This is one of the best and most honest KZfaq videos I’ve ever watched. Your comprehensive details about each craft fair you participated in gives you credibility as not only a talented craft person but a business woman as well. The one factor that you aren’t considering is the value of your invisibility as you attend each event. That value will undoubtedly translate to a large sale for you in the future. You are branding yourself for future success. One thing that you should consider is creating a mechanism to capture email addresses of every single person who comes to your booth. Give away something to get their email address. Then build up your email list to send out regular newsletters, building your traffic back to your website. That is how you will move your business forward and create a mechanism for continuous online sales. 🌹🌹🌹

Wow.. After this I don’t know why anyone would ever participate in these events. So little profit (or none!) and so much work. Sounds like the event managers/venues are the only winners here..Yikes..

My goodness...my head was spinning with the fees. Were they juried shows? I know they are more so I steer clear. In my opinion, I found over the years that the fire department companies, church events and fundraiser events were very profitable, but only during November and December. ($20 to $40 fee, table and chairs. Electricity was extra) Your video is amazing. I loved the spreadsheet and all the info you kept. I have learned three thigs over the years that helped ME with sales, I hope it may help you. First, DO NOT compromise your worth. You are a business person and work hard. Second, I move a few items around maybe every half hour or so. People normally do a two walk around, as I call it. There were times an item caught the eye of someone the second time and... SALE! Third, if you do a drawing, DO NOT do your craft. If people pass by your table, they may not be interested at a glance. When you offer a brightly packaged drawing, it catches their eye, and they may stop by just to fill out the form. As they are filling it out, now you have their attention to your craft. And guess what? A possible SALE! As they hand you back their slip, thank them for stopping by and hand them your business card.

I like your tenacity. I would have given up right away. I sell my own paintings through word of mouth. I wouldn’t even feel comfortable with an art gallery taking 50% of my profits. Thank you for your honesty and openness.

I have made christmas crafts for a long time and been at small fairs until I got in at the big local (and expensive) in 2016. the first year was bad. got about half of the fee back plus I had to pay transport. 2 year almost made the fee but 3 year I finally made profit. it takes a long time to get the perfect stall and the right product for a specific market. But it is not wasted , you learn and you make contacts. you make friends among the other vendors ( who can give tips on the best places for your products) and repeat customers who seek you out every year. this year I am trying to cut down time (16 days) and try other markets.

What a nice surprise to come across you video on craft show experience in the DMV! I too am from the DMV and do craft shows. I enjoyed hearing your experiences. I agree that us, crafters should share more information with each other. I think you comments were fair and not spiteful. I second a few of your comments… 1) outdoor events are more work due to tents etc. and weather is always unpredictable. 2) lots of foot traffic does not mean lots of sales. I’ve been to a few shows that had a lot of foot traffic but folks were not buying (my stuff or other vendor’s stuff). I have had success in some of the local high school shows around the holidays. These are usually one day events-Washington-liberty HS and Woodson HS. Thanks for sharing! Will enjoy hearing more about your craft show experiences…

That sounds like my first year. I didn’t give up and now 15 years later my friend and I travel together and we have a higher profit because we share all the fees. Don’t give up! Also just remember crafters might not tell you the truth about what they really make like you did!

My first craft fair (i’m a ceramicist) was Renegade Craft in Los Ángeles, one of the more expensive fairs ($650, but you can get a first-time grant if you are BIPOC). I decided that i was doing it for the exposure, potentially meeting interior decorators and everyday people whose emails I could gather in order to eventually promote my own pop-ups. My price points were mostly over $100 a piece and i made about $3500 that weekend and sold 3/4 of all my pieces. It was amazing. I’ve done a few other markets, each with decent success. Am doing more markets this year to get their vibes and am, again, considering it PR. ❤️

That sounds about right. I think the event planners are about the only one making money. My items are expensive and labor intensive to make and craft fairs are not really profitable for me.

Thanks for your tips, I haven’t done any shows yet but would like to do a holiday show in November. I am from Michigan so I don’t know any areas by you. I hope that you’re having a fabulous year so far.

Great video. I’ve been doing a few shows each year. It’s always a learning experience! I sell jewelry and love to talk to people so I enjoy it. It’s hard to make a profit if expenses are high, but it gets you exposure and builds a customer base. Hope you have lots of business cards to give out to customers. Good luck this year!

Nice job sharing wish you great success this yesr

This is awesome! I live in VA and this resonates!

Great recap! I’ve been wanting to do my very first craft fair and I appreciate your candid feedback :)

Very informative, thank you for sharing your experience. Don't worry this year will be way better!

Thank you so much! I am just starting and looking for locations in MD and VA! I have been to some of the craft shows that you mentioned and it is good to get the feedback on those.

Great video! I did my first craft show today and sold three items adding up to 46 bucks. My fiancé signed me up to a church craft show on the spur the moment so I crocheted like crazy. It was their first year having it so I bet next year it’ll be a lot better. Actually believe it or not they can change the weather .It’s called cloud seeding. They’ve been able to do it since at least the 1940s. They’re doing it a lot lately which is why it snowed in Texas last year and in Greece. China spends the most out of anyone in the entire world and does the most the weather modification. Look up Chinese weather modification I never knew anything about this but I’ve been doing a lot of reading about it lately along with a lot of the other crap that’s going on with the world. There’s a lot of things they do that we would never even begin to imagine! OK I’m done ranting now😹 I’m gonna check out the rest of your videos😊

Try color fest in Thurmont first or second weekend in October. Howard county craft show first or second week in November (sponsored by AtoZ crafts.

