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Meet the Maker: Getting ready for Christmas markets

Sophie Sellu, founder of Grain & Knot shares her experience of preparing for Christmas markets


  • Craft business
  • Resources

Sophie Sellu, founder of Grain & Knot shares her experience of getting ready for Christmas Markets

As part of the Crafts Council's Meet the Maker series of events providing support to craft businesses, this resource highlights some top tips of what you can do to prepare, plan and produce in time for Christmas and generate sales for your craft practice.

How to plan ahead

  • Ideally start preparing in July – preparation is key.
  • Manage your own time; referring to last years stock figures and creating a monetary monthly target.
  • Always check the last payday before Christmas as there is a big push for products.
  • Postage dates, this is more of a challenge during the pandemic, consider bringing these dates forward and making sure these postage messages are communicated well and regularly via website and social.
  • Have realistic cut off dates for galleries and shops to take orders from them.
  • For markets and galleries, this is early (June/July) some are last minute, but make sure any opportunity you take up fits in with your plan.
  • Make sure your website is up to date and make sure you have enough packaging.

Where to sell

  • For any craft business your no.1 outlet is your website. Face to face fairs right now are uncertain, so make sure your images, captions, and SEO are up to date.
  • Make sure your marketing is ready to go.
  • Craft Fairs are a great way to speak directly to customers and as such a valuable hands on experience.
  • Group markets and pop ups, for example Carve London – a great yearly show building up the community, celebrating their craft and helping each other.
  • If you are selling with wholesale or stockists – make sure you communicate what you have on offer, what you are keeping for yourself and the cut off date for delivery.

Customers who have paid to get into a fair are there to buy


Sophie Sellu

Market tips

  • Clear signage
  • Prepare your stand by setting up at home first
  • Payment options – make sure you have digital (charged up), PayPal here app, and a cash float
  • Design your stand and really capitalise on space (factor in storage)
  • Lighting is key and worth investing in
  • Make sure prices are visible as many do not like to ask
  • Really great opportunity to capture data, so have a note book. When you get home, send a thank you follow up email to customers.
  • Engage and acknowledge everyone that comes to your stall. You never know who will come to your stall; be attentive all the time. Have help to hand or support each other on other stands so you can have breaks.
  • Have plenty of stock
  • Don’t over crowd your stand
  • Packing materials and business cards branded are key to enabling people to remember you.
  • Make sure your website is fully up to date for those that come back/follow up.
  • Have a charger/battery pack – you really do not want to lose out on your sales.

  • Sophie Sellu of Grain & Knot

About our speaker Sophie Sellu of Grainandknot:

Sophie graduated from the Manchester School of Art in 2009, and now lives and works in London. Loving spoon carving so much, Sophie would do it in any spare moment that she had. In the Spring of 2014 Sophie left her position in trend forecasting and took the opportunity to take Grain and Knot to the next level. After completing the Prince's Trust Enterprise Scheme, Sophie is now working as a full time woodworker, and is fully supported by the Prince's Trust.

Grain and Knot was born from a love of nature, exploration and the need for purpose in creation. It is beautifully tactile, fully functional wooden kitchenware, with each item made from reclaimed timber.

Links to additional 'Meet the Maker' videos

Running a crowdfunding campaign with Heather Corcoran from Kickstarter (aired on 27 May 2020)
How to work with retailers with Reiko Kaneko (aired 5 August 2020)
Explore our resources for makers and craft businesses

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