This craft fair, I was told had about 900 people at it last year...this year was closer to 200! And that included the vendors! I was so disappointed, but I did make some sales, some good contacts for future sales (I hope) and manage to make a profit after the booth fees and various other materials I needed to buy to create my booth. So all and all I guess it wasn't too bad. Let me give you the run down of what happened.
First, they let us set up the night before the show started. Thank Goodness! With the 2 hours they gave us the night before and the 2 hours the day of we just barely finished setting up in time for the show to start...of course most of this is because my friend and I are perfectionists and we hate things that are just thrown together. I shared the booth with a friend of mine that makes amazing fold out greeting cards with scriptures and quotes. The two of us work really well together.
Out of all the booths we probably had some of the most unique items there. Most of the booths were pretty general items that you expect to see nothing really unique. Of course this is probably why we did so well, compared to everyone else. I think I was more disappointed in that then the turn out. I was really hoping to see some unique gifts that I could get for my family or to get ideas from. But not really.
Now I don't want to make you think that this craft fair was a total waste, in fact just the opposite. I am actually grateful that the turnout was terrible, it gave me a chance to think about what to do better next time. So here are some things that I came up with to think about when getting ready for your next craft fair.
First, be prepared. Do an inventory checklist, know what you have and how much. If someone wants to buy several items, know how many you have for them. Keep your inventory together and categorized. If you keep things that are similar together it makes it easier for loading and unloading, not to mention if you have extras that are not out for the customer to see you will be able to find it quickly. Label everything, know what's in what bins for easy access and quick recovery. Remember time is money so the more time you waste trying to find something under the table the more sales you will lose, people don't want to wait around for something. Most people at craft fairs buy on impulse. They are not looking for something specific, just something unique. Also know your venue. Know what other vendors are around, know where the bathrooms are, the water fountains and the food. People will come back to you to ask questions but as they do, something might catch their eye and presto a sale. Plus it makes you look more professional and knowledgeable.
Also know your products! This is pretty self explanatory and I thought pretty straight forward, but you would be surprised at how many people I talked to that had to look up a price or look to someone else on how something worked. Why? If you have someone helping you out, make sure that they know your items as well as you do. You look very unprofessional when you can't answer a question about your own work! If you offer different colors, papers, sizes; know all this and let the customer know if they are not all out. They can't read your mind, they don't know that your underwater basket weaving comes in 3 sizes if they are not all out or you didn't tell them.
Think like the customer! Walk around your booth what jumps out at you? What doesn't? Does everything make sense? What questions would you have? Price, color, custom orders or do you take CC? All things that they are going to want to know so how are you going to let them know?
Offer CC sales! If you are not sure how to do this go through ProPay. They seem to be the easiest and cheapest way to offer them, plus you can get a mastercard linked to your account so you don't have to worry about transferring money back and forth between accounts! More than half of my sales came because I offered this, plus I made connections with other vendors. So many of them didn't know how to go about offering CC and they came and asked me how I did it, 1 of them bought something from me and 4 took my card for the future.
Next look at your booth set up. When you look at your booth is everything at the same level? Or did you build it up so things have a sense of hierarchy? This was a huge thing I noticed at the fair. There were several booths that just laid things out on their tables, no levels, and no real sense of order either. There are several things that you can do to "add levels" to your table display. First, look at what you have to display. What might get lost or what do you want to show off most? Use empty shoe boxes, paint cans (small and large), plastic bags/newspapers or anything else that will give height to your table. Then use a table cloth to cover them up and bunch it around the items, don't make it form fitting (you don't want to give away your secret). Once you have things were you think they need to be start adding your items, your boxes and paint cans may need to move slightly in order to fit the actually items but at least you have a starting point. Once it is all set, Ta Da you have hierarchy! And a table that will attract attention from passersby.
Make friends with the vendors around you. More than likely if they are from that area they have friends that will be dropping by to say hi and if that is the case, they will probably point out something in your booth that they fell in love with and can't live without. I had 2 sales because of this. Not that that sounds like a whole lot but I only had 7 sales total...I recommend going around and introducing yourself to as many vendors as possible actually, this way if they have a break during the day they might come over and say hi and look at what you have plus they can send people your way if they find out you are selling something close to what that person is looking for. Word of mouth is a great tool at craft fairs! One of the booths that the craft fair this weekend had cake mixes that you make in a coffee mug complete with frosting! A great invention, anyways she sold out of almost everything because of word of mouth. All the vendors were talking about what a great idea it was, especially for teacher and secret Santa gifts where you don't have a lot of money to spend. Well one vendors spoke up and said she was starting to run out and that started a frenzy of buyers. Buy the end of the day I think she only had 3-4 types left out of the 14-16 that she was offering. Remember as you are walking around too to be handing out business cards, even if they don't get around to seeing you during the day they may take a look at your sight later.
Another thing to consider is participating in a silent auction, if it is offered. Not only does this get you exposure but sales. I had 3 sales because people were bidding on my Faith, Hope and Love Mirrors and didn't win. Plus the lady who won took my business card to tell others about my store!
One last thing, enjoy yourself. Engage in small talk step outside of your comfort zone. People are more willing to linger if you get them talking about a subject they enjoy talking about. not sure how to start it...look at what they are wearing, complement them on the jewelry, hat or top. Ask where they got it or if their is a story behind it. If they are wearing a sports team talk about that. Ask what or for who they are looking for gifts, sounds dumb but it works every time.
Follow these simple guidelines and you will do great and have a great time with less stress.
