SELLING AT CRAFT FAIRS | My Top Tips 

As a crafts and design show organiser(retired) here are a few tips: Few exhibitors understand the value of lighting displays to attract visitors, Buy spotlights( minimum 3 ) and extension cables to distribute power around your display Keep electricity safety pat test up to date. Height is vital to catch attentiom from at least 20feet from your display.Make or buy display screens ( 6ft high minimum) and use them to rear and side(s) of your space.Screens between you and neighbours concentrates attention to you. Do not make it easy for visitors to pick up business cards.Ask why a card is needed and present it while also asking for exchange of visitor details. Basics: Do not sit down during event opening hours; Do not eat or drink in front of visitors' Table coverings to floor on ALL sides; Dress for business; talk to everyone and SMILE; Speak to the event organiser to discover visitor traffic patterns in the event and seek advice. tips and intelligence about future events. And, most important, take advice about health and safety AND keep records for the tax man. Best wishes and have a good event.

I did markets and fairs for years selling beaded jewellery and my best nugget I can share is be busy. Busy making up a new item, busy packaging sold items (I offered a gift wrapping service that once sold if they walked around for a bit and come back their items would be wrapped for them). The trick is not to be so busy that you can't glance up, smile and say hello and then focus back on what you are doing. Make it something that is ok to pick up and put down as you are helping customers etc. People feel pressure if you are staring at them and a little table is not a lot of space between, but having your nose in a book is the opposite of what you want too. People would often be drawn in to see what we were making and ask questions which lead to sales. Another tip is to offer multi buy deals eg. 1 print $12 and 2 prints for $20.

Yes, yes, yes...presentation counts for so much! You might think why bother dragging along a plant to put on your table when you're selling artwork, but EVERYthing about your display says something about you and your work. I've had customers tell me that they bought from me instead of vendors selling the same product, because they liked my presentation better. Don't underestimate the power of a beautiful presentation. It matters.

I’m doing my first craft fair in 2 weeks it’s a two day event and super excited !!

Thanks for all your tips. I actually done a few of them and they worked. My biggest problem is finding something that is a "cheap" sell. My sewing takes a good amount of time, but then maybe I can make something from fabric with out sewing. Still figuring it out.

When I ran my old business "Love Teacup Kisses" I used to do a few conventions and people use to LOVE how cohesive my booths looked and they LOVED that i used to match my booths. I got so many comments on that, its really helps when your booth has very clear branding and a cohesive aesthetic. I havent done craft fairs though so it was fun to watch this video. Thank you for sharing!

I have a personal goal of doing a craft fair in 2020 and this video was so extremely helpful!! thank you so much for taking time to make this video and for being so informative. you gave so many helpful tips that I wouldn't have even thought about!

What a brilliant video. I've been doing fairs for a few years now & totally agree with all your tips. I also take something to do as I make knitted & sewn items, I'll take my knitting & sewing box! A notebook is handy too. I also made a couple of small signs saying support small businesses to encourage people who might think they'd get similar items in store.

I love going to craft fairs, but I hate "barkers"- the people that start trying to call you over or pitch their sale to you the second you approach. I completely bypass those and won't even look at what they're selling. I just want to shop in peace and I'll ask if I have a question.

The easel is such a great idea! Thank you for sharing

Indeed, very helpful tips. Makes me wish I were getting ready for one right now! 😊. I particularly appreciated the tip on not adding too much of a seasonal item, I learned that lesson the hard way too. Your outfit was adorable and how sweet of your mom to help out. Thanks!

Loved this video so much. Thank you for sharing your tips! I did a few craft fayres soo many years ago and they never went well, but I'm hoping to do one this Christmas and hoping it'll go better than before :)

Thanks so much, Emily! I'm a new craft seller and this video was extremely helpful and encouraging. I love your energy!!! ♥️♥️

So so useful! Thank you so much, I can actually apply all of these which is fab x

Thank you so much for the great information. I’m in the US and first craft fair coming in a few months and you have great tips!

This is the most helpful craft fair video yet! I will definitely keep these things in mind.

Great video Emily! I’m getting ready for my first craft fair and your tips are so helpful! 🌷Tina🌷

I never thought about needing insurance before I started. Thanks for the tips.

Great tips, great video! Thank you for putting such a comprehensive and sincere video together! I loved your setup and I understand the importance of providing different levels. I was wondering where you got your crates.

