Selling At Craft Fairs Not For Everyone

Selling at craft shows is not for everyone. It is also not easy. But it just might the only way for you if you are looking to sell your craft if an craft show at an art gallery is beyond your means. The trend of craft fairs has shown an increasing trend over the past few years. More and more people are attending craft fairs all over the country. You can get hold of a craft fair calendar to know when a fair is appending and were. There is are a few fairs happening somewhere or the other at any given time of the year.

Participating in craft fairs is a great opportunity to network with other artisans. You get a fair idea of what is selling and at what price. Talking to other crafters can inform you about the sought after craft fairs and the ones to not waste time over. Also, if you are selling online as well you can create a clientele from all parts from the country. All you have to do is publicize your website along with your stall. Make sure that everyone who visits you stall leaves with your business card that has your website listed well. Even the customers that do not buy from you then might do so later. They may either buy something that they saw and could not make up their minds about or something completely new for another occasion.

With all that said, we agree that participation in a craft fair is a good idea for all crafters, right? Wrong. It is not a good for crafters who are not up to the task. You are not going to accomplish much if you do not enjoy the whole process. Check yourself for the following conditions before you head out to the next craft fair.

1) Judge Yourself:
Craft fairs have crafters participating from all over the country. Needless to say you are going to witness a bounty of high quality craftsmanship. Make sure your crafts are up to the mark and design and craftsmanship in order to compete. You can first only visit a craft fair in order to get an idea of the work being sold.
Some craft fairs are judged by a jury. A jury evaluates the crafts and only allows the ones to participate that pass their evaluation.

2) Research the Craft Fair: Having a craft calendar can help you with this. A craft calendar gives other vital information about the fairs. You will know the price of the booths, whether it’s a judged by a jury or not, the number of artisans participating, availability of a stall, contact information about the contact person etc. All of this is important information for you to decide which fairs to participate in. Plan accordingly. Factor in all costs like traveling and staying expenses. You may have to decide upon a special price for your craft in order to cover the costs of participating in the fair. Be ready to offer discounts in order to boos your sales.

3) Keep the costs Down:
Unless you have gained experience with participation in craft fairs and know exactly what sells and how much, start with minimal expenditure. Keep your losses covered till you are assured of the amount of profit you can generate from your sales. This will happen only after you have attended a few fairs. Try to find another artist who you can share a booth or a stall with. There may be some one like you who is looking to for a start up with craft fairs as well. If you plan on participating in various locations, remember that the sale figures may vary from place to place. Some crafts might be more popular in one than in another. Feed all this information to your research so that you know what sells best and where.

4) Pricing: Many times you need to price your craft differently for a craft fair in order to cover the extra cost that you will incur in making the journey, staying and renting the stall. Be ready to offer discounts on the items that are not selling well. Always keep the discounted items separate from the full price section. Discount only when you need to. Do not discount as a policy e.g. on the last day of every craft fair. Buyers remember these things and may wait to buy something from you till the last day of discounted prices when they would have just as easily paid the full price. Always keep a balance between highly priced items and the low ones. Highly priced items make more profit per item but sell less. Cheaper priced items may sell more easily but you have to sell more to make the same amount of profit. You should also be able to accept credit card payments.

5) Travel with all the stuff that you are going to require, including a companion. Selling at fairs can a tiring experience. Have a companion along who may be a friend or family. This way you can take short breaks in between when you really need them. You will also need help in dealing with the multitude of customers that are usually present for craft fairs. Since you will need to do other things like view other stalls and network with other crafters, it will serve to have someone to take care of your stall along with you.

Do not be disappointed if you do not make a profit selling on craft fairs straight away. Most crafters do not. Selling in craft fairs can be a very different experience than selling in stores. You should gauge your success not only by the number of sales but by the overall results that should include the number contacts you made for future business and the exposure that your business receives. If you are serious about making a profit out of selling at craft fairs then be ready for early mornings and traveling distances frequently. Learn from each fair experience. Develop techniques specially for selling at fairs.