Selling at craft fairs can be a blast! Why add to the cost of setting up your booth when you can just make your booth better by being craftier?
What is a fair consignment percentage? Here's the typical consignment split for retailers and craft business owners, so you can negotiate a fair consignment contract. Plus the differences between wholesale vs. retailing yourself vs. consignment.
Plenty of craft show ideas to help you make the most of selling at your next craft fair. Information on applying to juried shows, hundreds of booth photos, and plenty of guidance.
Fall of 2012 marked our first experience as an art vendor, at Cooper Young Festival in Memphis, TN. Over the years, we’ve padded our resume with quite a few more shows and experimented with a LOT of trial and error on our vendor booth layout and setup. We’ve learned a lot, both from our own experiences and from looking to other vendors for inspiration. Today, we’re going to share with you our top 16 ideas for selling at art festivals, craft fairs and indie markets. These tips can be summed up into three key categories: Booth Display, Signage/Décor and—the most important—Branding. FIRST, LET'S DIVE INTO VENDOR BOOTH DISPLAY. 1. Plan out your booth space BEFORE the day of your festival. Before we set foot at an art festival, our vendor booth is completely laid out. We measure all our display pieces (shelves, tables, etc.) and configure the space to help speed up the set up time. Plus, not all shows have the same options for booth sizes (because that would just be too easy). This year, our Cooper Young booth featured a 10’ x 15’ space, while some of our holiday shows ranged from a 6’ x 8’ space to a 10’ x 20’ double booth. It helps to lay everything out beforehand to know what will or will not fit in the allotted space. Once everything is measured, we use Adobe Illustrator to plan out the booth space, with everything to scale. We print out copies to take with us during set up, as well as email a copy to ourselves in case we lose the paper copies (it happens). Here's a look at my Adobe Illustrator artboard for our most recent Cooper Young Festival vendor booth: And here is our finished vendor booth, based on that original mock up: 2. Display vertically. When potential buyers pass your vendor booth, they’re not seeing product that is flat on tables. At least some of your work needs to be in their line of sight. One way we add height to our booth display is with these adjustable white metal shelf units we found at IKEA (shop them here). The shelves are completely adjustable and IKEA sells individual shelves, so you can add to the original four included. We switch it up depending on what art we need to display at each festival or market. In the past, we've used these custom built white-washed wood displays on rollers, which our brother built for us. We love how they look in our booth, as they mimic a more retail-style setting. However, these are rather heavy and bulky to transport. Looking for something a little more transport friendly, this year we commissioned a custom white wood peg wall. The unit breaks down into four separate pieces, so it's easy and convenient for traveling. Everything hooks together via large bolts and wing nuts, with the shelves and pegs packed separately. It's also completely adjustable, as the pegs can be configured in various ways. This wall unit is great for displaying our larger 5 panel wood pieces, which serve as great eye catchers for potential buyers walking by our vendor booth. For smaller shows, we take just two of the four wall panels, usually paired with one of the white IKEA shelf units. Bonus: extra pegs are great for hanging ornaments! Clear acrylic risers are also a great way to subtly add height and levels when displaying artwork on a table. Because they're clear, they don't take away from your displayed art. We use combinations of this 5 piece set from Displays2Go. 3. Choose display colors that will make your work pop. As you can see, for our larger display pieces (shelves, walls), we incorporate as much white as possible. Because all sides of our wood art is stained in a dark finish, the white background helps it pop. We also prefer how clean the white and neutral hues look. 4. Store and display multiple art prints. We have ALL-CAPS-STRUGGLED with how to display and store our art prints, other than stuffing them in baskets for browsing. We recently discovered these gold wire baskets from IKEA that slide on perfectly to our white IKEA shelves. They are great at storing stacks of prints! To actually display the prints, we chopped up a 4” x 4” piece of lumber and sawed angled grooves down the top. We stained them to match the color of our wood art. The art prints stand up perfectly in the grooves of the wood, which we then prop up above the wire baskets. It’s easy for buyers to see the print displayed and simply pick it up from the basket underneath for purchase. 