Whether you’re just getting started with local markets or you’ve been doing them for a while, I have some great tips and tricks for selling at a craft fair!
This post is a summary of a recent YouTube Live and podcast I did with Angie Holden! Crystal Summers was our guest speaker and shared her go-to tips and tricks for craft fair success. You can watch the video by clicking play below, or you can find the podcast on many of your favorite podcast players. The video and podcast cover even more than I’ve shared here, so if you have the time, give them a watch/listen!
Let’s get to know Crystal from LifeLoveCreations!
If you’ve joined me for as YouTube live premiere or attended a camp event, you’ve probably run across Crystal. She actually works with me here at Hey, Let’s Make Stuff and runs her small business, LifeLoveCreations in her spare time. This is probably similar to you and many other readers out there!
Crystal lives in Maryland right outside Washington, D. C. with her two kids and husband. She started LifeLoveCreations in 2020 after being laid off from work in the midst of the world shutting down. Like many others, she found herself at home with two kids and no idea what to do.
So, she started making playdough with her daughter, who was four at the time, and it really just evolved into a full blown sensory playdough kit business. It remained that way for a few years until she invested in a laser craft machine to grow her business.
Since then her products have evolved and changed. While her business is still largely geared toward families and kids, most of the playdough she now makes is for custom orders and party favors, or local craft markets, which we’re talking about today.
We chatted all things craft fairs and Crystal shared 10 tips for craft fair success!
1. Find Local Craft Fairs: Attend as a Customer
You may be wondering where to even start and how to find a local event? Think about events you have attended or heard of in the past! Attend those events!
Attending a craft fair before you sell is always a good idea. It gives you an idea of what other types of products are being sold, as well as who attends the event.
Are these people that you think are going to be interested in your products? Also, what’s the traffic like? You want to make sure people will be there to buy your product, but also build your community and business!
So if you go and there’s like, 10 soap vendors and you make custom soap, maybe that’s not the best place because it’s really saturated, but maybe there’s, 10 soap vendors and you make sublimation mugs. So there’s a space for it and nobody else is making it. I really feel like that also can give you a good insight into how your products might do in comparison to other people’s products.
If you aren’t sure how to find events, ask around. Join your local Facebook group. See what events are being shared or even ask if others have recommendations of events you can attend. It’s a great way to see what’s popular in your community!
Watch to see where some of your favorite local small shops are vending or what events they’re sharing. You can also reach out and ask them how to get involved. One way to do this is to attend the event and ask if they can direct you to the person in charge of the event. Most people are willing to help others and share the knowledge!
2. Consider Your Budget
One of the biggest things to consider is your budget. There are sometimes free local events put together by local communities or organizations. These may not have as much foot traffic as others, but are a great way to dip your toes in the water.
There are ones that are hundreds of dollars. For somebody just starting out, that might not be worth it to you. So you definitely want to weigh the cost.
Part of understanding the cost is trying to think about whether it’s worth it to you. How much money are you going to make? Are you okay with breaking even or even taking a loss in profit to get your name out in your community? We all have different goals when it comes to local events. However, you won’t know until you try!
Consider what the event is worth to you. How much would you need to make to justify taking time away from other things?
Also, know that while a market may not be a direct return on investment, if you have a product and have marketed yourself with business cards, etc you may have someone reach out down the road. They may be like, “Oh, hey, I met you at that market. Can you do X, Y, and Z? Or can I place a bulk order? Or can I place a custom order?”
So something to think about is that while it might not be that day, you may actually see that return on investment down the road. You’re making those connections and people are going to be like, “Oh, I saw you at that thing and I wasn’t ready to buy that item that day, but now I am.”
3. Determine Your Craft Fair Setup and Practice It
The biggest thing is to decide, first of all, how you want your display to look and how you want to display your products. Make sure to set it up before the event. You may find that even after a few events, you’ll want to change how it all looks.
Set your display up anywhere. Take all of your items, your tables, whatever you’re going to have, and set it up in your garage, your house, wherever you have the space. Even if it looks one way in your mind, you’ll set it up and you’ll inevitably change it a bunch of times.
Most events will allow you to come an hour or sometimes, two hours early to set up. However, you want to make sure you are prepared.
Do you know how to open your tent and set it up by yourself? Do you have a plan for your tablecloths in the wind? You want to definitely prepare for those things.
Your first few events may take a while to set up, but you’ll find as you practice, you get more efficient.
4. Have the Right Supplies
Be sure to double check what you need to bring to your market. Be prepared. Most markets require certain things such as your own table. You may need a tent if it’s an outdoor market.
Most outdoor events will require vendors to bring their own tent, as well as tent weights. You don’t want your tent catching a gust of wind and taking off. Basically just be really clear on what’s expected of you.
Typically your event coordinator will let you know what’s required and what (if anything) they will provide). Some indoor craft fairs will provide you a table, but some won’t. Some events will tell you have a 10 by 10 space and you can do whatever you want. So make sure you are clear on and understand where you’re setting up and what you have access to–especially if you need something like power for on-site personalizing, etc.
5. Pack the Essentials
Be sure you’re prepped for the elements, especially if you’re outside. Prepare for rain, wind, cold, all of it, even the heat. I’ve personally seen people not do well at an outdoor event. Make sure you have water and snacks.
On busy craft fair days, you may not have time to grab something to eat or someone to man your booth for you while you’re going to grab a snack. So just make sure you have those little unexpected things. Of course, you’re going to bring your products to sell, but there are all these other like little things that you should think about.
