Carrier Bags and Public Liability Insurance for a newcomer!

[enoughonmyplate]

Hi All,

I'm doing my first craft fairs in December selling handpainted ceramics and taking orders for personalised plates, mugs etc.

Can anyone help me out on a couple of points:

i) I'm after some nice carrier bags - ideally paper ones with handles or similar - does anyone have a good cheap supplier willing to sell in small quantities (100 or so)?

ii) I need public liability insurance but hoped to get it just for the weekend as I don't want to get an annual policy just yet - anyone know of a company that will do this for a reasonable price?

Any other advice for a craft fair newcomer would be gratefully appreciated :wink:

Thanks

Kate x

[adrienne]

For paper carrier bags I use a company called Kaleidoscope Supplies
their website is www.kal-supplies.co.uk

There is no minimum order however there is a £5.20 delivery charge on each order. They are really friendly and efficient too!

[Happytocrop]

Hi, for craft insurance you need to go to www.craftinsurance.co.uk. It is very quick and easy to do and the cheapest I have found. I pay £86.00 I think for a whole years insurance

[Fran]

Insurance:

I doubt that you will get insurance for the event only, even if you did it would most likely be expensive.

The insurance broker that I use is GM Imber Ltd which is £50 per year giving you 5 million public liability. (more and more organisers are asking for this amount) Tel: 020 7231 5005. The package is called CRAFTSINSURE STARTER

Fran

[Bea]

Hi

Can't help you for the carrier bags, but is it worth the expense? Just my thought... Not sure whether Makro would sell them? I had bought my small paper bags at Makro but there was no handle.

As for the insurance, I am with http://www.nmtf.co.uk/
I can't remember how much I paid, it was January this year but I think around £60... It's not written on their website, can't find it. I also doubt you'll find insurance for just one event. And if you are successful, you may want to book more fairs!

Good luck!

Bea

[buy-chess-sets]

Hi we bought some lovely paper bags from www.morplan.com

[stillscrapping]

Insurance for the year from nmtf is £66.00 this year...........just gone up. I need it for my scrapbooking retail stall but if you do a few shows a year it saves having to mess about. It covers your car / van as well which most other insurances don't seem to.

Hope you get sorted.

Julie

[Happytocrop]

Wow thats cheaper - will try that one when mine has expired.

[nattynetty]

All this talk of insurance has got me thinking...

What does it cover and is it a good idea/essential to have it?

I've only done a few local craft fairs and none of the organisers have mentioned it. My stock is covered under the business section of my household insurance but I'm guessing as soon as I take it out of the house it's no longer covered.

Can anyone enlighten me further as I'd like to do some more craft fairs and now I'm a bit worried :?

Thanks

[stillscrapping]

I need mine as I have a market stall where I sell scrapbooking supplies so it is a basic requirement for that.

Some craft fairs will be covered by their own insurance but you should check. If anything belonging to you were to harm another person who would be liable?

If you are doing a lot of craft fairs I would take it out. Better to be safe than sorry!!

Julie

[Fran]

Insurance is better than not!

You say you've done a few local fairs, I'm assuming that you are meaning village hall and such like, they don't generally ask for it but be aware that these events are run by committees made up of local folk who may not be aware of insurance in's and out's. Even if the event holders were to have there own insurance, I would check that they would cover you and yours as most will not cover third party.

Public liability is always advisable since you never know what if anything would ever happen, someone may trip over your table cloths and hurt themselves, may be hurt in someway by your product, your display may cause a fire if using faulty lighting, the possiblities are endless and in today's world everyone sues............... insurance is one of those must haves now.

What exactly is covered by insurance outwith public liability is dependant on the policy you purchase, some policies don't cover whilst in transit, some don't cover for stock left unattended overnight or between certain hours of the night regardless. No matter what, where or when, I never leave my stock overnight, my basic display yes, but not my stock.

I totally agree with Julie, better safe than sorry.

Fran

[Quilter]

This company sell some nice pre-printed plastic carrier bags wihch say A Quality Product by a British Crafter. They are 381 x 457 x 76mm and cost £13.20 per 100.

I use their brown paper carrier bags with handles as they are made from recycled paper and sustainable forests. I use a rubber stamp to put my logo on them.

They also deliver straight to your door and have very good value for money! Lots of other packaging stuff as well.

The website is http://www.bagnboxman.co.uk/.

[nattynetty]

Thanks for the advice on insurance

By coincidence I was sent details about a craft fair the other day and they required stall holders to have public liability insurance.

So the obvious conclusion to all this is...

...to buy it - as you say it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to these things.

One more question before I go, I found some for £46.25 fromhttp://www.toogoods.co.uk/craftfair.htm has anyone heard of this company?

Thanks lots

Janette

[stillscrapping]

They look to be ok and are part of the financial services thing!! May be give them a try.

Julie

[Fran]

They seem to be ok but what I'd say is that................if you pay £46.25 for 1 million public liability and then discover later that one of your shows require 5 million public liability, you either have to forget that event or pay someone else more money for the 5 million. Therefore it might be better value to for instance pay £50 for 5 million now and be covered for all possiblities. I've never heard of anyone asking for more than that.

Fran

[thedarkspirit]

Hi All,

I'm doing my first craft fairs in December selling handpainted ceramics and taking orders for personalised plates, mugs etc.

Can anyone help me out on a couple of points:

i) I'm after some nice carrier bags - ideally paper ones with handles or similar - does anyone have a good cheap supplier willing to sell in small quantities (100 or so)?



When I do the markets, I sell my gifts in cute little paper bags with printed designs on. They are fairly cheap to buy in, try http://www.ancientwisdom.biz/bagsbags for a selection.

[thedarkspirit]

Hi All,

I'm doing my first craft fairs in December selling handpainted ceramics and taking orders for personalised plates, mugs etc.

Can anyone help me out on a couple of points:

i) I'm after some nice carrier bags - ideally paper ones with handles or similar - does anyone have a good cheap supplier willing to sell in small quantities (100 or so)?



When I do the markets, I sell my gifts in cute little paper bags with printed designs on. They are fairly cheap to buy in, try http://www.ancientwisdom.biz/bagsbags for a selection.

[Sharron2468]

www.kal-supplies.co.uk

I live in Yeovil and have been to this shop.

I got some lovely Brown Paper Bags from them.

They are about A4 size, and look great.

They are a good shop, and have some very nice items, they do tissue that is cheap and colourful.

Also try Poundland for tissue paper.

GOOD LUCK.