15 Tips To Make Your Craft Fair Booth Irresistible
Selling your handmade items at craft fairs or vintage markets requires creativity, presentation, and effective marketing. Most crafters have lots of creativity, but need help with marketing. Here are 10 tips to help you succeed at your next craft fair.
Need ideas for what to sell?
Create an Eye-Catching Display
Your display table or booth should look organized, not cluttered. Find a common color or theme in your items and use tablecloths, labels and signs, and props that complement your handmade items.
Provide Quality Over Quantity
Many shoppers at craft fairs are crafters themselves, so they recognize a well made item. Create a curated selection of high-quality items for your customers. This will help you stand out and convey a sense of craftsmanship.
Engage with Your Customers
Popular booths are run by people who are friendly and approachable. When I visit craft fairs, I love to talk to the artists and ask them about their processes and techniques. If there is a unique story behind your items, share it.
Provide Plenty of Information About Each Item
Clearly label your handmade items with information about the materials you used, care instructions, and the price. Customers will often walk away before asking what an item’s price is, so clearly labeled prices is crucial.
Accept as Many Payment Methods as You Can
Cash might be your preferred method of payment, but fewer and fewer people carry cash in their wallets anymore. Make it easy for your customers to pay with a credit card or even better, their phone. It is now prevalent for craft fair venues to provide wi-fi to vendors for this purpose. If there is no wi-fi available, provide your own hotspot using your phone.
Have a Demonstration
Craft demonstrations make people stop and look! Have you ever noticed that empty booths stay empty and those with people gain more onlookers? It’s human nature to want to see what other people are looking at. Bring a project or two to work on in the booth to show off your skill and the high value of your items. More traffic will mean more sales.
Develop Your Brand By Sharing Flyers or Business Cards
Don’t lose out on repeat business or future business. Create flyers and/or business cards with your brand logo, colors, and fonts. Allow customers to take these so they can contact you about future orders.
Provide Seasonal Items Well In Advance
People love to buy unique Christmas, Valentines, Easter, Patriotic, and Thanksgiving items, as well as every other Holiday! Follow the example of stores that start putting out holiday items months before the actual holiday and be ready with lots of beautiful seasonal handicrafts.
These gnomes were made with my easy gnome pattern!
Set Competetive Prices that Reflect Quality Handmade Items
Research what your competitors are selling for similar items, but don’t feel like you need to undercut them. Consider the cost of your time, materials, and marketing efforts. People will subconsciously consider low cost items to be cheaply made. If your items are well made, they will demand a higher price.
Offer Bundles and Special Deals
Encourage your customers to buy multiple items by bundling similarly themed items together or offering a lower price when they buy quantities of 2 or 3.
Create Surprise Grab Bags or Wrapped Boxes
If you have items from previous shows that are not selling, prepare surprise ‘grab bags’ or ‘present boxes’ with a number of those items inside. I have fallen for this tactic many times, but I’m never unhappy afterwards. No one can resist a surprise!
Don’t Forget to Collect Customer Information
In addition to providing information about how your customers can contact you, provide a sign-up sheet so you can contact them too! Use this mailing list to send your customers a newsletter, sales emails, and information about booths in upcoming fairs.
Have a Giveaway
If signups to your contact list are slow in coming, use this tried and true marketing technique that other businesses use. Provide contact slips so people can write down their name and email address and put it in a pretty jar or decorated box. Promise them that at the end of the show (or a certain hour) you’ll conduct a drawing and contact the lucky winner. And, of course, follow through!
Invest in Attractive Packaging
Attractive packaging leaves a great impression for your brand. It will protect your items when they are repeatedly touched or picked up. If it clearly shows the price, your customers won’t have to ask! Clear plastic or cellophane bags can be purchased inexpensively in bulk, and you can print labels on your home computer.
Build a Social Media Following
Utilize social media to give sneek peeks of handmade items you will be selling at upcoming shows and remind them to come! Share behind-the-scenes videos of your process. Make your followers feel special with a secret code or coupon that they can use when visiting your booth.
These tips for having a great craft fair booth have worked for me and lots of my friends. Best of luck to you this crafty season!
Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. 🙂