6. Consider Legal and Logistical Requirements
I’m going to start out saying that I am by no means a legal expert. Talk to a lawyer if you are concerned.
Some events will ask you to carry your own business insurance to participate in their event. This isn’t always the case, however.
Most events will require you to provide a tax ID, though. That’s to ensure that you remit the sales tax on any purchases made at that event. So, first and foremost, you’d probably want to make sure that you have that, especially before you attend or vend at a market.
I feel like almost all states require you to collect sales tax on the jurisdiction in which you’re selling. So if you’re selling in Washington, where I am, I have to collect sales tax on all Washington purchases, which means if I’m holding a craft fair in Washington, they’re all Washington purchases.
So you definitely want to make sure that you are collecting and remitting that sales tax. I say this all the time because we don’t want you to get into legal hot water.
We should mention too, there might be other legal concerns when it comes to the types of products that you’re selling. For example, if you’re going to be selling food, you probably need a cottage food license in a lot of places. There may be different restrictions or things if you are selling to children or to babies especially, skin care, those sorts of things. You want to look into all of that first.
7. Make Connections and Cultivate a Community
Crystal mentioned that some of her closest friends and repeat customers are people that she met at markets!
Many events will ask you to promote beforehand. They’ll ask, can you please post three times or, however many times leading up to the event.
This is an easy way to connect with other vendors. Before even your first market, you can see the vendor list and know who will be there alongside you. Reach out to these fellow vendors. I bet they’re willing to share tips and advice (specially if they’ve done that event beforehand). They may have knowledge that you’ll find useful, too.
Once you’re at the event you can introduce yourself. It’s a really great way to meet other crafty people and develop those relationships. Then you’re promoting each other in this more natural and authentic way, because you’ve made an actual connection out in the real world.
The same goes for your customers. It’s so fun to meet and talk with your customers and learn more of what they want. You get to see how they react to your product in real-time, too!
8. Make Your Booth Stand Out at the Craft Fair
You want to make sure you stand out at a craft fair. If you’re thinking about participating in events, check out other events to see how people are displaying their products.
A good way to stand out is just to make sure that your products look good and are displayed well. If you have an item geared toward kids, you can bring a fun hands-on activity for the kids to do in your tent. It brings kids, and then their parents into your booth. It’s a great way to start a natural conversation.
I’ve seen people do giveaways where they have the spinny wheel and they’ll give away like candy or a discount or a little freebie. It’s fun! People want to come, they want to engage, that’s why they’re there.
Set yourself apart by using your brand colors. Buy your tablecloth in the same color palette, your displays in the same color palette. If your items are within that color palette, or at least close to it, everything works together, everything fits together, and it’s very appealing to the eye. People are drawn in when they see your bright, colorful booth with all of the same color patterns, or your farmhouse style booth with all that white, black, gray wood tones. And then they’re drawn in because that’s their style. They’re more likely to buy.
Once people make their way into your booth, just be yourself. Smile, say “Hi”, engage with them.
I once attended a craft fair where the person had three chairs in their booth for other people to sit down and chat with them, which I thought was fun. I think she was making earrings out of Coke cans and stuff. Her products were small. So she had quite a bit of space in her booth. So she just brought out some chairs and invited people in.
Maybe invite people to take a load off, sit down, have a chat, maybe get something to drink in your booth, have some bottled water or something. It’s another way to get people to connect.
9. Determine How You Will Take Payments
One of the most popular ways to take payments is through a Square payment processor. You can download the app right to your phone. You don’t even need additional hardware! However, you can invest in a card reader, if you’d like.
This is a great way to take credit card payments, as well as Apple and Google pay. Depending on where you live, the majority of your customers may do electronic payments. If so, you’ll want to have a way to do this.
Did you know if you are new to Square, you can actually receive free processing fees? Use Crystal’s referral link to get free processing on your first $1,000 of charges within your first 180 days. This is a great way to cut down on those startup small business costs!
You can also use QR codes to accept Venmo, Apple pay, PayPal, and other payments. You could print and display these in your booth.
Of course, some people may want to pay by cash. Be sure you have enough change on hand and a way to track your sales if you accept cash payments.
10. Find ways to Connect with Customers After the Event
Of course, you know email is always top of my list!
I would recommend starting an email list for your business. There are plenty of email providers that allow you a free subscription up to a thousand people or so.
Create a little QR code at your booth get them to sign up. If you’re going to have them write down their email address, it’s a little iffy. Having them sign up and actually opt in with like a QR code on their phone is going to be much better. That’s the legal way to do it is have them actually opt in with their email address on a website. So definitely say QR code, have them opt in and then follow up after that craft fair. Tell them about sales. Tell them about your new products. Send the emails to your list!
Another great way to send them a follow up coupon, as well. Something that says “thanks for coming to the craft fair. Here’s 10 percent off your next purchase. Here’s my website.”
Another way to engage is through social media!
Those are your local people in your community. If you display your social media handle(s) in your booth, you likely see people following you that day. Have a sign in your booth. Make sure it’s on your business cards. People will follow and maybe they’ll tag you in a story or post a picture of your product. They’re excited, so it’s a really nice way to engage with them and start a genuine conversation.
Honestly, that’s how you build your community, especially locally.
I hope you found this helpful for prepping for your first (or 100th) craft fair or market! Like I mentioned above, we covered so much more on the podcast episode. We opened it up to listener questions, as well! If you’d like to check those out, definitely go back and catch the YouTube live or listen to us at craftingforprofitlive.com!
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