r/CraftFairs

I have a really big event in a few weeks, and i’ve got a super specific vision for it. I got a wooden pegboard from Lowe’s (~24 in x ~ 48 in) and painted it. I want to have it portrait and up at eye level, and it needs to be its own standing thing- i won’t have a wall for support, and i can’t put it on a table.

I got what was advertised as a heavy duty sign holder that is 68 in tall. size wise, it’s perfect! but i pretty much knew when i took it out of the box that there was no way it was going to be able to support the weight of this board- the tubes are light metal, i’m assuming aluminum. i put it together together anyway just to see and it was already looking sketchy, unsurprisingly.

The board itself is decently heavy, but now i’m not sure how i’ll be able to display it safely and securely in the way i imagine. I wasn’t able to find an easel type sign stand that has the right dimensions on amazon, and i have to have it by wednesday next week.

I might be SOL for this part of my vision, but if anyone has any thoughts that won’t break the bank that would be great 🖤

So me and my life long best friend have an idea for a farmers market booth but neither of us have ever really done anything like this. Im looking for advise. Things maybe you wish you would have known, places to start, general constructive advice. We are doing research as far as what we need to be legal vendors but anything you could let us know would be very appreciated! TIA 😊

What giveaways or party favors seem to be a big hits at events? Not things you'll leftover in the trash, on tables, or floors later. We are trying to cut down on waste and want people to enjoy and actually use the give outs. I think people have a million totes...something different

If you have used water gallons for weighing down your canopy, how many do you use per leg? For a 10’x10’ canopy.

My daughter is doing her first farmers market selling keychains in PA next week. Do we need to register her “business” with the state and collect sales tax? I have no idea how this works and am just now thinking about it.

I’ve never done a craft fair before myself and I really want to start planning out kinda what to do to participate in one and just what Ill need/expect

Any tips or just anything will help me out so much! I would be selling crochet and knitted items if that makes a difference :)

I am curious what to expect to pay to reserve a space to sell crafts at a fair. I am familiar with church craft fairs but I know there are much larger venues. There are so many crafters from different regions here who have experience. I know some large holiday craft fairs sometines charge admission for shoppers. What is a reasonable cost to expect for a space. Do most crafters also have a website and make up business cards? Thanks for any information.

Hey all! I've seen/found a couple of posts regarding handmade markets permitting crap MLMs to participate. This summer will be my first to have my own stand set up to sell primarily jewelry that features wire-wrapped crystals and stones. I have copied a portion of the rules and regulations that was included in paperwork to read and agree to:

>"[Name of parks dept. sponsored market] offers a summer marketplace for local vendors to sell locally grown and produced foods, plants, art, handmade crafts, retail, and a place for non-profit groups to share what they offer the community and fundraise. We encourage competition but will manage and limit the number of similar vendors. Priority will be given to vendors that personally grow, create, produce, design, or make their own products."

So imagine my low-key shock when they announced the lineup via fb and a friggin' Paparazzi is listed before me. My question to the sub: Should I say something to / ask the parks department what's up with that? I'm afraid that them being there will hurt my chances of making first-time-on-my-own sales. TIA!

Curious if anyone uses business cards beyond the usual “take one.” Have you ever printed them as mini price tags, tiny product info cards or something similar at your booth? Did it actually work well?

Hello! I am a new vendor and had two events so far. Looking for advice from vendors who have been doing this for a while because I’m feeling discouraged.

My first event I didn’t make the vendor fee back. I was there from 11am - 2pm (was supposed to be until 7pm). At 2pm they cancelled because of the rain and made everyone pack up and leave. It only rained for 30 minutes, as soon as I got home it was beautiful:/

My second event was this past weekend. Beautiful weather but so slow. I barely made a profit.

This weekend I was so excited for but forecasting rain and I’m feeling like I won’t make my vendor fee back again.

Any advice? Thanks so much!
EDIT: I am in a shore town so thankfully I have less concerns about the general state of the economy and disposable income because people are on vacation and there to spend. That being said, because of my location vendor fees are very high. It isn’t that my products aren’t selling, the fees are just so high. I paid $225 for one day at my first event that I only got 3 hours at.

As the title says, I’m looking for any tips people have found to keep their tents cool during summer shows. I live in an area that can reach over 90 degrees with high humidity. I current have some fans and cooling rags that I use but I don’t handle the heat very well so any recommendations are helpful!

Hello! I have a craft fair coming up that is a central checkout and my space is quite small. I have a 3 foot wide by 2 foot wide table space. I'll b using overlapping 2 2 foot by 6 foot grid walls in the back to create a 3 foot wide wall space. On that I'll hang my art which range in sizes 4x4-8x10. My problem is the table space for my prints.

I'll have 8x10, 11x14, and a couple 16x20 prints all matted and I have no idea how to arrange them on the table and what to use. I've used grid wire basked for my 8x10's in the past but that was before I started matting them and they don't fit in the wire baskets anymore.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! My market is in two weeks

So, I vended at a market over the weekend and the turnout was so low that I am debating asking for some of my money back. I'm not sure if this is ever accommodated and I know that it is a risk vending as you never can predict these kinds of things, but I really feel like the venue dropped the ball on promoting the event.

For some background, this is only the second time I've participated in this specific market, the first time was hugely successful but it was a holiday market. The fee to apply was $50, the booth fee was $200 and then they charge $5 for entry, all of the vendors had bad sales and there was barely anyone in attendance, and I'm wondering when should the venue be held accountable? obviously I will not be vending here again but I am really disgusted by the capitalization of craft markets where the venue makes all of this money off of the vendors backs and then don't even follow up or inquire about the success of the event. Thoughts?