Recently, my friend Maria and I ventured onto a new adventure - a craft show! Neither one of us had ever done this before, but we had received many compliments on our tie dyes at the company picnic this year. Many suggested we sell them. So when the opportunity to do just that at a charity craft fair, we jumped at it!
We started right away with building an inventory, but it wasn't until we signed up for a second craft fair next week that we decided maybe we should do some research. Um, can you say overwhelmed! Between a crash course in pricing, booth design, business cards, packaging, and phew even starting the bare bones of an Etsy shop, we felt like our head's were spinning!
I think we did an amazing job with the time we had! The picture above shows our set-up today. Looks pretty good, except our measurements were a bit off and we should have brought two tables. Less clutter on the table and better use of space!
Here are some lessons we learned:
A craft fair is not always busy. Actually this one was very slow. Not that many people came. It was not the fault of the coordinator. It was well advertised. It's just that we had a gorgeous day and there were more outdoor events going on in the area.
Bring something to do! Even better if it is in your power to work on some of what you sell to replace what might sell. Now we sure can't tie dye at a craft show, but a book would have been nice.
Do not take it personally if your items do not sell as well as another crafter's. For THIS fair, your items may not be what the majority are looking for, bu next time might be your opportunity! Kinda goes along with you can't please all of the people all of the time.
Do not wait until the last minute to prepare! This is pretty self explanatory. We were pretty exhausted today.
Get a brand. Make what you do stand out. OK, so tie dye pretty much stands out all on it's own, but everything else should go with what you are hoping to represent. Notice the table cover, sign, etc.
Socialize with the other crafters! We got so much encouragement from others there today. And we learned about their crafts, processes, and of upcoming fairs! We met some lovely folks and it made the event a bit more fun.
Did we do well today? Not really. We only made $36. We sold a baby onsie, 2 towels, a candle holder, and 2 child's shirts. Traffic was slow, what can you do? The fact that items DID sell in a low traffic environment, when others around us did not make any sales was pretty encouraging.
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