I make toys, and my primary sales venue is my local farmers' market. (Somehow I have ended up on the Board of Directors this year. I'm not entirely sure how that even happened. . .)
Not everyone is interested in my work -- some shoppers don't have kids or grandkids or other young relations, or have the desire to collect what I make. That's just the nature of the biz. I would hope that people who want classic, durable toys for the young ones in their lives would be interested in what I make. I don't set out to make everything "educational" -- some Internet toy vendors seem to slap the name "Montessori" on everything as an excuse to double the price, but not me. But I try to make 'em not just fun, but reinforcing skills like manual dexterity and shape recognition, as well as imagination. That does tend to draw interest -- even folks whose kids are grown will sometimes stop and admire what I do. I've even had people call it "artistry." (My usual response is "well, I don't know -- give me about twenty more years and I might start getting good at this." My unspoken thought is often "don't get out much, do ya?" We woodworkers get to see a lot of truly amazing pieces that demand the highest skill, we're familiar with all the trial and error and mess and mistakes and cussin' that goes into the design process, and we learn to spot minor flaws and shortcuts. Most people are easier to impress. And that's OK. There are plenty of better toysmiths than I -- but I'm the best in my small pond, and that's enough.)
So that should interest some people, hopefully.
What people can expect: At a weekly event like our market, the farmers can sell the same products every week and rely on repeat customers. People buy my friends' beef and chicken, eat it, like it, and come back for more. Durable crafts are different: once you've bought one, you won't need another for a long time. I've seen cutting board vendors do poorly at our market, because once they've sold a padauk and maple cutting board to everyone who wants one, they've saturated their customer base. Toys are different again, because they get outgrown (or broken, because kids can be amazingly inventive when it comes to destruction). But I also have to keep constantly coming up with new designs. I have to take suggestions and custom requests. And in the off-season, I have to travel outside my area to reach new customers. (Got a daffodil festival booked for mid-March, two hours away, for example.)
So people should expect quality from me -- strong woods, careful sanding, child-safe finishes, rugged construction. And they should expect new designs every season, plus refinements to the ones I already have. It's a lot of fun and also a lot of work.
