***Recession Proof Holiday Gift How People Shopped @ Craft Fair

WOW is the word for holiday shopping. People are looking for the "perfect" yet "rock bottom CHEAP gift", excuse me, gift"s" here. I've never seen this many people at any craft fair. At some point, I was bounced out of my booth by my buyers. Some woman was complaining that I did not make enough of these pendants. People get really personal when someone else buys the last one of their choice. The BLUE was the choice this year - that and Water energy (Feng Shui) were almost all gone. People do want "good energy" and "change".

Yes I did sold roughly 111 items - but all these women were savvy buyers. Some had pen and paper, and some had very strict budget (how much to spend @ each category!).

Princeton ywca crafter's market

Many of my jewelry/art colleagues discourage me from showing the local craft fair. "Makiko, people count pennies there!". Well, this one is high-end and must be judged, but I was prepared to have plenty of gifts for teens. Interestingly, these days, teens are the ones who start and ignite "trends". If they like it, we buy it for them, and we end up with wearing them as well. So I made many different kinds which are "liked"by teens. Many of you know I love market research, so its something I'm used to.

I also brought some high-end jewelry - knowing that this won't sell like others. And they caught many critical eyes - artisan and other jewelry-makers stopped by and were very pleased to see something beautiful and different. And some of them found very good owners!

Result? Yes I think I sold the most in my section. I was out of bags, cards, and change.

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