Is the crunch effecting craft ?

[HDevents]

Hi All

I was eating my sarnie at lunch and wondering how the current economic crisis was effecting actual UK crafters ? i would be interested to hear from you with your stories and views on the topic. I am sure it is something that is on everyones mind but is it down to one county/area or is it nationwide.

My fiance does homemade fair trade cakes and although the craft fairs were good the orders privately have dwindled

let me know your thoughts ?

[silvermaid]

I have found that people are less likely to buy jewellery for themselves this year and are on a tight budget for gifts. If they like something over their budget they will pick something else rather than spend a bit extra.
Although I am still getting a reasonable amount of sales they are mostly the lower prices items.

Melanie

[auntynet]

Although I am still getting a reasonable amount of sales they are mostly the lower prices items.

Melanie

Have to agree with you there - not had many "big" sales at all so we're planning to have a sale on the market stall next week.

One of our regular customers is a line manager at M&S and she tells us that the surprise 20% off sale they did a few weeks ago worked wonders for their sales figures which is why they've done it a few times since.

If it works for them . . . . .

[Caroleecrafts]

Things have been very tough this year, finding a fair is one thing for it to be reasonably priced is another but most of all none of this is worth it if people are not spending. I and revamping the business next year and plan to have a 50% sale after Christmas, selling off beads etc and generally starting over again. I am accepting that even then things are still tough, has anyone heard the news about General Motors, Chrsyler and Ford in the news lunchtime not looking good.

[helenvictoria]

i am finding that alot more people are asking for repairs other than buying new items.

I would say the credit crunch is making people more resourceful and appreaciating what they have.

[HDevents]

some interesting points so far and yes i have also heard the news about the car manufactorers , i ave looked a bit further into it and it could be big probs in UK because of it, wonder if any of them go to the wall how any guarantees/warrantys will be effected ?
The problem with discounts all the time is that it maybe showing desperate measures, we all know that M&S are struggling and therefore it is just a cry for help and not sure that UK Crafts should be devalued in that way ??????

[xrheax]

I sell wedding items and thought that the last couple of months would be very poor, for several reasons: I am quite new to this, I have only been doing it for a few months, and don't have a massive customer base yet. I also thought that most brides would be buying Chirstmas presents and all wedding items would take a back seat, and I thought the credit crunch would make people more wary of buying.
However, I am pleased to say this has been my best month yet, halfway through December and it has beaten every other month hands down.
However, I don't have previous years to compare it to so it may be normal behaviour for brides and grooms!

[krafty1]

I have had a really good couple of months so I can't complain but then I don't sell very expensive items.

I usually end up either beside or across from jewellery sellers and some of them have not had a good few months, while other ones are doing really well, and it's not always the less expensive ones that are doing well.

One of the school fayres I was at a couple of weeks ago, there were 2 girls selling jewellery and the girl who was selling the dearest jewllery did extremely well and the girl who was selling the much less expensive stuff hardly sold a thing.

[robin wood]

I don't do craft fairs and suspect it is getting harder to earn a living at them. However I have not noticed any downturn whatsoever. If anything I would feel things are better than they have been for some time. I think that folk are just getting tired of all that consuming lots of cheap stuff and now it is not cheap any more they want to get less things but things that last and have meaning. Funny world really Aldi and Waitrose both doing well, so choose the top or the bottom of the market.

[Caroleecrafts]

some interesting points so far and yes i have also heard the news about the car manufactorers , i ave looked a bit further into it and it could be big probs in UK because of it, wonder if any of them go to the wall how any guarantees/warrantys will be effected ?
The problem with discounts all the time is that it maybe showing desperate measures, we all know that M&S are struggling and therefore it is just a cry for help and not sure that UK Crafts should be devalued in that way ??????

I agree this mis what we have got to be careful of, after all the big stores probably wack on a larger profit margin than crafters therefore when they reduce they are still making a profit, where as most crafters have marginal profits so to reduce by large % means nil profit, I am in it to earn a living am lucky that we have savings but the interest has taken a battering on those.

I think if Ford go to the wall the fall out will be global and this country loss of jobs will be bad, in fact if you listen to the news too much you begin to think is there any way out of this.

I intend to just keep plugging on.

[Dizzydiza]

I sell wedding items and thought that the last couple of months would be very poor, for several reasons: I am quite new to this, I have only been doing it for a few months, and don't have a massive customer base yet. I also thought that most brides would be buying Chirstmas presents and all wedding items would take a back seat, and I thought the credit crunch would make people more wary of buying.

I also deal mainly with wedding items and I have to say from about August I have been fairly quiet with only one or two orders a month. But I did a check of my accounts and my turnover is only a couple of hundred pounds short this year from the same time as last year. It all depends on the turn of the new year whether I will remain on track for the same turnover or less. Watch this space for the 5th April!

[Moonbeam Angel]

Have to say that there does seem to be a down turn in people buying at craft fairs in my area, whether this is because the fairs being held are more like boot sales or down to poor advertising or the credit crunch is hard to say at the moment, perhaps everyone has gone to Woolies to spend their pennies!

[ejralph]

I've noticed a slight downturn on the supplies side of the business compared to this time last year. But not as bad as I had predicted. Also, I have not really been working so hard on that side of things this year, so some of that could be playing a part in the figures too.

The art bead side of my business doesn't seem to be affected yet - all the beads and buttons I make myself seem to be doing well still, so just hoping that stays the same.

I think also because things have been quite good in the last few years, many of our business areas have become a tad over-subscribed anyway. So it is kind of inevitable that not all craft businesses will weather any upcoming storms. But I am sure that many will. I hope so anyway.

Emma

[annnoble]

Hi,

I have defiantly had a down turn this year, my husband who does my accounts has said it is roughly 75% down on last year.

Also he works in the stock markets and General Motors and Chrysler will most likely go to the wall as they only have this week to gain funding, but the funding they are looking for is to only support them for one month!!!!

The other thing drifting around these people who look at the markets is they are comparing this down turn more to the last depression, than a rescission.

I'm not trying to bring doom and gloom but my OH did predict this current down turn at the beginning of the year and if you know what to look for its there in the charts of the stock market.

So if you think this Christmas is hard for sales just wait for next year it will be worse!

Therefore as a crafter its time to prepare and diversify in our product ranges, bring in products which will reach all types of budget from £1 to £55.

[dolts007]

For my 10pence worth i believe that at the moment people are becoming more and more concerned as to whether they will keep their jobs. The MPC have dropped the bank base rate to 2% (looks likely to go down to maybe 1.25% in Jan and lower maybe during the year) and this will hope to kick start the economy by allowing people more money in their pockets due to lower mortgage payments. Problem is people are keeping hands in pockets for fear of what might happen with their jobs.

2009 is going to be a rocky rollacoaster of a ride but as long as we crafters can hang in there and like a previous poster mentioned, offer quality items over a price spectrum from £1 upwards, then at least we can give the customers something to look forward to at a weekend and take their minds off the dark clouds that seem to be looming over us at the moment.