Seems like the church craft fairs are the best, for our type of products, anyway.

I have been wanting to do a craft fair but I’m nervous about doing one & I’m also afraid that I wouldn’t make back what I spend. I’m really thinking about doing my first one this year but I haven’t had much luck finding any I just moved to Maryland (20 mins from Virginia & 20 mins from DC). Watching this video made me think that I need to stop being nervous & just take the leap, You are such an inspiration you never gave up even when you didn’t make back your booth your going to do great this year I am sure. TFS 💜 would you mind sharing how you found your locations

In some countries there are fair every weekend, very organized, very pitoresc, and some items sell like water example: headbband, teatowel, etc. I don't know why here in USA I don't see every weekend with nice fairs. And people love going to nice fairs. It's sad that I don't see constant weekend fairs to generate job and joy to the buyer and seller. In Brazil you sell the headbands in the beach, it's guaranteed, just walk and sell. Here it's a dilema.

I haven’t participated at a craft fair yet, but also wonder about calculating paying taxes from profit earned on top off venue fees, material, time…

The most I ever paid in 7 years of being @ vendor was a three day event at 300 dollars. I pretty much sold out. With a profit of 1200 dollars. My highest priced items are 30 dollars.there is no way I would commit to a vendor cost like that.

girl i only did 2 crafts fairs this year cuz i started my business this year actually and my 3rd one is this weekend and i was going through the wave of emotions with you with the lack of sales in the beginning then clapping from my bedroom when you made over $500 that first time. my first two events i did not make back my booth fees at all. both shows i only had two customer. but this 3rd show only cost $55 and its not in a mall like my first two craft shows so i'm hoping i get a better turn out this 3rd show. only the positive you could at least right all those off on your taxes as a lost.

Howdy... I've been a woodworker for 40 years. However, I am new to the "selling" aspect, I'm still dipping my toes in the water as it were. However, as friends and family tell me, I am "overly" precise with the things I do. Call it OCD or whatever...I do my homework. That being said, I noticed that multiple times in your video you mentioned you don't like getting sweaty n such and you won't set up your own tent. In those instances, you are creating your own self made road blocks. A 10x10 tent only takes maybe 5 minutes to set up. 10 at most. What's the problem? TBH, you spent days/weeks/months to CREATE a product to sell but you won't spend 10 minutes to set up a tent? I think you should reconsider that. Buy one from Walmart, practice setting it up in your yard. Save yourself the expense of "renting". That's money in your pocket saved for 10 minutes of work. I understand you not wanting to get sweaty/stinky. Honestly though, these are CRAFT fairs. The people coming through your booth (customers) could care less. Your point of being there is specific, sell your craft. Period. Now, I'm not saying walk around with wet arm pit stains on your shirt, but if you're outside...it's going to happen. Accept it and focus on the sale. Make a joke about it, "Geeezzz, can you believe this heat? I keep asking people if they know where the OFF switch is, I can't seem to find it...Do you know where it is?"" I guarantee you, you'll get a laugh from it. And what did you just do with that, you dropped the customers guard in terms of relating to a common situation, the heat. That now opens up a door of TRUST because, for one, you made them laugh. 2, they now view you as a fellow person, not just a salesmen/woman. If you see them eyeballing a particular item, offer them a deal WITH a joke. "Dad" jokes work great!!! Say; I see you like that, if I tell you a joke and you laugh, you buy 2, deal? It's only $10 thousand dollars. $10k is absurd. But, I guarantee they'll laugh at it. You just made them laugh and you haven't even told the joke yet. As they're laughing and saying "I wish I had that much"...while their guard is down....you say "Hey. Did you hear about that fire at the circus?" They say no....You say "Yeahhhh, my gosh...It was "in tents". (Intense). Get it? It's a guaranteed laugh. Stupid joke, but it works. Then you say..."Ahhh, made you laugh.....tell you what, buy 2 and I'll take 25% off. That customer more than not will buy 2 if not more. Yeah, I said I'm new to the "selling" part of "my" craft....I am NOT new to "reading" people and dealing with customers.

Great job! You worked so hard and learned so much! Subscribed! How did you acquire the funds to invest in the big $500+ event fees?

£400 a tables is £7-£30 max in the uk!

I’ve exhibited for 32 years. I have never not made booth fee. You have to be very particular about what shows you participate in. You can’t just set up at a place and expect people to buy. It is imperative you set up at a show that advertises the show. There is so much more to be exhibiting. Even if you make your booth fee there is still other costs. i.e. raw materials, bags, business cards etc. never, ever set up at a flea market. It’s not the audience you need. Unless you’re the main gig it’s not worth your time.

How do you protect your product over night when doing 2 or 3 day events?

How did you find free events? I have never seen a free event.

Wow! Why does it cost so much to be in a craft show?

Maybe you might want to change the type of business. How about selling ice cream. Nobody refuses to buy icecream. Those icecream cart that you push about $5k, used, maybe about $3k. How about making gourmet chocolate, and make a stand on bicycle. I am thinking to sell, but I am not sure I want to pay hundreds and be in the red. I don't even have the money you spent on your atempts. I tried to sell on Etsy or on another place online, and nobody can see me because there is ocean of products. They just can't find me.