Christmas Craft Fairs

katyjo

Hi wondering if anyone does craft fairs coming up to christmas or anytime really? Ive started up a crafts page on facebook & am just finishing my webiste. We make personalised plaques & keepsakes & i was thinking of having stalls at some craft fairs in the run up to christmas with some christmas decorations & regular stuff. Was wondering are these fairs worth doing for the money or do people do them for the love of it!
I have 4 kids & a full time job already so i wouldnt be doing it just for the love of it iykwim!!

Would appreciate any thoughts, experiences & advice on this as its all new to me this crafting business!

Was also wondering if anyone else makes personalised stuff how do you sell it at fairs?do you bring a pile of blanks & make them up there or take deposits/payments & post on?

thanks in advance.
KJ.x

TreasureBin

katyjo wrote: »

Hi wondering if anyone does craft fairs coming up to christmas or anytime really? Ive started up a crafts page on facebook & am just finishing my webiste. We make personalised plaques & keepsakes & i was thinking of having stalls at some craft fairs in the run up to christmas with some christmas decorations & regular stuff. Was wondering are these fairs worth doing for the money or do people do them for the love of it!
I have 4 kids & a full time job already so i wouldnt be doing it just for the love of it iykwim!!

Would appreciate any thoughts, experiences & advice on this as its all new to me this crafting business!

Was also wondering if anyone else makes personalised stuff how do you sell it at fairs?do you bring a pile of blanks & make them up there or take deposits/payments & post on?

thanks in advance.
KJ.x

Hi

It would be a good idea to make up a plaque or two at the craft fair as it always generates interest when people can see you actually doing the work. But unless it only takes a few seconds, you're likely to get backlogged pretty quickly. So taking orders would be necessary.
Re deposits/payments, I offer both options when doing craft fairs. It depends on the amount of course, but people can be a little cagey about handing over full payment to someone they don't know, so I offer free postage (or some other kind of discount) if they pay in advance. Or else they pay a deposit and then I phone them for card details or email a PayPal invoice for the balance when their stuff is ready to send.

Whether or not you make a profit depends on the craft fair. I find the smaller ones in community halls can actually be better because the cost is usually much lower and there can be a pretty good turnout with people usually there to enjoy a day out. The bigger fairs in hotels cost more and although there's a bigger crowd, they can be more reluctant to spend money. But craft fairs can be a good way to advertise if you have a website or somewhere that people can buy later, so hand out plenty of business cards/flyers (maybe with a discount code).

I'm PMing you a link to find out about craft fairs nationwide, and you should also check out Crafters Ireland on Facebook.