Craft Fair Tips

The season of the craft fairs is here! So if you are considering joining one this Spring or Summer, here are some tips that could be useful for newbies.

*Research the craft fair in advance. Find out what the typical customers are like (age, social/economic sphere, gender) so you can better choose the art you can sell there.

*Calculate your costs in advance. If the fair is large, if you need to travel to a different city, etc.

*Share a booth with other artists. A great money-saving strategy,and also a good way to share customers.

*Credit card machine. Credit cards are common currency at shows and fairs, and if you don't accept them, you could lose sales to vendors who do.

*Don't go it alone. Shows can be exhausting. That's why it's important to bring along someone to help you work the booth and deal with customers. This will also give you a chance to get up and go to the bathroom or to eat.

*Pack your stuff. Make sure you bring enough work to sell. Besides your artwork, you'll also need to pack your booth, several chairs, a small table, a calculator, a credit card machine, bags for customers to carry your products home in and any brochures or marketing materials you might have.


*Be creative. "Try putting a fishbowl on your table and offering people a chance to win a piece of artwork in return for giving you their contact information or business cards. Giving away promotional items with your company's name and logo works, too."

* Rehearsal. Prepare and organize your table before the show, so you can modify, adapt and change anything before the big day.

Here you can see a picture of one of my rehearsals:

Things you may need:

* All merchandise clearly priced (best done, before the show)

* Any product information signs necessary

* Boxes for purchases

* Customer bags

* Extra price tags

* Hang tags & care instructions

* Inventory list/prices

* String

* Tissue or newspaper for fragile items

* Clipboard and writing pad or notebook

* Paper clips

* Paper or index cards

* Paper weight

* Pens and pencils - red one for mark downs

* Push pins & extra tacks

* Rubber bands

* Safety and/or straight pins

* Scissors

* Stapler and staples

* Tape - scotch, masking, duct, packing

I hope you will find this useful and have fun at your craft fair!