Faire Market Tips from a UK Buyer

This year's Summer Market was my biggest yet as a buyer. We brought in more new brands than ever before, partly because we're expanding our store, and partly because Faire Market is the perfect opportunity to take a few calculated risks.

The discounts are brilliant for reorders, of course. Who doesn't love saving a bit of money? But where Faire Market really comes into its own is helping buyers justify trying brands they've never stocked before.

That little bit of discount softens the risk. But despite having plenty of products sitting in my favourites, there were still lots of brands I didn't end up ordering from.

So, I thought I'd share why.

Before I do, one important disclaimer.

These observations come entirely from my perspective as a UK buyer. We buy for shops in London, our customers shop like UK customers, and our pricing expectations are shaped by the UK market. Retail works differently across the world, so none of this is intended as universal advice. If you're selling primarily in the US, Australia or elsewhere, your customers' expectations may be completely different.

With that out of the way...

My Buying Philosophy

My buying philosophy is surprisingly simple. I buy what I like.

If I genuinely love a product, there's a good chance our customers will too. By the time I've searched for your brand on Faire, I'm already interested. I'm not looking for reasons to say no.

Unfortunately, a few practical things often get in the way:

1. Your Pricing Doesn't Translate to the UK

This one is mainly for my American friends.

I've discovered so many incredible US stationery brands that I'd genuinely love to stock. But the numbers often don't work.

One thing many brands don't realise is that Faire allows you to set different pricing in different currencies. We do exactly this at The Completist because pricing isn't simply an exchange rate.

In the United States, sales tax is usually added at checkout. In the UK (and across much of Europe), VAT is included in the displayed retail price. Retail markups also tend to be higher here - typically around 2.2–3x wholesale depending on the product.

That means products that feel perfectly priced in America can become very difficult to retail competitively in the UK.

Greeting cards are probably the clearest example. I saw several US brands wholesaling cards at around $3, which naturally leads to around a £6 RRP once imported and marked up appropriately.

The reality is that very few UK customers are willing to spend £6 on a standard greeting card (unless there's something particularly special about it, like a badge or added gift).

It's not about the product. It's simply about understanding your export markets.

2. Your Opening Order and Discount Threshold Are Too Far Apart

This was something I noticed over and over again.

Let's say your opening order minimum is $100. Great. But then your first Faire Market discount doesn't kick in until $350. As a buyer, that's a difficult jump to justify, especially if I'm trying a new brand.

I completely understand wanting buyers to increase their AOV. But I'd rather receive a smaller discount on an order I was already planning than feel pressured into tripling my spend just to unlock 6%.

Often, I'll simply leave the cart open and come back later when I actually need to replenish stock. Ironically, a lower first threshold might have secured the order there and then.

3. Your MOQ Is Too High

Minimum order quantities can quietly become deal-breakers.

If I'm testing a brand, I don't necessarily want twenty-four of the same product. I want enough stock to give it a fair chance, without dedicating half a shelf to something I've never sold before.

Rather than thinking purely about the value of your opening order, think about how buyers actually build baskets.

If every product has an MOQ of twelve or twenty-four, suddenly buyers are forced into purchasing your entire catalogue just to reach your minimum.

Instead, ask yourself: What's the smallest order that still represents my brand well?

Sometimes giving buyers a little flexibility makes it far easier for them to say yes.

What Worked For Us

It's only fair to share our own experience too.

As a participating brand, our Summer Market looked something like this:

✹ Around 20% more orders than last Summer Market.

✹ Average order values were slightly lower, which reflects buyers being a little more cautious.

✹ We launched a small number of new products, helping boost visibility in Faire's search while keeping our biggest release back for September trade show season.

✹ Our journal and social content reached almost 50% of new retailers, although only around 12.5% converted into orders.

There's still plenty to improve. But hey, that's retail. Every market teaches us something.

The Bigger Picture

One thing I love about Faire is that it's removed so many barriers between brands and independent retailers.

But buyers are still making real commercial decisions. We're not just choosing products because they're beautiful. We're balancing cash flow, shelf space, pricing strategy, customer behaviour and risk.

The easier you make those decisions, the more likely we are to press Place Order.

Thanks for Reading

If you enjoyed this little peek behind the curtain, we share plenty more retail, wholesale and small business insights over on Instagram. Alongside colourful products, you'll find the realities of running an independent creative business, updates to our renovations, and probably a few juicy product pics sprinkled in.

If you're a fellow buyer (hi), we'd love to work with you. You can shop The Completist on Faire for all the colourful stationery, planners and paper goods you already know us for.

If you're a brand looking for more personalised advice, our Creative Director, Jana, offers one-to-one strategy sessions covering everything from wholesale, product development and marketing to growing an independent brand. They're currently available as part of our crowdfunder rewards.

And if you're one of our lovely customers who stumbled across this out of curiosity, we hope you've enjoyed seeing what goes into sourcing the products that end up on the shelves of your favourite independent shops. Buying well takes time, research and a little bit of risk - but it's all worth it when someone discovers the perfect product.

If you're looking to support more brilliant independents, take a look at our Stockists page. You'll discover some of our favourite shops across the UK and beyond - each one carefully curating their own collection of products, just as passionately as we do.