The Economics Project Update...The Market

So yesterday I told you about The Princess and her economics project and I thought I'd give you the follow-up.  It was a rousing success with all of the kids.  A full range of exciting offerings were available at the market. Food was by far the most offered product line - caramel popcorn, cotton candy, cookies, cupcakes, etc.  One of the boys made marshmallow shooters out of pipe and sold them for $3 each and 100 mini marshmallows in baggies separately for $1 each for ammo - my daughter thought he was overpriced but he sold out quickly (although he only made 4 of them).  This led to a good discussion about how popular items can be sold for a little more but his expenses to produce them were probably higher too and he only made a few so his profit wasn't as high as some others.


My daughter's purchases included a homemade bracelet, bouncy ball (the kid had one of those little machines), tattoo rock, a lion made from Perler beads, and here she models a lovely face painting by her friend...

While she did not sell out of everything, she sold all of her beautiful tissue paper flowers, several of the sets of pipe cleaner swords, and several of the origami puppies and kittens.  She did not sell any of the little houses but it sounded like maybe the other kids didn't know what they were or thought she had them priced a little high.  I think a separate sign explaining what they were and perhaps painting the outsides would have helped.  She did end up giving away one to a friend at the end of the day.


She was a bit perturbed at the snotty attitudes of some shoppers as she told me they asked questions and she told them "Look at the sign..." LOL.  A good customer service experience...apparently her friends had the same issues.


In all, her profits after expenses came to $8.75 cents and she was very pleased with the whole experience.  We discussed the idea of holding a similar sale or perhaps even just a swap with her many cousins at the family reunion and she liked that idea so we'll be talking about it more.  I think its something that would cover the vast age differences of the kids and keep them busy for most of an afternoon.  I would highly recommend doing this "market" - it was a great chance for kids to show their talents and creativity, have some independence and responsibility, and learn some lessons they will use very often for the rest of their lives.