2024 Merry Maker Market applications

This year we are celebrating our 8th annual Merry Makers Market!  We are seeking quality handmade artists, makers, and small businesses with unique and innovative products.  Please read through our policies and guidelines below in regards to important information about booth fees, cancelation policies, etc.

DATES:  Nov 30 - Dec 23, 2024

LOCATION: TBA Boise/Meridian. Our location is contingent of what retail spaces are available in the current market. Due to the nature of being a long term pop-up the lease and final location is usually not determined until after the first of November.

HOURS: 10am-6pm, Monday-Saturday and 11pm-3pm Sundays. Hours are subject to change based on location and availability of working artists.

ABOUT MERRY MAKERS MARKET:

Merry Makers Market (MMM) is a unique holiday art show featuring a handful of local artists and creative handmade gifts.  Our pop-up market is setup retail style in a small, centralized location in Boise/Meridian and manned by our participating artists in rotating shifts.  We are excited to provide an opportunity for local artists to share their work with the community yet still allow them to work behind the scenes during the busy holiday season.  Customers can enjoy a craft fair atmosphere in a pressure free sales environment to shop their favorite handmade vendors and gifts.

EVENT FEES/SALES:

  • $300-450 booth fee (based on shifts worked - see below)

  • Artists will receive 100% of their sales minus a 3% admin fee to cover the costs of credit card processing fees. The 3% fee will be taken from gross sales and reflected on the final sales report.

  • NEW!! Merry Makers Market will pay all sales tax pertaining to artists gross sales. Yay! However, you must still report your sales on your state and federal business income for December.

  • Booth fees go towards covering the costs of our rental space, utilities, website, marketing, admin costs, packaging, and supplies, etc.  

  • A final sales report and checks will be issued/mailed on or before December 31.

 APPLICATION DEADLINE:

Artist applications are open online at https://www.boisemerrymakers.com Sept 1 – October 8, 2024 at midnight. Artists will be notified of acceptance October 15, 2024. Booth fees are due by October 25, 2024 and can be sent via mail or PayPal* to the following address:

Tara Dial, 106 W 31st Street, Garden City, Idaho 83714

PayPal: boisemerrymakers@gmail.com

*if you send your booth fee via PayPal please make sure to use the gift/family option for free otherwise the cost of Paypal fees will be deducted from your final sales.

Applications are juried by the Merry Makers Committee to ensure a selection of unique, high quality, and diverse goods are chosen for this carefully curated space. We select artists/goods based on how well they fit within our vision of Merry Makers Market and for their quality, innovation and uniqueness.  We also look for artists who have cohesion and consistency in their work.

CANCELLATION POLICY:

Full refunds for cancellations will be given until October 31st, 2024. After November 1st no refunds will be made.  If you cancel you forfeit your spot and MMM reserves the right to fill your space as we see fit. Our location is contingent of what retail spaces are available in the current market. Due to the nature of being a long term pop-up the lease and final location is usually not determined until after the first of November. For this reason we cannot offer refunds if you are unhappy with our final location choice. If for some reason we are unable to proceed with this year’s market, full refunds will be sent to all artists within 10 days of canceling the market.

 SHIFT COVERAGE:

The concept of the extended length pop-up survives on the fact that artists will contribute by working at the space. We are offering a sliding scale that will determine booth fees based on how many shifts each artist works. As a baseline, working THREE shifts will set an artist's booth fee at $350, and an artist working a single shift would pay $450 or $300 for four shifts. Each additional shift an artist takes on will take $50 off their booth fee, maximum (4) four. Please note that this is subject to availability and depends greatly on the interests of all artists involved. Please mark your ideal shift coverage on the application and we will try our best to accommodate as many artisans as possible.

Shifts are four hours long; 10-2pm and 2-6pm, Tuesday-Saturday and 11-3pm on Sundays (Mondays TBA). This year we are attempting to overlap or double up all shifts for artists safety (read more below). This also allows artists time for breaks or to step out as needed. During that time artists are responsible for all sales, questions, sanitation and stocking of needed supplies, maintaining customer counts (max number in building at a time), taking out garbage, general cleaning and tidying of space.  

BOOTH/DISPLAY GUIDELINES:

  • Each artist will receive roughly 4-8 sq feet of space based on the type/size of product made. We will work with each of you to accommodate your needs the best we can.

  • The pop-up will provide some table, shelving and/or wall space as needed; the artists will provide their own tabletop, wall, and shelf displays for product provided. If you have a specific shelf, table, wall you would like to use, please provide photos and/or a description with your application.  (photos can be emailed to boisemerrymakers@gmail.com)

  • MMM will provide small nails, 3M hooks or tape as needed to hang items on the wall.  Screws or large/heavy items may not be hung.

  • Please note this is a curated retail space, not a craft show, and Boise Merry Makers committee reserves the right to alter your display, highlight products or move items as necessary to make the space feel like an inviting retail environment.

INVENTORY/STOCK:

  • Artists are responsible for keeping their inventory stocked for the entire length of the pop-up.  It is recommended that you check in with your space 1-2 times a week.

  • Artists with barcodes on products will be able to upload their inventory into our system accordingly. Every other Artist will be assigned a Shop ID/Barcode and are responsible for clearly pricing/labeling their inventory. Items not clearly labeled with a Shop ID/Barcode and price will be pulled from the floor and the artist notified.

  • Artists will work with MMM to add/update inventory in our shared Square account under their name/ID#. This ensures that your prices are accurate, and your inventory is tracked. Your item descriptions/prices can be as varied or simple as you like.

SET UP + TEAR DOWN:

Artist set-up will be Nov 24-29, 2024. Load-in times will be spread out and a maximum number of artists will be limited in the building at a time.  An email will go out the week prior to load-in to sign up for a timeslot. Artists may pick up Wednesday, December 23rd after close from 6-9pm (limited numbers at a time) or December 27-29th by appointment.  If you are unable to pick up your inventory due to holiday plans we are happy to make an arrangement to store items until pick up is available (additional fee may be applicable).  

SECURITY + THEFT:

Although we are committed to loss prevention, Merry Makers Market is not responsible for loss of product due to unintentional damage, cashier mis-rings, or theft.  Part of the booth fees goes towards providing the pop-up with liability insurance in case of damage to property or injury. However, we highly encourage that you seek your own coverage as individual vendors.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

  • Website: www.boisemerrymakers.com

  • Instagram: @boisemerrymakers

  • Facebook: www.facebook.com/boisemerrymakers