Spring/Summer Shows vs Fall/Winter Shows

[RomaMiaTradingCo]

I wanted to get your opinions about if guys did better at events in the spring summer vs the fall/winter.

I've done shows in the spring/summer and Christmas shows. The Christmas Shows were always best, and the spring summer shows were always a bust. I know overall the spring/summer shows were horrible for all vendors, so it is possible that I am picking the wrong venues.

So, are all shows outside of Christmas low with sales? Or am I just picking purely bad shows?

[Former_Member]

i do better after January. The area i live has a lot of retired folks that have downsized, not looking for more pottery as they just got rid of their beloved collection before moving here so don't look at pottery as gifts for their other retired friends for the same reason. but after january we get the seasonal resident looking to furnish a seasonal house or take something back from florida.

[TigersandDragons]

It totally depends on what you sell, where you live, your target market, and the quality of the show. For example if you live in an area that has a high tourist season in the summer, you may do well at events that draw those tourists.

Christmas does seem like a "shooting fish in a barrel" type of selling season because of the need for Christmas gifts. But people buy gifts all year round and they buy for themselves too.

There are some vendors I know who tell me that they do very well at Spring shows. They have garden items, baby items, clothing and accessories.

2 of my best grossing and netting shows are in July and August. One of those I heard about 10 years ago, with complaints about how much work it is. While that certainly is true, our current designs are a great fit for the event, so when finally gave it a try a few years ago, I was pleasantly surprised.

[PlaynwithScraps]

My other shop is jewelry. I've done some good shows late April/ early May because people are looking for Mother's Day gifts. I think a lot depends on what you sell. I don't sell much during the summer, but I'm not in a vacation area.

[GlassyGrace]

After doing a few shows in the spring over the years, I decided they were not worth my time and effort. They were awful, low attendance. I've done a large show in August for many years. I live in a tourist/vacation area. That show has always been well attended and sales were good. A lot of out-of-staters. But November and early December shows have always been the best. Lots of people have lots of reasons to buy things.

[HipViolet]

I agree that it depends on what you sell and WHERE you sell!

For me, the first few years I did shows I did pretty much anything and everything I could find. I learned quickly that there was ONE summer show worth my time, and then I do a bunch of holiday shows. This year I made just as much money at shows as the year I did a bunch of them year-round and it was WAY less hassle (not to mention less packing/unpacking, loading/unloading, setting up/tearing down).

Either way you do it, just play it smart. I have found it really helpful to have a Google Docs spreadsheet with the shows, fees, and sales. I can see how I do year to year and have a good goal for the upcoming shows. Plus you can decide that maybe you only want to do shows where you gross a certain amount. Once you've done a few shows you can tell which ones are going to be the keepers.

[Plantcycled]

I tend to do better at Christmas shows, but this summer I went to a large artisan show and did excellent every weekend.

[MemoriestoYou]

For me, spring is better than October, but not as good as November.

[BohemianHollow]

Late summer and fall shows are best for me. The late fall / christmas shows weren't all that good. August to November is the very best show season for me and seems to be the case for most everyone around here. Spring shows aren't all that bad, there's still plenty of people wanting to shop, just not as good as the fall time of year.

I think a lot of that has to to with weather around here. We always have Indian Summers that last well in to fall. With the light and the late warmth I think it encourages people to stay out much longer. Even when we all pack up at 5 or 6 people are still out wandering around. That's usually why I wont pack up until I absolutely have to. I've gotten so many last minute sales that way! :D

[KilnMasterPottery]

For me different types of items sell in summer vs. holiday. Late fall people are looking for presents and thus go with a safer smaller pieces. In summer people are moving or spending time outside and thus are more likely to buy larger decor type pieces. Summers for me are less predictable but I had fabulous summers as well as not so great. Fall shows tend to do better but are harder work since I am making it with more smaller pieces.

[PrairiePrimitives]

Historically, I have done much better between Labor Day and early December. It still depends, of course, on the show, however!

I'm thinking about potential 2015 shows and think I may apply for the "very juried" art fair that I did in June 2013. I only did so-so there that year, in part because it was 95-100 degrees both days, but it was also the first year in a new venue (though the show is 55 years old!). 2015 will be the 3rd year in this venue, so hopefully shoppers will have found it by now!

[Former_Member]

My season crashes after the beginning of November, although this year I had a horrible October as well. Spring and Summer are alway the best for me. December and holiday shows are historically bad for me. I do better when people are buying for themselves rather then for gifts.

[Former_Member]

I won't ever do any shows between late April and the end of October simply because people just don't venture outside here very much during that time of year because of the intense heat.

Its hard to convince someone to go to a show when its over 100F outside.

