I only get one 8ft table at my next event. I'm a little stumped for ideas currently. Most of the time I've had at least a 10x10 booth to fill, and my brain is having a difficult time thinking of ways to downsize my display. I will have a helper at my table. Thanks for any input you all are able to give!

Someone suggested I look into going to ren faires and similar events as a vendor. Chain and findings are not great quality. Trying to go through the supplies I currently have before buying more.

My partner contacted a cell phone store to set up a booth to sale our candle products outside. Do you think this idea is feasible?

Like if you completely sold out at show? How much do you bring? I know it will vary by product and all, I am just curious

For myself, for 1 day shows it is about $2000 to $2200, that is about 60 sets of horns and ears, and a bucket full of hair clips.

For two day shows, a bit more than double that, about $4500

And variation based on single table or tent outside too.

Sorry this is limited to those in Michigan, but I have been working on a way to gather and organize local craft fairs for vendors here. I created a Michigan Craft & Art Fairs map by taking posts from various craft fair Facebook groups. I am limited due to using the free version of this map, but I may consider upgrading if this is helpful for others to use.

I would appreciate any feedback you have. Please bare with me as this is time consuming and do my best to provide all information but not all FB members provide enough info.

I did my 1st craft fair last weekend at the mall and it was a total flop. I made $18 when there was barely any foot traffic. I’d have to say ~5 people that wasn’t related or associated with a vendor at the market. The location was a poor choice being in an area with separate rooms and very little signage guiding people into the area and definitely not into the separate rooms.

This same vendor coordinator is also hosting a Valentine event a week from now at the same mall but she has updated the location to a different area of the mall. Originally it was held at the same place the flop event was held and now it’s at a much more popular area of the mall. Would you give it a 2nd chance or should I not waste my time, money, and energy on her events? Should I just attend as a shopper and see if the coordinator has improved her signage and see how she’s running the new event instead?

Just for clarification- this mall is very popular and I could see a lot of foot traffic entering the mall on the day of the flop event. It’s not a “dead” mall like some areas. I just think signs, music playing, or even someone standing outside leading people into the area would have helped A LOT.

my family had something like this bought from a craft fair and now i am trying to buy a replacement for it

Hey, this is my first post so not sure what to expect. Im trying to make some extra money on the side selling my nerd inspired earrings, necklaces, and purses at public fairs/festivals. My past experience has always been pairing up with a friend who does artist Alleys at conventions, but I found I didn't make much money since my displays were... pretty handmade to say the least. I signed up for a craft fair near me that focuses on local artisanal stuff, so I'm hoping to find a better audience there .

How much should I expect to spend to make my booth look presentable? I'm trying to avoid spending more than $200 since is the first time I'm going solo and I'm worried about not making my money back. My product vibe is more cutesy/boho if that makes sense (pinks and whites, but with pixel designs and yarns). I already have a folding table and inventory, but it's Florida so a tent canopy is a must. Looking for advice on how to avoid overspending on set up while starting on the right foot. Thx.

Exhibitor applications being accepted now until March 28. https://smv.org/explore/things-to-do/well-made/

I just wanted to give a heads up to everyone booking markets/fairs. I've been doing them for a couple years now and have never had this happen. I saw an event listed on Facebook for an "Art & Ale Festival" in my town. I did some googling and no issues-totally legit event coming up. Underneath the listing on Facebook there was a comment saying there were still vendor spaces available and to contact them. I did and provided all needed information (type of art, space needed, website, etc). They gave me a list of all available spaces available and I chose the 10x10. I then venmoed them the fee but it didn't work (first giant red flag) and they said they were having issues and to Zelle them. So I did. They never sent a confirmation email but I figured maybe it would take a day so no biggie.

At 4am (giant red flag!)I got another message from her saying she was so sorry but that space wasn't available, only a larger space was for an additional $20. I told her that I didn't want to spend more and I would just take a refund. She said sure. But that Zelle account was now having issues (GIANT RED FLAG) and to provide mine. Which I refused to do. She was extremely pushy about sending my account info to her but I didn't.

I got in touch with the gallery to let them know what was happening, and it was indeed a scam.

Please be smarter than me and if you see comments below an event listing, ignore them and instead contact the person or business directly.

Ughhhhhhh.

https://preview.redd.it/317jo5xh5yfe1.png?width=736&format=png&auto=webp&s=f803fa8586f2c70dbbde49587242ab22129b3912

I need help finding these tabletop ladders. The image was from a blog post with no links to the seller or the ladders. I've searched "tabletop ladders", "ladder shelf", "ladder display", "tabletop display", and I get nothing like these! Everything I find is too small, too tall, or has the shelves going the wrong way. Anyone have suggestions on other keywords that might lead me to these?!?