5. Use slim Christmas trees to display holiday ornaments. During our holiday shows, our Christmas ornaments are HUGE sellers. While we use our peg wall for some ornament overflow, ornaments look best hanging on an actual Christmas tree. This also better demonstrates to potential buyers how it will look on their own tree. However, for those smaller booth spaces, a full Christmas tree takes up too much valuable real estate and just isn't practical. And some of the smaller, table-top trees aren’t known for being sturdy. Because our ornaments are on the heavier side, we've had issues with the smaller trees tipping over ... especially when buyers are trying to take the ornaments off the trees to purchase. We found a great slim Christmas tree from our local At Home. It measures only 18” in diameter but can still can hold quite a few ornaments. We re-stock throughout the show to keep the tree looking full. NEXT UP, WE HAVE BOOTH SIGNAGE/DÉCOR. 6. Emphasize your business name for potential buyers with branded signage. We have our friends over at Ella Jude to thank for this easy DIY pop-out booth sign idea. For this sign, we painted a thin piece of wood white, then transferred our logo (with our image transfer process) to both sides, though we've seen others hand paint their logo. We bought two pieces of copper pipe and an elbow joint and glued them all together to form an L-shaped corner. To hang the wood sign from the copper pipe, we spray-painted loose-leaf rings to match the copper pipe. We then use clear zip ties to attach the sign to our booth or tent. We're hoping to make an even larger version this year. For additional branded signage, we bought a large white vinyl banner with grommets and designed it to include our logo, website and social media handles. We use this when we have space available. For our outdoor art shows, such as Cooper Young, we hang the banner on the back of our tent so buyers walking down the sidewalks behind the booths can see our name. 7. Tell your story with signage. We sell handmade image transfers on wood and marble tile. The most common question we receive from customers during festivals and shows is,
Thinking about selling your handmade products at a craft fair soon? What are the essentials you need to remember when selling at craft fairs? We have compiled a list of 10 useful steps, with plenty of tips for the new trader, on how to prepare for craft market success.
If you don't like selling, talking or having the spotlight on you, you'll get a ton of ideas to silently market your handmade business.
Pricing your handmade products is really, really hard. Not only do you have to include factors like your overhead and material costs, you also have to set a price point that your customers will buy…
Several successful and well-known crochet bloggers to share their number one tips for improving your crochet skills in order to begin taking your craft to the next level. Discover why gauge, inspiration, photography, and blocking are important to your crochet success!
Thinking about selling your art or other products at a craft fair? I’m detailing everything from applications, booth fees, set up and planning, and more!
Most popular easy portable display ideas for markets and craft fairs - save time and energy with these clever, eye-catching display ideas for vendors.
Pricing your handmade products is really, really hard. Not only do you have to include factors like your overhead and material costs, you also have to set a price point that your customers will buy…
Learn how to start a craft business from home with these step by step tips and ideas. Sell your handmade goods and make some extra cash!
Popular, in demand and best selling crochet crafts to make and sell at craft fairs or on Etsy so you can make a living crocheting. DIY easy crochet ideas to sell online including crochet items that sell in the summer, crochet ideas to sell for babies and kids, Christmas and winter crochet projects to make extra cash.
How to display paintings at an art show. Portable art display ideas for large canvases and smaller prints, and craft booth design best practices.
When you hand your business card out at a craft fair, 80% of them end up in the trash. Here's how to make your business cards more effective.
I am the classic over thinker/ over researcher. I google, pinterest, facebook, encyclopedia pretty much everything before I dive on in. So when I decided that I wanted to do a craft fair I read about every article out there and felt like I was pretty prepared. There was a lot of great and invaluable...
Article that details three different ways to figure out how much inventory to take to a craft show.
2019 Top 11 Craft Fair tips and booth layout tricks to help your vendor experience, Advice from a seasoned craft fair stager | Stampin Fool
Its hard to make a living selling handmade items. Learn some strategies that will allow your business to grow - make passive income as a handmade artist.
