a long day. Only 7 hours of it was actually spent at the market! I have chosen to do some further away markets because there isn't a whole heap of options where I live, but these long days coupled with not making much profit, if any, does make you question whether it's worth it.
• Not knowing how it's going to go. Doing markets are a risk, there is no guarantee that the footfall will be good, that people will actually buy your wares. Some will be better than others, some will be more disappointing than you expected, it is a huge gamble if you aren't 100% confident that your products will sell.

The outcome

I suppose the outcome is that the pros do outweigh the cons when it comes to advertising, gaining new customers and making sales, particularly when online sales are quiet, which they have been ridiculously low lately, so having the extra sales from the markets has been great, but my main problem at the moment is the time it takes for me to get to and from some markets. So I think for the foreseeable, any future markets I book will be a max of 1-2 hours away, and still on the smaller side, until I can know 100% for certain that I have the funds to spend to be there and then will make the sales to cover it, and also make a decent enough profit.