Craft Shows?

[Eric]

Hi Everyone

I'm looking for more wonderful advice about crafts shows. I'm thinking of doing my first craft show in November. Its a local thing that comes out twice a year. The fee seems reasonable with a crowd of 800 to 100 for 2 days 12 hours total. So I'm working on some ornaments to sell but what else to sell? I need things that can be made quickly due to time factor of my real job and keeping up with my custom orders I have.

So my question is around what sells well at that time of year that I can look into making? Any useful advice about setting up the booth? Its a 7 foot long table with a panel in the back for hanging things up if I want. Any special preparation ahead of time I should look at?

Eric

[Forester21]

When you set up your booth/table you will want a table cloth of some kind - keep it a solid color, and long enough to come to the floor on at least 3 sides if possilble. All 4 sides would be even better. Then you can store your boxes and extra stock under the table and out of sight.
Remember "Height" - different heights for the dispayed items if you can. The panel on the back sounds great. Stack crates or boxes etc on the table to get items up to eye level. At one craft show I was at, a vendor had pieces of PVC pipe cut into lengths that they slid over their table's legs. The PVC was about 2 - 4 inches longer than the table leg, so it raised the table that much higher. Doesn't sound like much, but it made a difference.
If you have time before the show, set up the table with your items. then stand back aways and look at it - rearrange if you need to until things are visually pleasing. You won't have time to do this the morning of your show. Oh - and take a picture of it so you have a reference to use ~ especially if you have someone helping to set up - give them a picture as a guide to setting up.

As to what to sell ~ that's the million dollar question!! lol What are the custom orders you spoke of? You can always take orders at the show and mail the item when it's finished.

Theresa E

[Old Dust]

A sample of a NAME SIGN and a poster that you do custome name signs is always an order taker. I charge $2 a letter plus $10 materials. I use Ceder fence rails from Home Depot and put a backing of painted Finish Ply. Be sure to add a cut out of some local interest i.e. a Kokapelly, Horse, etc. on your sample. That is an additional $2 each.

Stack cut some cut outs of your state. They also sell.

Good Luck.

John

Old Dust

[Eric]

Thanks for the feedback. Displaying the work is what makes the difference which I will need to focus on as it gets closer. This show is small compared to the one in May so I have a small margin for errors now as a first time experience. My custom work is all around name plates, ornaments with names, picture frames, little things I think people would like.

Eric

[PeteB]

How about Christmas tree ornaments and bookmarkers?

I like it when a booth has a wide price range. If you have a really outstanding item or two in the background with big tickets, it establishes credibility for the smaller items. For example, I would gawk at a $1,200 birdcage, then be happier about buying some $50 bookends or a $5 tree ornament knowing what a great artist you are. Just a thought for the future.

Best of luck!

Pete

[Old Dust]

Another item I use -- I made several 2'X6' frames with 1X2 and covered them with 1/4" grid roll mesh screening (metal). I can prop them against a wall, on a chair, set them up as "A" frames or even link them together in a triangle, box or other shapes with zip ties. If I have to set up a canopy I zip-tie them to the frame. It all depends on the space, products, etc. available.

On your tables use the containers you brought your small stuff in to make a step display by simply draping your cover over the containers and onto and over the front of the table.

Be sure to have plenty of business cards and try to have a portfolio of your work for people to look through. It can spark an idea of what they want.

A guest book registry is good too for you to follow up as you establish regular customers to inform them of some of your new work.

Last year I did over 57 shows for my fund raising effort for the Lions Handicapped Camp and learned some of these tricks then.

Best of luck.

John

Old Dust

Don't reinvent the wheel - improve and share on it.

[Rolf]

There are alot of great ideas presented here, especialy display and varied price ranges. I do one fair a year just before christmas and I make sure I have smaller ornaments that the kids can buy.
Another thing that I have done that I feel has made a big difference in sales.
I bought small boxes with cotton and a clear cover to put my ornaments in.
I then put a contrasting color cloth (felt) on top of the cotton. It really makes my ornaments pop and all the customer has to do is wrap it and it is a simple gift. The box costs me about 50 cents. I sell my ornaments for 10 to 15 dollars, the small ones 3 to 5.
If anyone is interested I will post a picture when I get home.

