If you’ve started making your own craft beer, bath bombs, or homemade food product, you may be wondering how to take your hobby to the next level. Craft fairs are a great opportunity to showcase your products to a brand new audience, connect directly with your customers, and get real time feedback that you can use to improve your wares. Here are some of our best tips for making your first craft show a success!
Do Your Research
Before you open your own craft fair booth, you can gather a ton of useful information by scoping out other craft shows in your area. Instead of shopping with an intent to purchase all the shiny things, stay focused on the booths that are displaying the products. Take note of things like:
- Which booths are jam-packed, and which seem to be empty
- How products are displayed
- How sellers are handling weather and the elements
Most importantly, take note of whether or not there are sellers just like you. If there aren’t any oil painters, for example, it might be an indication that oil paintings don’t tend to sell well at this type of market. But it could also indicate a (literal) market niche that you can fill. Event organizers may also be able to tell you whether artisans like yourself have historically found success.
Offer a Range of Price Points
The vast majority of craft fair browsers are there to have a good time and support local artists. Most are not there to take home a $200 painting. Although you might be lucky enough to find someone who falls head-over-heels with your work, it can be very discouraging to have hundreds of people pass you by because they simply don’t have the budget for your work. So, accommodate a wide variety of items with a range of price points. Items priced at $5 or less tend to sell very quickly, and although it is difficult to make a living off of $5 sales, the steady flow of transactions can keep your spirits up while you wait for that big-purchase buyer.
Make Prices Clear and Obvious
If a customer has to ask about the price of an item, most of the time, they will just walk away. People are shy when it comes to talking about money—so be sure to clearly label everything in your booth. Attaching a small paper price tag to every item helps avoid confusion, and also makes it clear that prices are firm. (We advise that you ignore the temptation to haggle with customers—it tends to be more frustration than it’s worth).
Track Your Expenses and Income
If you want to make a living as an artist or artisan, then you must make more than you spend. And there’s no way to know if you are doing that if you are not tracking your expenses, in addition to your income. Before you even apply for a show, you should know how much your supplies cost and how much time it takes you to make each item. You should then account for travel, booth fees, food, and display expenses. If you aren’t making more than you are spending, it doesn’t mean that you can’t sell at craft fairs if it’s something you really want to do. But it means that—for now, at least—you will have to pay your bills, and spend the bulk of your time, doing something else.
Think of It as a Class
This is probably our best advice for someone who is just starting out at a craft fair: approach the event as a class. You might pay $400 a semester to learn painting, or woodturning, or a second language. Similarly, at your first few craft markets, you will probably lose money—but you are also gaining valuable experience.
A person taking Spanish classes at night doesn’t feel that they are “losing” money; they are spending money on a valuable skill that will help them with their career, travel, or social aspirations. Similarly, your first craft fair isn’t really a money-making opportunity; it’s a learning opportunity that will teach you what sells, what doesn’t, and what people tend to respond to. Approaching the craft fair with that attitude will help you manage frustration when things don’t sell as well as you’d hoped, or when other unforeseen issues arise.
Be Ready To Be Social
If you don’t like talking to people, it doesn’t mean that you should kiss your craft fair dreams goodbye. Like everything else, communication is a skill that can be improved with practice. Many craft fair vendors start out very shy, and learn to greet customers with ease. We’re not saying that you can develop an entirely new personality via practice. But, if you really want to sell at craft fairs, and are nervous around people, there is a good chance that that is a challenge you can overcome with time.
When you are in your booth, don’t sit in a corner and browse your phone, or quietly knit without talking to anyone. Try to say hello and chat—about anything. Forging an emotional connection with people will help them value your work, and remember you the next time they see you. Avoid delivering any sort of sales pitch. Most people will back right out of your booth if they feel too much pressure to buy!
Pay Attention and Take Notes
When you’re not actively engaging with customers, take some time to observe how they move within the space. In what direction do their eyes travel? What product or aspect of your booth tends to attract them first? Which products are customers engaging with the least? Use that information to make adjustments in the future. It could be as easy as rearranging your booth, or as far as overhauling your product lineup.
Be Ready for Rudeness
The overwhelming majority of customers are kind and supportive. But it’s also common to occasionally hear things like:
- “$40 for this? You’re out of your mind!”
- “My child could make this.”
- “These are only $5 at [Big Box Store.]
- “Why would anyone want this?”
Unfortunately, when you’re a small, local seller relying on face-to-face sales, this is kind of thing is part of the package. Be ready to take negative comments with a grain of salt, and know that by putting yourself out there, you are doing better than all the makers who stayed home due to fear.
Every Craft Fair Is A Success!
To reiterate, selling at craft fairs is not for the faint of heart. But, no craft show is a failure. If you learn even one thing from your experience, you will have succeeded. You will also have practiced being brave, and flexing your “brave muscle” can pay off in all areas of your life. Finally, craft fairs are a great social opportunity. By participating in shows, you can make friends with your fellow vendors, connect with your community, and grow your business contacts. If selling at a craft fair has been on your list of aspirations for a while, try it—you might be surprised about how much fun it is!