If you want to see your handamde products in retailers you should create a lookbook to help you pitch to shop owners and sell your items wholesale.
If you’ve ever wondered what the top things to sell on Etsy are and how to dramatically increase your sales, this is the guide for you.
A list of 30 things to do when your craft business is slow. Perfect for Silhouette, Cricut, Glowforge, and Juliet crafters.
Craft shows are a unique way to shop and vendors can get creative with their setup. But there are certain things craft show shoppers shouldn't see.
When you hand your business card out at a craft fair, 80% of them end up in the trash. Here's how to make your business cards more effective.
You’ve earned a bonus! 50% BOOM! You’re in! I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you as a VIP crochet business owner and subscriber. The worksheet you requested is on its way to your inbox now! Be sure to check your promotions or updates email folder in case it landed in there. ...
How to create a home-based handmade crafts business
A list of do's and don'ts for naming your craft business.
The first time I designed a booth in a craft show it was awful, it didn’t match and I had the worst location. The next year I reviewed my booth design and made some major changes. Having the corr…
Discover 44 hot craft ideas to sell in 2023 that'll have your creativity soaring! Unleash your inner artist with these trendy and profitable crafts to make and sell, perfect for adults looking to cash in on their talents.
For a blog that’s all about selling at craft shows, this article may seem out of place. But too many people sign up for craft shows, full of hope, and walk away with their dreams crushed, vowing never to sell at another craft show. I don’t want you to lose money at craft shows, or...
Handmade product? Check! Business cards? Check! Wicked display? Check! You'll all ready for your craft fair right? There's one thing most vendors forget.
Everyone wants to sell more of their handmade products. This one trick major retailers to turn more shoppers into buyers can be used in your small business.
I've done dozens of markets; all in different locations and now across two different states. Markets can be very intimidating so I put together a quick list of my favorite hacks & tips!
Tips to improve inventory management systems for your craft business - Get organized to boost your business.
Back in September of 2016, I opened my first Etsy shop. The very next month I broke my first hundred dollars in sales. Then in December, my daily views doubled. Things were going right! In fact, I've read every seller article I could get my hands on, and paid for multiple courses since then. Yet, with all the research I've done, there's a few key things that no one talks about. So here it is: my list of 6 things no one tells you about selling on Etsy.
When you hand your business card out at a craft fair, 80% of them end up in the trash. Here's how to make your business cards more effective.
Sell crafts from home and turn your hobby into a money-making opportunity!
One of my most popular articles details the types of products that sell best at craft shows; you can read that here: What Sells Best at a Craft Show? This article explores the other side: Types of products that don’t tend to sell well, or that can actually harm the sales of best-selling products. I’ve created...
These are the top 5 mistakes handmade vendors commonly make at craft shows. If you're wondering why sales aren't higher, take a look through the list.
In this guide, you will learn 5 top tips for selling in art fairs. Simple straightforward advice for newbies that you can't afford to ignore. Read on.
The key to starting an art business is not just having great art. Learn the essentials from marketing, to business planning, and more!
Ever wondered how to start a craft business? This post is for you - it's packed full of tips and tricks to help you start a craft business today!
If you're planning to host a craft show, read over these tips and comments, straight from vendors, sharing what they appreciate most from a craft show host.
When I was making Christmas dinner for the first time, I had a lot of questions for my mom. I asked how much poultry seasoning she puts in the dressing and she said: “I don’t know…until it smells like dressing”. It’s an odd way to determine how much seasoning to use, but it works. If...
All right, artisans and vendors. Are you ready for this? It’s time to take the plunge! Yes, you’re on your way to becoming a successful handmade business owner. You got yourself some inventory built up. You may have even begun selling online. And huzzah! Just like that it’s time to start thinking about applying to...
Craft shows can be intimidating for introverts & selling is a skill that can always use improving. These tips will help you silently sell handmade products
Pricing your handmade products is really, really hard. Not only do you have to include factors like your overhead and material costs, you also have to set a price point that your customers will buy…
People who sell handmade products are incredibly creative. But many skip this one step during the creation process that can drastically increase sales.