[CanadianScroller]

This is a great thread.
I would love to see some pictures of peoples displays.
I have not had much luck with Craft Fairs.

There is one successful one in my town though. I just can't afford the table.
They want $125 then they want 10% of the sales.

I guess that's OK if you are in it as a business but most scrollers I know just do it for the love of the hobby.

A couple of years ago I was scheduled to go into a smaller craft sale, unfortunately I came down sick at the last minute.
My craft was hardly "scroll saw" but I did use the saw to cut small 3x4 inch 1/8 ply. On the ply I glued an image of the first Christmas Card. On the back I glued the story of the first card. I then took a small piece of soft wire and created a spring type loop for a hanger.

They were quick and easy to make, but I don't know how they would sell since I got sick

[Jediscroller]

These are a couple of pics of last year's booth. I'm made some changes this year but haven't taken any pics yet as it's still not quite where I want it.

[Rolf]

$125 plus 10% seems stiff. The table fees are typical for the larger craft shows in our area but 10 % percent on top of that is wrong in my opinion.
If I do a church fair I would consider the additional 10 percent as a donation.
My table fee is only $40.

Wow Kevin that is a big booth with lots of stuff to sell. You must be retired to have the time to cut all of that.

[Jediscroller]

Wow Kevin that is a big booth with lots of stuff to sell. You must be retired to have the time to cut all of that.

Only in my dreams Rolf, Heck, up until a year ago, I worked 2 jobs in addition to the woodworking business. It's kind of funny that you said that, I was thinking how bare it looks compared to this year. I've about doubled the variety of clocks and portraits as well as having added intarsia and some other little knicknacks to my offerings.
I agree on the $125 + 10% seeming high. Most of the fairs I do are between $75 and $250 but no additional commision (sometimes there's an additional jury fee as well).

[Woodbutcher68]

This is the display I started with. The table is a little fuller and the Christmas tree has grown to 6 foot. I have crosses, bottlestoppers, honey dippers, garden dibbles, key rings, ornaments and plaques. Most of the shows I do are $40.00-$70.00 for 1-2 days with no commission fee. Some of my best shows are at churches or Christian schools, so I adjust my inventory accordingly.

[Rolf]

Now Fred's table is more like my speed.
My table is a bit bigger.

[Eric]

There's some great stuff here. Love the pictures I'm visual so it helps alot. Seems like I will be working down to the last minute for stuff to sell, and start in January for the May show. Also this thread has so much great info it should have its own place in the magazine.

Eric

[Tom Wahl]

A couple of thoughts...

I actually had an article in progress, but something similar had just been published. I do have a couple of tips that I haven't see yet, although the pictures of setups show them being used!

Lighting is incredibly important. It's OK to have your area sort of dark overall, but some small spotlights on certain items draws a lot of attention.

Vary the height. I made some risers using pine for the sides and top, paneling for the front, and they worked well. They give you a way to "terrace" your display so that it rises toward the back of the table. I also made mine in different sizes so that they nested together, making them easier to store and transport.

Business cards have been mentioned, I'll add that it's nice to have them in at least two places so that people can't miss them.

Bookmarks were mentioned. I've had shows where I made better than $100 on bookmarks at less than $2 each. Stack cut 8 at a time and they cost about 11 cents each to make? That's hard to say '"no" to.

Operating your saw at the show can be an incredible draw! I would keep something largish to work on. People like to see things in action, and when they see how long it takes to cut the projects, it lends credibility to your pricing.

Last note, don't be afraid of high show costs if you have the inventory. I've paid $500+ for a show, and before it was over wished that I had more stuff to sell, having cleared $2500 with my tables looking pretty bare.

I've got more, but you'll have to talk Shannon into letting me write it!