Selling Back Up! at Clifton Flea Market

For the holiday season, I am taking Back Up! to vendor fairs and flea markets in the area. Part of my motivation is that I've noticed people are much more likely to purchase if they can play the game and see how much fun it is!  So in person, I can persuade them to try it out.

When I was looking at fairs, it was quite difficult to find information on what they were like.  I thought it might be useful to catalog my efforts and thoughts on them for others who might be considering attending in future.

The first one I attended was on Saturday Nov 9, the Clifton Flea Market.  As it will be in November, it was a chilly day - highs in low 40s, and cloudy for most of the day.  So that may have influenced the turnout.

First, there is no pre-registration, you just have to show up on the day and hope there is space.  Having attended, I think this is probably the choice of most of the vendors there, who don't want to have to deal with anything online.   Arrival was between 6:30 and 8:00, I got there at 7:30, and people came after me who still got spots.  Although it turned out the better spots were on the sidewalk, and perhaps those went to vendors who showed up earlier.  I gamely set up my table.  I had high hopes that I could get people to play the game by giving a prize, and also that I could get people on an e-mail list or liking me on Facebook.

It is hard for me to gauge how many people were there, but never really felt busy.  The sun did break through the clouds for a little while, and was as pleasant as you could hope for November.  Again, seemed a bit busier on sidewalk, I was in the middle, and there was not a good flow of people.

I did get some interest, but usually waned quickly when they learned of price ($11.99).   Most of the other vendors' items were priced from $1 - $5.  If you have items in that price range, or perhaps items that people are familiar with, this could work.  In general, it seemed like a pretty low income crowd, so wasn't good for my price point.  Also not good for e-mail list or Facebook.  All of the transactions I saw were cash, didn't seem to be a very tech savvy crowd.

The other issue that I didn't consider was that there were quite a few non-english speakers.  Not an issue if you are selling clothes or jewelry, but a huge issue for a card game in English!  That easily took out half of the people walking by.

Still, spending time with people looking at the table and asking some questions was useful.  As I was describing the game I realized it would go much better if they could see the cards, so I put them out on the table.  (Was windy, so I had to have the cardboxes to hold them down!).   I also learned to have a look at where you are placed before you set up and try to move if you don't like it!

For most of the morning, the only people with a genuine interest were other vendors.  I got one to play the game, but was hesitant to buy, and claimed no to have e-mail (sadly, I believed him).

Finally in the afternoon, I had questions and more interest.  However, couldn't get anyone to play the game.  I did get one person to play finally, which led to a sale!

So at the end of the day, while I would not do this one again, I am hopeful that it could work with better circumstances.  The next one I have lined up is in Barnegat High School on Nov 23!