Craft Fair Affair

In 2013, I was part of four craft fairs in during the holiday rush. Here are my experiences with all three.

My first show was at a church function and I was a bit nervous as I was completely new to it all. I did a bit of research and signed up for a Square credit card reader (best thing to have done!!) from Square. I designed my layout at home so I knew how many items I would be able to display. My traditional charm bracelets were going to be hanging from a tree branch stuck in an empty wine bottle and some were going to be on an acrylic picture display I found on Pinterest. My bangles were in small jewelry dishes on silver platters (hey, I know...amateur, but I was still learning! Here is a photo of what it looked like.

"I'd like some hors d'oeuvres with my bracelets, please."

I was excited and thought my display was pretty decent. My excitement was quickly squashed when I found out who my neighbor was. See that table there with the red and blue tablecloth? Turns out they were selling costume jewelry for $1. WHAAAAT?! Yes, $1! By the time viewers came to my table, they scoffed at my $10 prices. At the end of the day, I made only $65 with $35 of that covering the cost of the table. So in actuality, I only made $30. I was almost swayed to never do a craft fair again because my first experience was not great at all. However, I did learn some new things:

Bring food and water. Although the food was not expensive (they had meatball sandwiches for $5 with a soda), I still thought that I could bring my own snacks to munch on when I had the chance. A small bag of chips or popcorn rather than a huge messy meatball sandwich was easier to hide behind the table.

But with water (or any drink)....be prepared to use the rest room. If you are alone, establish a trust worthy friend to cover your table when you leave for a potty break. I was able to find three new friends who were also upset about the table placement. If you aren't able to make an friends, search for the event coordinator or have a friend/loved one close by relieve you.

Definitely write receipts. Even if the buyer does not want one, keep it for your own records come tax time.

Talk to everyone, even kids. If there is a small child lurking about, say hello. Chances are they will talk to you just to talk to you. Mom, dad, or grandma will come soon after and take a look. A look is all it takes. And I have an awesome story that took place at my second show.

But don't be pushy. People will come and look and some will walk away or just pass. Don't chase. Smile and say hello, but if they leave, thank them and/or hand them a card.

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I found my second show in the paper after one of my friends from the previous show had suggested I look there for school related shows. I changed my display again but it still looked pretty much the same.

I wanted the viewers' eyes to move around my entire display but tried to keep them grouped. Again, the dish display was a flop because they kept getting moved around and my bracelets were getting mixed up. I was not able to make that many friends at this show (just one) but luckily, the event coordinator was continuously walking around to take food/drink orders and relieve vendors for bathroom breaks. There were other jewelry vendors (including popular Lia Sophia and Owl) but I still managed to make very good sales. I walked out of that show with $250 in profit which was a big deal for me since my items were priced at $25 and under. My faith in craft fairs was restored!

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Craft Show #3 was at another church function and I was nervous when I found out it was in the lower level (aka basement) of the rectory hall. My Square did not work (since it runs on the cellular service of my phone) and it was a sloooooow day. I don't recall how much profit I made that day (I think around $70) but there was one sale that absolutely made my day:

His name was Luke, and he was shopping with his grandmother. Grandma was looking at some scarves on the table next to me and Luke was looking at my jewelry. He told her he thought they were pretty and asked for some money to buy something. She replied with,"they are probably too expensive, dear" which honestly did sting a little because she did not look at my items, but when I said there are some items that are $5, she said that was doable and handed Luke $5. (Please keep in mind that my $5 items were my clearance earrings only.) He clutched his money and looked at all my items. He secretly told me he wanted to buy something for his grandma. I asked Luke what her favorite color was and that I had some bracelets with "grandma" on them ($15)

but he said she liked pink. I pointed out a sparkly pink wrap bracelet and he liked it right away, saying that Grandma would LOVE it. I almost felt bad taking Luke's money, but gave him a $20 bracelet for $5. He proceeded to tell me it was a secret, and I locked my lips and threw away the key.

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Craft Fair #4 was almost 45 minutes away from my job (totaling about an hour and a half from my home) but it turned out to be awesome! The fair was a small vendor fair. When I say small, I mean - only four vendors - small. It was for a friend of mine, and it was their first vendor fair. Even with only 13 sales, I was able to bring in $171. The table was free so everything that I made was all for me.



I have another fair happening in April. I will take pictures and let you all know how that one goes!