Maker Q&A Recap: What's Changing at Support The Makers
On Saturday 11 July, we hosted our first live Maker Q&A Session. We spent 45 minutes talking through what's changing at Support The Makers, why it's changing, and answering the questions makers had sent in beforehand. Here's everything we covered!
Why we're making changes
Everything we've changed over the past six months or so comes back to the same thing: making sure makers have a genuinely good experience at our markets, and feel supported before, during and after market day.
There's no magic formula.
We talk to makers, we talk to other market organisers across the UK, we absorb as much as we can, and we keep adjusting. That's the Support The Makers approach.
First up…
The Application Process
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Applications used to be processed seasonally. Last year we moved to Eventaly and trialled a rolling model, where each market closed 100 days ahead. The idea was to give makers more opportunity to apply.
What we found was that it got a little bit confusing. Makers were applying to lots of individual dates and losing track of what they'd applied for - which is completely fair, because there are a lot of markets.
So from 1 August, applications go back to seasons. It's clearer for you, and it means less admin for us too.
The festive season closes on 26 July.
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No. Once the closing date passes, we review all applications and decide who receives a confirmed space, a waiting list place, or an unsuccessful outcome.
If a market is full, applications and the waiting list both close, and there's no further opportunity to apply for that date.
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This usually means the closing date has passed and the market is now full.
Applications and waiting lists close at the same time.
One useful change: we can now manually close a market once it's genuinely full, rather than waiting for a set date to roll around.
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This is the question that comes up most, and it deserves an honest answer.
Our markets are curated for variety. The rough rule of thumb is one product category per ten stalls - so at a venue holding 37 stalls, you'd have around three ceramicists.
But it isn't as simple as counting categories. Within those three, you might have polymer clay jewellery, ceramic jewellery and two silversmiths at different price points.
Same with candles — different scents, different packaging, different price points.
We're looking at the whole picture: price range, palette, glaze, style.
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Because your product category is already well represented.
If we've got five jewellers and you're a jeweller, we can't take a sixth — even while we're actively looking for makers in a category we're short on. It isn't that we don't want you there.
Jewellery, ceramics and prints are hugely popular right now, and our waiting lists reflect that.
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Each market date has its own waiting list, so apply for every date you're interested in.
If a space frees up, we'll generally offer it to someone on the waiting list with similar products, to keep the balance of the market.
Occasionally we'll put out a call for specific product types if we don't have the right maker waiting.
And a note on capacity: at our last Portobello Town Hall market, we chose not to fill every space. Filling it with more of what was already oversubscribed would have meant a worse day for the makers already booked in.
That's a deliberate decision, and we'll keep making it.
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To process an application, we need:
A detailed business bio
Clear product photographs (no text, graphics or watermarks)
Social media links
Emergency contact information Valid
Public Liability Insurance (except Young Makers)
Incomplete applications may not be considered.
Some context on why, because this is the bit that makes the difference.
Your bio
A lot of the bios we receive are written personally - "I make ceramics and they're really beautiful." That's lovely, but it doesn't tell us what you sell or what makes you different. Write it as a business would: clear, professional, with your unique selling point front and centre.
Your photos
We want to see what you sell, and we want to share it on our socials. Watermarked, blurry or text-heavy images we can't use — which does you no favours. Clean product photos let us promote you properly, and keep our feed consistent so you get the brand recognition too.
Your social links
We look at these to get a feel for your products and the energy you'll bring to the day.
A few things we don't accept: multi-level marketing, charity or information stalls as a rule — unless the venue has requested it, which is out of our hands — and products that aren't handmade in the UK.
Invoices and payments
Not the most fun topic. But these changes are for your benefit as much as ours. If you've ever sat on a waiting list not knowing whether you're in or out, you'll understand why. We don't want makers waiting around while an unpaid space sits there. If someone can't make it, that's absolutely fine — we just want to offer it on quickly to someone who's waiting.
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Invoices are due within 10 days of your confirmation email. You'll receive four automatic reminders in that window.
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From 1 August, any unpaid booking without a prior agreement will be cancelled once the invoice is overdue, and the space offered to another maker. This happens automatically at 10 days.
Two things that genuinely help us:
Use your invoice number and business name as the payment reference. Matching up payments made from a partner's account, under a different name, eats a surprising amount of time.
Mark your payment in your Eventaly profile. That flags it on the daily report we receive, which is how payments get reconciled.