Just starting out with a business that will focus mostly at craft fairs and markets. We are beekeepers and make hand salves and lip balms as well as other items from beeswax. We will eventually sell honey too if we get a good enough harvest. Anyone have good luck with an online company to create a logo? Just looking for something simple-badge type logo. Any help or direction would be appreciated.

Hi I'm doing my first craft fair in March and also plan on setting up an Etsy soon. I sell jewelry, pins and stickers. I'm trying to figure out exactly what steps I need to take. I know I need to get a sales tax license, but how do I go about reporting and paying sales tax??

I also am confused on whether I need to register as a business or get a business bank account. I've seen some sources say I need it and others say I don't. It's just me, I have no employees. I don't know if I need to register anything or get any other permit or license aside from just the sale tax license.

Another question I have is how do I go about tracking business expenses for tax right offs?? I'm not sure if I'm able to do that or if there's other info I don't know. If I can right off any supplies I use for my products, do I just need to make a sheet listing every item boughtand it's price?? I'll keep all the receipts but do I need to show the receipts as well or does just a list of expenses work and the receipts are just if I'm asked?? Do things I buy now, before making my first sale, count as tax right offs, or does it only count after doing all the legal things and starting selling.

Sorry if some of these are dumb and obvious questions. I've only filed taxes once before and a lot of the stuff I'm reading has been confusing

Have you ever tried running a promotional competition at a craft fair? How did it go?

I'm going to sell some items at a market near me soon and I'm thinking of ways to draw people to my booth. Since my brand and booth will both be new I'm thinking about running a competition to draw customers in. My booth is plant related so I'm considering something like pin the most leaves on the stem (pinning one leaf gets you one entry, pinning two gets you two entries and a winner is selected at random at the end of the day). I'm actually still deciding whether I'd like to do a passive competition (anyone can enter and a winner is selected at random) or something more skill related, like the example above. I think something skill related could be fun and would be better at getting customers in my booth. What do you think? Any advice will be appreciated!

I currently sell a combination of linocut prints and digital prints and I have them on self serve display racks. More often than not, people would pick them up but not buy. Do you think having them individually packed in plastic sleeves and a cardstock backing would make a difference? For my linocut prints, I do have them in plastic sleeves but no backing as I don't want people accidentally touching the ink.

One reason why I don't package most of them is because I have prints in many different sizes and it feels like a lot more work to have to individually pack them. Personally, I also like them not packed because as a customer I could feel the texture and thickness of the paper. Has anyone tried both and noticed a difference in sales?

I split a table with a friend at a local reptile expo. Both of us were not to sure how it would go, but it went better then I expected. Would love any type of advice, definitely will change things for next time but would like to hear thoughts from an outside source.

I’m doing my first craft fair towards the end of February. I sell blind date with a book, bookmarks, and greeting cards. How many blind date with a books should I stock? As of right now I have 10 books for the market. Is that enough?

I just went to my second market and made $305 in sales. Booth fee was $160 after tax. I didn’t make the booth fee back at my previous market so I’m happy with how this went. But it was rather dead today, I made 3 sales ($45) whereas I made 12 sales on Saturday. I’m starting to think it might be worth doing craft shows only on Saturdays. Does anyone else do this? The booth fee would be lower ($85 after tax) and it would be less trips that I’d have to make lugging my wagon around. However, applying to only 1 day lowers your chances of getting accepted in the show. At least that’s what it says on the sign up forms for the markets I want to participate in! So I’m not sure if I should risk that.

Hello!! I’m planning on selling stuff at my first ever event in several months but I wanted to get all my ducks in order 🦆.

1. Income reporting: I’m in MA, and I saw that if I make under $400 I don’t have to report income. I have no idea how much I would make, so I guess I’m asking how I would plan around that? Also would that be what’s coming in, or net?

2. Registering: Am I supposed to register for a business sole owner/LLC? It seems like I would then have to apply for a tax ID number + business permits afterwards though? It would be quite a bit of work if I ended up making like $100.

3. if I didn’t register and made over $400, would I be able to register post event without getting in trouble?

4. Sales Tax: lastly, If I did end up collecting sales tax, what happens if I make under $400? And do you incorporate that into your prices or after?

I’m not planning to sell at many events, maybe thinking 3 this year as I’m just getting started and need to build up stock and stuff. Thank you for all your time!!