Successfully Sell Homemade Products at a Craft Show

Anyone who builds their own little crafts can tell you that doing a craft show can not only be fun but also profitable. You get your own and run scaled-down model of a retail store to sell your product for about two or three days. You also get the ability to use a show as a window for new products, designs, price changes and booth displays. If your works are not selling fast enough for you or worse yet not at all, you can directly find out why immediately from your customers since you are personally on-hand selling.

Most crafters think about selling their candles, soaps, and baskets at some time or other. Many of them make that jump by selling products at local Craft Fairs and Shows. There are a few things you can do to make your craft show experience enjoyable and more importantly profitable. The key is to knowing your show, and the best way to do that is start out small. Here is a guide to help you get started:

The first thing you want to do is to make sure there are plenty of craft fairs in your area. To find this out, you can either go online, visit some craft stores and ask them or even call your chamber of commerce to see if they have any information for you. Knowing which craft fairs are available in your immediate area can help you find one best suited for your wares.

Put together a small list of the the different craft shows you think you'd like to attend. Try to narrow down the list by finding out information about each show. You should think about how many people normally attend, the mix between crafters and vendors and the different types of crafters which attend.

Buy some equipment to display your crafts. You can use new or used. It doesn't matter. You'll need a pop up tent if you will be selling at an outside venue. There are some fairs which require all vendors to use backdrops and sidewalls. You're going to need somewhere to put all your crafts and fruit baskets so pick up a nice sized table or shelving unit to display product. Most craft fairs give you a 10 x 10 space so keep that in mind when buying all your equipment. You don't want to spend money on something you can't use.

Now that you have all equipment set up in your designated booth, decorate it nicely. You want it to be fun but as professional as possible, too. Do a test run at home so that you are sure everything will look the way you want once you are at the fair. If your practice booth meets your expectations, take a picture of it so you can reference it later on.

Decorate and set up your booth so that it is inviting. The idea is to get people coming in and looking around. Some crafters like to add extra lighting to indoor shows so it draws extra attention towards your booth. Setup enough space for customers to checkout and new ones to come in at the same time. Now here is where your people and sales skills come into play. Talk to everyone who stops in your booth and if you can, walks by your booth. You want to be friendly and the appearance of extremely outgoing without being obnoxious. Try to mention your product in a friendly way or even show it off if you can.

Speak with other crafters. You may get some valuable advice such as finding out the types of things which sell the best at what fairs or which days are slower or faster than others. They can give you a good idea what to expect. Another bonus is establishing contacts within the crafting crowd.

The Fruit Company offers fruit harvested right from the orchards, reserving only the freshest fruit for your gifts. The Fruit Company offers a selection of fruit baskets, gift towers, gourmet gift baskets, premium fruit gifts, and our monthly fruit clubs. Visit them at www.fuitcompany.com.

Contact the Author
TL Kleban

More Details about Selling at an Arts and Crafts Fair here.