Outside Show Jewelry Report

Down here in South Florida, it’s almost that time of the year that locals refer to “season,” which means the snowbirds are back, people from up north who live down here between about January to April. They are starting to trickle down, and as the weather up north gets colder, more and more will come down for season.

With our snowbirds come more outside shows, and recently, I took a cruise through a little farmer’s market that is downtown and near our local marina. Here are some thoughts:

• I saw even more jewelry than the last time I went to this same market. In fact, I’m now seeing a lot of vendors who sell a little of everything under one tent from beaded earrings to t-shirts. For the most part, they are obviously imports, so those making the quality jewelry have even more competition.

• Those who are specializing in jewelry are selling it cheap, cheap, cheap. $5 bracelets, $5 earrings, and I’m talking sterling and Swarovski crystals in some cases. Honestly, I’m not sure how they are making any money.
• A few jewelry vendors were smoking. Yikes and Ick! If you want to drive away customers, then light up a cig. Even outside, I’m sorry, but folks, it stinks. If you have to have one, then at the very least, walk a few paces away from the tent or better yet ask another vendor to keep an eye on things while you go smoke.
• There was some really nice jewelry here and this is just a tiny little farmers market in a tiny town in Florida. We’ve talked about this before on the forum, but it does seem that shows (even farmer’s markets) are just packed with competition these days. Maybe it’s time for something new. Or maybe more jewelry makers need to think of other ways to earn an income with their jewelry.