How to Shop and What to Ask

Yeah, yeah – you don’t need help shopping, right? It may sound silly, but we’ve been doing this long enough to know that plenty of people feel unsure when it comes to making one-on-one buys at arts events. It’s up close. It’s personal. You’re buying handmade items and art. What should you look  for? How do you find quality pieces? What if you have questions?

Always a good idea: Ask about the product.

There’s no set rule, just feel free to ask whatever strikes you as you browse a vendor’s goods.

• Where did you get the idea to make this?
• How long does each one take you?
• Do you ever try ____?
• How do you make this? What is the process?

These questions not only give you a good base to start talking with a vendor who is likely a chatty, friendly person with interesting knowledge, but also help you learn about their product. There are lots, and I mean lots of events with “handmade” goods lacking origin information. They are often factory made, or shipped in from China, or simply not as handmade as implied – screenprinted shirts are an easy target.

There isn’t a wrong answer, necessarily. What you want to buy is entirely up to you – just make sure that the answers match up with what you’re looking to buy.

What’s a Limited Edition?

Lots of arts fairs are crawling with prints – Market Day sure is! When it comes to buying them, there are maybe a half-dozen choices in product. None of them are any “better” than the others, but there are certainly differences.

Some prints are actually considered original art work: Screen prints, lithos, letterpress, woodcuts. (What are all these? That’s a great question for your vendor.) If they are “limited edition”, they should be numbered on the bottom with something like “3/50″ meaning it was the third print pulled in a run of 50. There will only be 50 of this image, with these colors, on this paper.

Limited Editions are considered more valuable than unlimited runs. Posters and unlabeled prints may get reprinted over and over again. This isn’t a bad thing – it’s just something you should know about your purchases and their price.

What to bring

Sometimes it takes a bit of prep to get the most out of your visit to a show. Be sure to bring:

• Cash. Most vendors take checks, some take cards, but all take cash.
• Shopping bags. Vendors usually have their own, but they’re nice to have. Market Day has some up for sale if you’re in the market!
• A gift list. Think about upcoming weddings, birthdays, big kids, little kids, employees, boss’ days, new babies. Events like Market Day are perfect for gift shopping. Lots of carefully make original items, many of which fill a niche need, and are super affordable.

That’s a pretty good run-down. It’s not like this is a complicated event – you’ve all been shopping before! If you’ve had any questions at an event like this – leave ‘em in the comments or shoot me an email: cat@marketdayiowa.com

2 Responses to “How to Shop and What to Ask”

1. Sarah Macht says:

   August 26, 2010 at 3:23 pm

   I would love to go to market day straight from the Farmer’s Market but I always bring my well-behaved dalmatian mix with me to the market. Would it be okay to bring him to market day? I couldn’t leave him in the car this time of the year.
   If there is a no dog policy, I can go back home and golater in the afternoon, so it is just a question of timing. Thanks!

   Reply
   • Scott Rocketship says:

     August 31, 2010 at 3:03 am

     Hi Sarah! Thanks for stopping by to ask. Friendly dogs are very welcome – we’ve had many come to visit. If you didn’t make it this month, we’d love to see you and your pup on September 25.

     Reply