Young Maker Spaces
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Young Maker spaces are reserved for makers under 18.
Historically they've been free, funded by generous local sponsors. We're currently looking for a new sponsor.
In the meantime, from 1 August, if a space is available and we have a Young Maker application in a category we're short on, we may offer it at 50% of the standard stall fee. Availability is very limited while we're without a sponsor.
We do have a dedicated Young Makers market coming up this winter, at Portobello Baptist Church.
Applications for that one stay open past 26 July - we know Edinburgh is very much in holiday mode over the summer.
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No. But the application is otherwise the same: a completed form, product photographs and a business bio.
Worth saying — the standard of Young Maker applications has been phenomenal. At one of our markets, a 12-year-old maker was gifted £200 by a customer, purely for his initiative.
There are good people out there.
Market Communications and Promotional Material
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You'll have seen us asking for a short video ahead of each market.
Here's why. Social media engagement is tough for everyone right now, across the board. A
grid post for every maker isn't viable — 45 posts is an entire month of content, and nothing else gets seen. So we're trying something different each market to cut through.
August's reel: hold up your favourite product, and send us three words describing your business. Ceramics, coffee, mug. That's it. We'll put it all together into one reel. You don't have to speak. You don't have to show your face — you can hold the product up in front of you if you'd rather.
That said, here's our gentle challenge: show your face if you possibly can, even just a little. When customers walk into a market, your face is what they recognise. If you're the mug person, you want them looking for you, not for someone else selling mugs. It feels awkward the first time. Do ten takes. Have fun with it. It works.
There's a wider point here too, and it's one we pinned to our socials back in March: customer spending habits are shifting. Markets aren't what they were two years ago, or five. That's true across the UK, for organisers and makers alike.
The reels are part of us trying to find a way through the noise.
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The "Welcome to Our Markets" and "Market Day Information" emails go out automatically to all accepted makers, roughly four weeks before each market.
If a new maker joins after that first send, the system may resend to everyone.
Nothing's gone wrong — you haven't been double-booked.
How we support you: workshops and networking
We're called Support The Makers, and we mean it. Market day is one part of it.
Workshops
We've run sessions on finance, marketing, brand building and the practical business admin nobody enjoys but everybody needs - including how to write applications, not just for our markets but for markets across the UK. Makers still message months later about the newsletters they started and the wholesale orders that followed, because these were things they'd never had the space to think about.
The impact is immense when you act on it.
The Market Ready Masterclass came directly out of the questions we've been answering on repeat for eight years. We've run two, both fully booked - the first a mix of makers who'd traded with us and elsewhere, the second entirely makers who'd never done a market at all.
Next Up: A workshop and networking session with an Edinburgh graphic designer, on brand building and showing up online as yourself.
Networking events
We alternate venues, and alternate between Saturday mornings and evenings, so there's something that fits. Making things can be lonely - you're at your dining table or in your studio on your own. We've watched makers meet at these events and go on to collaborate. That's the whole point.
Got an idea for a workshop?
Email us. We're fully open to suggestions.
What's next
We're reducing the number of markets we run, and holding onto the venues that work. We have dates set at Haddington and one or two others we're waiting to confirm - those will be announced later in the year.
We don't run markets in January or February so we can give you a chance to rest. Makers are usually exhausted after the insane Christmas period. That's when we run workshops instead. Last year they landed really well, because people had come out the other side of Christmas and were ready to think about what's next.
Finally, someone asked us:
What advice would you give to a maker just starting out?
And is it possible to sell at markets without a big following or online sales?
Absolutely, yes. We're not counting followers. We want to see that you're real, that your products are real, and that the vibe is right.
On starting out - show up. There's no quick win and no fast result. Showing up in the silence, the crickets of social media, the markets where you know nobody, is exactly where the confidence comes from. Go to every training you can, free or a tenner. And before you apply anywhere, go to the market first. Find the organiser and talk to them - maybe not in the first hour, give us a chance to settle. Ask about footfall. Ask makers what's selling. Ask anything that isn't on the website. Nobody's gatekeeping. Talk to the makers around you as well; there's always a tip worth having.
Still got a question?
Email us at hello@supportthemakersuk.com. And if you're not on the newsletter, sign up on our website - it's where we share news and updates first.
Thank you to everyone who came along on a Saturday morning.
Carmen and Lauren