This is my first post here. A question about craft fairs.

Three friends and I have been painting together for several years. We do tole and decorative painting and watercolors. We just entered our first craft fair and none of us has the faintest idea what to expect. Any pointers or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

Are you going to be inside or outside? What sort of event is it?

Bring: comfy chairs, water, food, business cards, bags or some way to wrap people's purchases (Uline is a good company), a way to keep track of your sales, and lots and lots of change.

Practice your set up before hand so you know exactly how you want everything to look and how long it's going to take to get it that way.

Don't set your expectations too high. This time of year, people don't generally sell a whole lot.

Smile and chat and engage the customers without being pushy.

Shamelessly invite all your friends.

If you think you'll be doing this more, ask customers if they'd like to be on an e-mail list so they can know your future events.

Congratulations! I hope you meet great people, have a wonderful time, and make money.

Bags for wrapping our sales...never thought of that! And the email list...!We are going to practice the set up tomorrow night. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thank you SO MUCH for the pointers.

Don't price your products too low. I know lots of crafters who have found out the hard way that if they price what they think is reasonable, the buying public will wonder what is wrong with the item and pass it up. Had one who had an item that went through a month of sales with lots of lookers but no buyers, even though the price was a good one. She upped it by 50% and it sold within the first 10 minutes of her next fair.

So, take the top price -you- would be willing to pay for it and add at least 25%. Oh yes, and make sure you have everything clearly priced.

have never done this before. Thanks for the advice. We are going to have to do some pricing tomorrow night and I will pass this on. Thanks!

Start there. How much was the wood piece? Triple it, and then ask yourself if that'll cover the pattern and the paint.

Oh, and be prepared for idiots. Not to be nasty, but when my stepmom, an amazing country arts painter who designs her own patterns and teaches, used to do a Christmas sale with some friends, people said some of the nastiest things. The Muggles just don't understand.

People will try to intimidate you into giving your work away. Don't fall for it. If your work is worth taking to sell, it is more than worth what you ask for it.

You'll probably run into the 'oh, -I- can do that'. Smile and say 'how wonderful, I love meeting new painters, where do you work?' Drives them nuts.

and in fact I've seen 5x plus your hourly rate (pro-rated) to put it together plus 10% of all that for overhead.

Good luck!

and after a few hours of lots of lookers, but few buyers I started to wonder if my craft was junk! It was a long day and I sold mostly to people I knew. But the following week my daughter sold most of my stuff for me at her job and I got orders galore... It is just hard to judge what type of stuff will sell at any given venue.. Good luck! Hope it works out Raven.

We go mostly to look around and buy food. If anything really strikes us, we might buy it, but mostly its for looking. I spend a lot of time looking at jewelry (to get ideas for my own stuff). My daughter buys lots of doll clothes.

Dont get discouraged if you dont sell a lot. Do put out business cards and encourage people to sign up for email. If you have a listing of other craft fairs you will be at, put that out too.

would be the hard part for me, too! I have never sold at a fair but go to get ideas and buy! No matter what price you put on is never enough in my opinion. The amount of time and talent makes it impossible to ever get what an item is worth. :hi:

The science fiction writer Fred Pohl liked to tell a story about his days in the ad business in the 50s. He had a contract to sell a photo essay coffee table book of nature photography, and nothing he tried could move it. The cheapest and the most expensive mailings had no results whatsoever. He decided to try sending out lots of 1000 postcards (2 cents apiece in those days), with every ridiculous idea he could think of, frinstance "Don't let your kid become a juvenile delinquent--share the wonders of Nature with him" etc. And the winnah was "Do you have a BIG BOOKCASE? Then we have a REALLY BIG BOOK for you!" The book wound up going into a second printing. People and their tastes are really, really unpredictable.

one little tip that used to work when people didn't stop at my booth (some craft fairs are that way--people 'looking" long distance only) but, as the time passes goes "out front" and re-arrange your items....you may see things differently at the craft show than you do in your practice set-up AND people passing by don't realize, at first, you're the crafter. Women particularly seem interested in looking at items other women are looking at.....it's a herd thing, i think! When your best sellers sell--re-arrange again to give other items the top spot. These suggestions really do work. I've done them too many times and saw the results! Plus, I don't know about you but I hate crafters that sit all day with a frown on.....get up move around!

I'm a real geek about watching other people work, and if people are working on their stuff as well as selling it, I find that interesting. Don't know how common this trait is, though.

you have something you can demonstrate in a limited setting. I did polymer clay and unless I had taken half my shop along I couldn't have done it......outdoor spaces would have been impossible....dust,etc. in the air mucking up the clay. I've seen people doing it indoors but really I was usually busy talking to customers!

Edit: I would always talk to people about working with clay but, I had my little secrets of the trade that I wasn't ready to give up at the time, especially when they were so hard to come by.

--or something like macrame without excessively complex designs. Polymer clay is obviously out, unless you are stringing final product.

When in question of pricing....especially if it's a show you've never attended because different craft shows vary in how items are priced....I'm sorry to say that, but it's true. Before you go to the show have a price in mind for your items, write that down. Get to the show EARLY as possible and set up THEN walk around. You can always say, if others give you that early bird stare, you just want to see the show before it gets too busy. Notice the pricing. Look especially for items that will compete with yours.....when you get back to your set up mark your pre-made "signs" I used 4"x6" cards, decorated if possible, with prices. You have to work fast but this will insure you're not changing prices during the show and that you're in the market! If your work is truly superior to others and you're using the best materials (always a must)you'll do fine. As someone else said here,,,,,shows this time of year do not always pan out as well as ones later---September through first weekend in November, in my experience.

For a long time I took my handmade stuffed animals to craft fairs. Don't do that any longer (spending most of my "free" time on writing rather than on crafts), but I still like to visit them and look. Wish I'd had some of the tips given above when I was selling at them.

Lean them behind you so everyone can see the notes on them.

"Hold for Wanda" / "sold to Will Pitt"



Have a "friend" walk around to the other booths on the way to their car holding their purchase of your very expensive item price tag showing.......

Everyone wants what everyone else is buying.

I imagine this would work very well.

This is one of the best threads ever!

Thanks!