Start Selling Your Crafts
5 Tips for Crafters Just Starting Out
(What it takes to sell your work at craft shows)


Do you just love making things with your hands? Do you often hear, "You should sell these?' Do you want to start making some money from your talents?

Maybe it's time to start looking into selling your crafts.

Selling your crafts at craft shows can be really fun and exciting. Watching the reactions of people appreciating a craft item that you have made with your own two hands can be exhilarating.

However, before you start selling your crafts, you must understand what you're getting yourself into. Going to a craft show as a consumer is a much different experience than attending a craft show as a vendor.

Becoming a vendor and selling your crafts is a lot of work. Yes, it can also be a lot of fun. Just realize that there is a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that consumers are not aware of.

The more you know before you start, the better the experience that you will have. So, here are a few tips so you can learn from my experience.

1. Start by visiting a craft show. Look at how it is set up. Notice the booths and how the crafts are displayed. Observe the customers attending. Your objective is to collect as much information as you can about how the craft show works.

2. Answer these questions: Does your work look like it would fit at this venue? Is the show well attended? Are the customers buying? Is there enough parking? Does the show look clean and tidy? Do the vendors look happy? Is there enough variety of crafts?

3. Talk to other crafters. I have never met a nicer, more generous group of people. Most are more than willing to share their knowledge and expertise. Ask about their experience with the show. Find out what they like and dislike about it. Ask about their favorite craft shows and ask why the shows are favorites. Ask if they think this would be a good venue for selling your crafts.

4. Test out your booth setup before you do your first craft show. You don't want any surprises when you get to the venue and you can't get your booth set up. Make sure all your tables and display pieces will fit in your allotted booth space. Some craft shows have variable size spaces or sometimes you might get squeezed into an odd shaped space. Make sure your booth set up can adapt to various configurations.

5. Invest in your display equipment a little at a time. A booth can be a huge investment. For outdoor craft shows, you'll probably want a canopy tent. Expect to pay at least $200 for a very basic canopy. Then there are display tables, racks, grids, a chair, packaging materials, and whatever else you might need to make your booth work for you. And this is just the equipment; this doesn't even include the fees for your space at these craft shows. See if you can borrow items from friends before you spend your cash. Check Craigslist, eBay, or thrift stores for used items. See if you already have some furniture pieces that might work. You can even use boxes draped with fabric.

Now for one last bonus tip: Never have any expectations about a craft show. You never know what a day is going to bring. So, just be sure to enjoy yourself!


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