Great video. Full of fantastic tips! The effort you made & all the thought that went into your branding is definitely an element of your success during the festival!! 😁👍🏻

So helpful, thank you. Am going to do my first fair for several years soon, so all these tips were really useful.

Wow. Thankyou for your hugely useful video. Nice to see one of my uk art family😁 felt relevant and familiar. I’m going to do my first fair. My knees knock when I think of it. Didn’t quite know where to start! Thankyou for your useful pointers to set me on my way. 😃🙌✌️✨

Thank you for sharing all of this information, you had a lot of wonderful suggestions!

Thanks for this video and the tips. And for the honesty about slow markets. I'm fairly new to markets. At some I've only sold 4 items. It can be discouraging.

Thanks Emily for all your tips.

Very helpful advice, thank you! 💖

Such a lovely video, Thank you for sharing your tips, they are very helpful!

One of the best videos . thankyou for being so lovely !

This was super interesting to watch, and I'm not even planning on doing a fair...........but maybe I should

Thinking of doing my first, this video helps so much. Thank you. 💜

Thank you Emily. This was really useful stuff.

I loved this video! I follow you on instagram (AND I FEEL THAT I LOVE YOU) hahaha Why do you talk about super important things like the personal brand issue, that you have to think about the stand for fairs and your products. That everything is related, holding hands. Congratulations on your super beautiful business. Kisses of a Venezuelan in Madrid.

Awesome video 👌 I am new at sewing and I hand soap baby dolls red old-fashioned ragdolls I have sold a couple but I like to get to know more about doing crafts fairs

Thanks for all the great advice 👍

This is such a useful video, thankyou!

Thank you for making this video!

Thank you so much. This video was amazing

That was very helpful. Thank you so much Emily! Lots of love from Germany.

Very helpful! Thanks 🙏🏼!

Thank you for sharing.

Super helpful tips!

Great Video. Helpful and to the point. 🙂

Very helpful video thanks very much!!

Brilliant advice thankyou

Great content, thank you.

Thanks for the video!! Do you have any tips for finding good craft fairs near you? Especially amateur craft fairs??

So very helpful new sub fellow artist ty so so much have now in the holiday scene

So helpful! Im in America. I need all the tips i can get. Im going to try for the christmas fairs and i was gonna do lots if xmas stuff lol not Any more. Seems me your instagram and pic of business card 😄

I love your ideas!!! I sell hair clips at shows!!! I am hoping to use ideas from you to get more better sales!!!! 😊💖

Terrific vide on craft fair info! Very detailed. Just a personal preference tip...I would love to hear you speak without music in the background. You have such great tips but I struggle to ignore the music while you're speaking. I think you're fabulous and talented, and I really enjoy your videos so please don't be offended. Your tips are the best tips I've seen for craft fairs. Great advice. Yes, I always think the less intimidating crafters do better at fairs. I never shop at a booth if I feel they are trying to make me buy something. Just be welcoming and you'll do much better. Thanks for posting the great video!

So helpful thank you! I'm wondering about a bank account, do you use a business bank account as a sole trader or a personal account? I had a business account for a previous business but there were monthly fees. I feel like as a sole trader I could just use a personal account instead if its legal? Also that's so helpful about Christmas stock as I assumed I'd need to create a lot of Christmas stock but was worried about having it all left over in January like you mentioned, great idea to just make the table Christmassy instead.

This might be very helpful for me because well I'm going to a Kiki 2022 business fair in a couple weeks and hopefully this will give me a lot of advice and hopefully it goes well

so helpful :)

I have my first fair booked in December and it'll outdoor., thank you for such helpful tips. Please may I ask what you mean by have insurance in place?

I'm curious how you go about taking portrait orders at your shows? Do you have them choose a size and then take a deposit? Do you have them make sure they have a good photograph first? I do pet portraits so I'd love any tips!

where do you find these fairs? And how do you know how much they are to have a booth. Do you need to supply your own table?

👍thx a lot

💜💜💜

How do we find where our crafts shows are and how to apply as a vendor, in our area?

Thanks

New subbie

Do you need to have insurance?

How did you find a craft show with 250,000 customers that’s enormous!

I live in America and my parents used to do home fairs and craft fairs. Even now, I've never heard of needing insurance.

You look like gabby xx