The craft fair ends and you’re ready to go home. What should you do first? It really doesn’t matter at this point. Well, you should tear down your booth, pack up your inventory, and get “out of Dodge”. But other than that, what should you do?
The first piece of advice we can offer is to reflect. Think about what happened during the show. Did you have a lot of lookers and not a lot of buyers? Maybe your item was priced too high. Perhaps it wasn’t displayed in a tasteful way.
Did you run out of the product too quickly? While it’s a great feeling to sell out after the first day, it’s also a sinking feeling to realize that if you would have had more inventory, you could have made that much more money. Think about how much you brought to the show and how you can change that for the next show.
Count your money! Before you move on to the next show, sit down and figure out how much you made on the last one. For example, if you spend $1,000 on this show, did you make $1,000 back? Remember, we’re talking about profits, not sales!
Don’t forget to include the cost of your materials, the booth space, travel, shipping, and cleanup. This kind of breakeven analysis will help you figure out if you should exhibit at the same show next year. It can also help you gauge how well your item will sell someplace else.
You might want to consider putting out comment cards for your customers and lookers to offer advice about your booth and your product. We can’t stress enough that any comments you get – bad or good – should be taken with a “grain of salt”.
What you’re trying to do is get an idea of what people want. Once you can figure that out, modify your plans, booth space, etc. to meet those needs. You’ll sell more in the long run. Plus, if you ask for something as simple as an e-mail address, you’ll be amassing a database where you can showcase your product and perhaps get new and/or repeat customers!
Then start to replenish your inventory. There’s no reason for you to sit back and relax. There’s always another show right down the road. May as well get an early start!
There are literally hundreds of craft fairs out there for you to consider. While we can’t give you a comprehensive list, we can provide you with some places, to begin with. Location, of course, is important, but here are some of the top craft fairs for you to look at.
We hope you enjoy this full craft fair guide to sell your crafts at craft fairs, this is the Part Thirteen, find the full parts here:
