Craft Fairs

To my fellow crafters,



I really need some help. I have just started my soap making business and have been looking into craft shows. It seems like they are very expensive and also require specific signs and booth setup. I have many questions, but here are a few.

1. Is there a reasonable place to have a sign made up with your business logo?

2. In your experience, was the upfront fee worth it after the craft show? Did you end up making a profit from it?

3. Any tips to get through my first one?

Thanks!!

I DO ABOUT 21 SHOWS A YEAR. THERE ARE GOOD ONES AND BAD ONES BUT YOU DON'T KNOW TILL YOU TRY IT. I PAY AS HIGH AS $150 DOLLARS FOR A SHOW. THE ONES I PAY THE MOST FOR I USUALLY END UP MAKING PROFITS IN THE 4 FIGURES. LAST YEAR I MADE $2000 DOLLARS AT A SHOW THAT COST ME 85 DOLLARS TO DO. I DO IT EVERY YEAR. SO YOU CAN DO A SHOW FOR 35 DOLLARS AND STILL MAKE THAT MUCH. I REALLY HAVE A HUGE INVENTORY OF STUFF. MY HUSBAND PUT UP A SHED AND IT IS ALREADY FULL WITH LARGE WOOD PIECES FOR THE FALL. YOU CAN'T MAKE MONEY IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE MERCHANDISE. I KNOW A LADY WHO DOES A HUGE SHOW. THE REQUIREMENT IS THAT YOU HAVE $10,000 WORTH OF MERCHANDISE TO SELL. THEY DONT WANT EMPTY BOOTHS. I DO JUST AS WELL ON MY WEBSITE. A COUPLE SUMMER MONTHS ARE SLOW BUT I STILL SELL. IT BRINGS THE MONEY IN WHEN I AM NOT DOING SHOWS. FIND A SMALL SHOW TO START OUT AND SEE HOW YOU DO.

Thank you. That was really helpful. I think I may start out with flea markets here that are very cheap and get the feel for what to do and how much to bring.

I found a cheap and easy way to make a really cute sign...I bought some vinyl sticky sheets off ebay... really cheap. just go to the search button on ebay and type in "vinyl paper" or find a sign shop and ask if you can buy a few sheets from them for a small fee.





*My vinyl came in a big roll. so I had to do some cutting.

1. cut some sheets down to 8x11.5 (or however big printer paper is)

2. Using your paint shop or paint program on your computer, pick out the font of your choice.. I used a nice font and made the letters pretty big.(enough to fit on the new sized vinyl sheets I just prepared.

3. Now when you like your font and size just mirror the image so it is written backwards.

4. now put the vinyl sheet in so that it prints on the backside of paper and not on the vinyl side. (that way when you cut it out, and you turn it around, it is no longer backwards, but just right..you may need to practice with regular paper to figure out which direction the paper must be inserted to achieve this....( r u still following??)

5. cut out letters.

6. peel and stick to some dry erase boards or some nice wood panels.



the sign I made only cost about 6.00 tops! and last for a long time! had mine for about 4 years and still looks good...



Another cute idea....



Use an old window pane with frame... adhere letters to the front of glass and decorate the behind the glass to coordinate with the holidays using cute scrapbook papers...



hope this helps with the sign issue..



I hope you can understand this...LOL I may not have explained this very well.

That is a wonderful idea. I really appreciate it! It is perfect timing too because I have a brial show to do soon. :)

Using the new provo craft Cricut works really good for these vinyl letters, my husband has been using it more then I have, for making words for his work van... LOL.

I only have the colors light pink and dark purple or I would offer to go head and just print/cut a sheet of your business name for you.

Maybe a friend might have one.

Good luck on the wedding shower your doing!

-christi

Wow, that is so nice of you. :) I would like to do my logo on it though. I will figure it out! I really appreciate your help though.

Christine

I saw that you were thinking of doing flea markets. While they can also be profitable, I have found in my experience that you get if not a different cliental, then a different mind set. We find that people at flea markets tend to be looking for "the deal" whereas people at craft shows are looking for something hand made and unique



I LOVE the idea of the signs you were talking about Mrs Jackson!!

Good luck with the bridal show!

I agree and am prepared for that mindset. Thanks for your advice though. It is hard because craft shows are so much money to get into and I woul dhave to sell a lot of soap to justify the cost. I may have to just do it at some point though. :)

I agree that the larger shows can be VERY expensive. Here though, there are any number of community craft shows normally held in church basements or school gyms. I have found that some of these shows go for as little as $10 for a 6 foot table.



Don't forget, your prices should include the cost of selling the craft not just making it [img]images/smiley_icons/oh yes.gif[/img]