[Former_Member]

I've stopped doing Spring and Summer shows altogether. My best shows are September through November. I don't even like venturing into December too much -- definitely not past the first weekend. I think that people who still need to find gifts in the middle of December are in that desperate phase and won't waste time "hoping" they'll find something at a craft show. They'll head to the mall or big box stores. My husband and I "walked" several December shows this year to see if we wanted to add them to our schedule for next year. Attendance at all was pathetic.

[TigersandDragons]

I guess it all depends on where you live, there are shows I do the first and second weekend in December, and these are my best Christmas shows.
These are also the largest shows held in their respective cities and have been running for decades, so are well known, well advertised and well attended.

[Former_Member]

I do vintage markets, so both times of year work good.

[brendascrochetnsuch]

My spring/summer shows have been a bust too. My items just don't sell in the spring/summer.

Now I stick to farmer's markets for produce in the summer and 1 show in Dec for my hand crafted items.

[Former_Member]

We did a few very large shows this past Nov & Dec & did very well. The prior year, we did so-so before the Christmas season. We also did well last spring & summer, much better than the year before.

I think a lot has to do with the types of products you sell, the venue you choose, how well they market their show, & also how well you market your own business.

Last year, we started doing more Social Media so we could get the word out about shows we would be attending. We also redesigned our product packaging to include contact info, facebook info, etc... We also redesigned our business cards with all of our Social Media/Contact info & pass them out to everyone at our shows, along with our brochures.

I also like to take advantage of the promoter's website/facebook page whenever possible. I'll go on their page & make a post about how we're looking forward to attending the show. Might as well take advantage of visitors to their page to let them know we'll be attending.

Based on last year, it really didn't seem to make a difference for us if the show was in the Spring/Summer or Fall/Winter. We've been making a lot of changes to our products, display & promoting/marketing the shows on our own & it seemed to make a big difference as last year was several times better than the year before. At one local event, we did 8x the sales the last time, compared to the year before, so at least for us, we'll do shows all year long.

[Former_Member]

I decided to venture out of my comfort zone this year and did a couple shows in August and one in September. The August shows were a bust - at one I didn't make my booth fee back and the other I was lucky a customer bought 4 bags. The September show was okay, but very slow. But then again, I make primarily fall/winter accessories. But, this year, I think I'm going to try and get some summer shows again as it is prime time for me to do a lot of them since my son is with his dad. But, this time I will only bring my household goods. Bags, dryer balls, washcloths and such. If I can get them made, then some baby photo props. Then in October, I will start bringing my other products with.

[CoquetteBath]

for me, around here, the Spring shows bring in about 50% of what the fall shows do.

So I don't do them.

[WhimsyBits]

I find that around here vintage/antiques do well at all times of the year but I think for crafts those are usually only good during the holiday season. Which is kind of a bummer for me because I was hoping to do shows years around but I learned this past year that I likely won't be able to.

[Former_Member]

WhimsyBits, have you tried doing shows at times other than the holidays? If not, the only way to know for sure is to do a few.

Don't forget, the holidays aren't the only time people buy stuff. We have Valentine's Day coming up, Mother's Day, Easter, Father's Day. People buy for others due to birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, or just because they saw something unique & whimsical that matches someone they know.

If you don't do well at one show, don't automatically write off that time of year. It could be that specific show/demographic. It could be that the show promoter didn't promote the show well. It could be a variety of things, not just necessarily the time of year. If one show doesn't pan out, try another & another.

Sometimes, it just takes time for people to see your crafts & you might not get them the first time but they might be looking for you the next time. Luckily, we've always made $ at our shows, but some shows we might have just squeaked by & made enough to cover our costs, but the next time we did the same show, we made a lot more, as we started doing our own promotions to let customers know the shows we'd be attending & when.

Building can take time. At the very least, strive to make your booth fee back. I tend to look at craft shows more along the marketing side of things. Sure, I want to make $$, we all do. But, I also look at being at these shows as an opportunity to meet new potential customers, sell to returning customers & to get our name out there. The more we show up, the more people that will be looking for us the next time.

[Mulchandmore]

Shows any time of year can be good, for us I have found that the first time we do a show in a new area, sales may be slow, but the next time we are back some people are looking for us. Some of our products sell better in the summer, others in fall. And yarn doesn't sell well close to Christmas (not enough time to make things) and the weather (snow storms) sometimes makes travel iffy, so I haven't scheduled Dec shows the last few years.

And even a show with poor sales is an opportunity to advertise and network with other vendors. At one show my wood-burned plaques led to a question and a custom order for a carved and burned garage name sign. She was happy and later ordered two more for gifts for others.