To market… to market…

• April 16, 2017

So… for the past couple of weeks we have been preparing to finish off a whole heap of projects which we were hoping to sell at the Tamahere Market, 10 minutes south of Hamilton city. The market is held on the St Stephen’s Church grounds on the third Saturday of each month. We had checked out the market place a couple of months ago and felt like the kind of stuff we have been making would fit in well with the environment there. Since we have been churning out quite a few nice things, it has got to the point where we have been wondering how and where we should be selling our wares.

I have always had a dream to have a shop filled with beautiful things from all around the world. My desire to travel and collect these beautiful things has always been deep within me, and I have always fancied being like the woman of Proverbs 31
Verse 14…she is like the merchant ships, she brings her food from afar…
Verse 16… she considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard… (i.e. she buys and sells and builds her own resources)

Verse 18…She perceives that her merchandise is good…
Verse 20…she extends her hand to the poor, Yes she reaches out her hand to the needy…
Verse 22…She makes tapestry for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple…
Verse 24…She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies sashes for the merchants…
Verse 25…Strength and honour are her clothing; she shall rejoice in time to come…
Verse 26…She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness…

So we stepped in. The weather leading up to the weekend was unpredictable, as Cyclone Cook threatened to wreak havoc on the region, but we had a gazebo and before the shops shut on the Thursday night before Good Friday, we made a quick decision to buy a back ‘door’ and 2 sides with windows for the gazebo to shelter us and our goods from the rain if it came.

Picture on the left:
Truck packed & ready to go

Friday was a near perfect day after the storm and the sun shone brightly all day, so we were hopeful that it would continue in to Saturday. We also knew if it got worse we could always pull the plug and back out, since most of the products we were selling were not really designed to get wet. Everything was catalogued, priced and packed onto the truck, ready for an early departure the next morning.

The sound of rain drizzling on the roof during the night, wasn’t enough to deter us and the sun came out as we set up our spot on plot #52. In fact it got so hot I had to strip off a layer or two! Everything looked lovely – all set out as I had imagined, and we were quite excited at the prospect of selling something. The photos look fantastic don’t they? I posted those on Facebook while we were supping on our first real market coffee.

Ironically that day, we sold more as a result of my Facebook posts and through private messages, than what we actually sold to a live person at the market! Yes, we sold some stuff, which was wonderful, but the real bonus of the day was through faithful friends and followers who liked the photos and commented accordingly.

Ironically also, the rain came down. In fact between spells of sunshine it fair poured! So the beautiful display you see in the photos ended up looking more like a jumble sale as we had to move all the fabric cushions away from the side of the gazebo. And we had no control over where the leaks in the roof were going to come through either…

Needless to say through all of this I’m sure God was having quite a laugh, as we came to the realization that we could actually quit the hassle of packing up wet gear and dealing with inclement weather patterns, and settle for an online shop. We also concluded that interaction with people we know online (and those we don’t yet know) can be fun, and that our market is more for that clientele than someone going to the market to look for a bargain Realistically they probably won’t find a bargain on our stall because our clients appreciate the time and talent that has gone in to the production of our wares and are willing to pay for it.

So in our attempts to test the market, we have realized that it is indeed online, and so now the real work begins, as we look at altering the website to accommodate a ‘shop now’ option.

I will take orders through Messenger and by private message, and I will start by posting some individual photos on to FB as of this week. So if there is something you are particularly interested in, I can send you more specific details regarding colours and freight options. As I have previously posted on this site, I had no idea what I was stepping in to when I started this blog and website, but I’m learning fast and it looks like the momentum is building…God’s way.

By the way for you bloggers and computer whizzes out there… my current laptop is on it’s last legs, so I need to invest in a new one that will accommodate great options for posting photos, blogs and also provide me with some flexibility whilst travelling. If anyone has any great suggestions on best brands please comment below.