Craft show tips and advice. 10 tips for craft show success. These craft fair survival tips will help you increase craft show sales. Craft show success secrets for capturing the craft show market.
- Bring a buddy. While it may be possible to do a craft fair on your own, it is inadvisable. Having an extra pair of hands and eyes will make the sale run more smoothly.
You will not only need someone to help you carry all your crafts and craft show supplies from the car but to watch your booth during those times when you need to step away for a bathroom or snack break.
Also, when sales are brisk, you don't want customers who are ready to pay waiting too long. You may lose them.
- Arrive early so you can be set up and ready to sell in plenty of time. It looks bad to prospective customers when you are still setting up 5 minutes after the show has opened.
People who want to buy from you will just keep walking because they can see that you are not ready to wait on them.
Give yourself half an hour more than you think you will need to set up your craft show display to allow for small mishaps.
- Make sure you understand what will be supplied by the craft fair promoter vs what you will need to bring.
If you are doing an outdoor craft fair, are craft show tents or canopies being provided?
Will electrical outlets be available? Do you need them?
Craft Show Security Tips
Sheet-Gold Ornaments Confiscated from the Sipan Grave Robbers Assembled as a Contemporary NecklacePhotographic Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
- Never leave your money or handmade crafts unattended. Not when you are setting up. Not during the show. Not after the show when you are breaking down your art craft show display.
Not even in your hotel room.
I don't mean to encourage paranoia but thieves know that lots of
cash
changes hands at craft shows, especially art craft shows where fine art is being sold.
Don't really think you need to take this craft show tip seriously?
Think of how much money a thief could make by selling your stolen crafts at a flea market. They have invested nothing. Every cent they make would be pure profit.
Selling Jewelry at Craft Shows
Artists working with precious metals or gems need to be especially careful of theft. Do not hire anyone who approaches you offering to help you for free or very cheap no matter how honest they look.
Do not leave your jewelry in a hotel safe as just about any hotel employee can get into them.
Insure your handcrafted jewelry before traveling with it. Your homeowners policy is unlikely to cover it. This kind of insurance is cheap and will give you peace of mind.
- Stay in hotels, not motels and register under your personal name not your business name.
It will be obvious to the front desk personnel that you are participating in a craft show. There is no need to point out to every hotel employee exactly what your inventory consists of.
A hotel, where anyone coming in has to pass the front desk and will be questioned if they are not recognized, will sometimes cost a bit more but is much more secure than a motel room where anyone can just walk up to your door.
Park in full view of the lobby where you and your vehicle will be clearly visible to front desk personnel and other guests.
Craft Fair Survival Tips
Le Sourire, Glamour Sore Feet, Ache Magazine, France, 1930Giclee Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
- Wear comfortable shoes. Even if chairs are available (or you bring your own) you will need to stand much of the time. This is not the time to show off your fashionable 4 inch heels.
Bring an extra shirt in case you get something on the one you are wearing.
- Stock a small cooler with ice, drinks and healthy snacks to make surviving a craft fair easier.
Craft Show Tips
Craft Show Sales Tips
- Work on your craft at the show. Think about how you can do this in a showy and interactive way.
I once bought a handmade basket from a vendor at the Maui Tropical Plantation. The husband played his ukulele and sang me a song while his wife wove my basket out of palm fronds. I think of them every time I warm rolls in that basket.
This sort of demonstration draws buyers to your booth and makes them want to take a piece of you home with them.
- Offer a variety of sizes, colors (if applicable) and prices. Vacationers may want something small they can pack into their luggage.
Put a sign on your table letting people know that you would be happy to ship any purchases to their door.
Be sure to have some small items which are less expensive than most of your other pieces to attract the bargain hunters.
- Sell yourself. This is the last and most important of my craft show tips and the key to capturing the craft show market.
People who buy handicrafts are warm and real. They want to buy crafts made by warm, real people like themselves.
Wear your heart on your sleeve a little bit. They will love you for it.
Share your story. Your personal struggles are the most interesting thing about you. The story of how you managed to triumph over them will inspire your customers. They will want to share in your victory--or help you achieve it, as the case may be--by buying your work.
