Christmas markets are an effective way for small businesses (particularly artisans) to find their customers without a brick-and-mortar. Farmer’s, Holiday, and Artisan markets are also a great opportunity to test potential markets, new signage/packaging, and build towards brand awareness. Booking them across the region enables an artisan to find new customers, while building a loyal, established following in their local area.

For many vendors in attendance, seasonal markets are an opportunity to gain a little extra revenue as we enter the holiday season. Money matters to these vendors. They have dedicated time, money, and energy into their crafts, and the return on investment is never hefty, so every expense -table fee, gas, hotels, receipt paper- matters.

Unfortunately, these are an ideal market to prey on. In rural areas, admissions are often done through basic ISP or free email addresses, correspondence is often minimal with the director, and things can be fairly last minute. This is where scammers find the ideal climate to prey on hopeful Christmas market vendors. Learn from Lyndsay.

Screen Door Apiary’s Market Bust

Lyndsay’s business, Screen Door Apiary, is currently working on a brick-and-mortar, but in the mean time may be found at artisanal shops around the Island. She heavily utilizes the holiday market scene, as it offers her the opportunity to meet new customers, educate leads about her products, and create brand awareness as she works towards a storefront. Screen Door Apiary will be found at 2 Christmas markets this season, although she wished she could have signed up for more.

“It’s incredible how fast these markets book up. I was hoping to get into a couple more at least, but that just didn’t happen since they have a finite number of tables per market. It’s why I started looking off-island for extra options.”
Lyndsay DeBont, Screen Door Apiary

Via Facebook, Lyndsay found a holiday market that had ONE spot left. She had been following the Facebook page for a while, but discovered their event page was stating it had availability. It would be a drive all the way to Hammonds Plains, requiring an overnight stay, but worth it to test that market and get to know the HRM customer a bit better. She couldn’t believe her luck that there was a single spot left, especially in a heavily-saturated area.

Picture of three different holiday market posters. Mabou, Whycocomagh, and Sydney Christmas market posters.

Screen Door Apiary reached out via text to reserve a table, and was directed to send the fee via Paypal transfer. “Denise” said to do it under “friend + Family” to avoid extra fees. Lyndsay had never used Paypal before, since most go through e-transfer or online secure booking.

“My first red flag was her name and email not matching to a gmail account, and that I was solely communicating via text at this point. She was super helpful with setting up the Paypal account and transfer, but then the payment bounced back and no response came after Paypal wasn’t going through.”

“I then received a text that she confirmed me for the weekend but that the table fee increased, and requested more money. Once the money sent, the name accepting wasn’t this “Denise” whom I had been corresponding. I was so worried about losing that “last spot” that I didn’t clue in to the red flags.“
Lyndsay DeBont, Screen Door Apiary

At that point, Lyndsay went back through Facebook, to discover that the event’s page she was going through to reserve her table was a copy of the actual, established market. All the information was correct since it had been copied/pasted from the real one; but the money transferring to “reserve table” was not. She clicked on the link which sent her to the actual market, which stated that it was sold out, mentioned the price of tables (which was different from what she paid) and that it would be paid via e-transfer (not Paypal).

“I sent a direct e-mail to the one posted on the website to explain the situation, and my suspicions, providing the link to the page I went through.” Lyndsay wanted confirmation or clarity. Her suspicions were correct.

She had been scammed.

“Now, I have to fight with my credit card company AND I am unable to attend the sold-out market. The credit card company turned me down and said I had to go through the merchant. Paypal says you have to request funds from the person first before putting in a complaint. Due to the nature of the transaction, there is no recourse. I’m simply out the table reservation fee, and have a bunch of extra product since I had been prepping for the additional holiday market.”

She might be able to fight the charge through credit card company once it’s posted; but that is unclear at this time. Cancelling the card doesn’t help either, as that still requires all pending transactions to go through before the card is completely cancelled.

Lyndsay can use her extra product at the markets she is signed up for, was grateful she was able to cancel her hotel, but is concerned for others.

“Imagine if I hadn’t gone through the confirmation hassle? What if I had stayed at my hotel, brought perishable items, and showed up Saturday morning? I would be out hundreds of dollars in product, gas, hotel stays in addition to the vendor fees – some which go up to $140. I’m worried that some people, who rely on this income, may meet that dismay over the next few weeks.”

Image states, "what can you do as a vendor or as an event director to protect each other?"

Unfortunately, Christmas spirit also comes with scrooges, preying on hopeful artisans and kind hearts. What can you do as a vendor or as an event director to protect each other?

Vendors,

Search for the specific contact form on the market’s website and utilize that to inquire and book a table at the market.
If the market is solely utilizing Facebook, double check that you are messaging the correct account. Check its “Page Transparency” (bottom left) to confirm that it is an established page. Scammers will have created a new page so this will read the most recent year. If it’s an event page, to check for long-standing posts.
If there’s no clear website, CALL to confirm your reservation before sending and money. A scammer will not want to hop on the phone with you, or will be much more easily caught in lies.

Directors,

Don’t require e-transfers to personal accounts (and avoid posting this information in a public forum like social media).
Immediately send e-mail confirmation of the table reservation with a receipt or acknowledgement of payment.
Create a proper website (and, for the NS market, a Facebook page to share information).
List your registration protocols so that vendors know what to expect.
If you do not have online payments (require e-transfers) – have your registration page first and then send email to vendors requesting e-transfer to complete. Make this clear on the webpage and on Facebook. Indicate what email will be sending you payment request from.

Looking to support artisans like Lyndsay?

Screen Door Apiary Products may be found at local shops like The Flying Kite in Baddeck.

Website: https://www.screendoorapiary.com/

Facebook: facebook.com/screendoorapiary

Instagram: @ScreenDoorApiary