What are your craft fair plans in the time of COVID 19?

[SplendidCargo]

I make most of my revenue from selling at shows. With the pandemic still continuing possibly through the summer and fall (if we have a second wave), what are your plans for selling in person for the rest of this year? I have an auto-immune disorder, and so I've put all my craft show plans on hold for the remainder of this year. 

[wavejewelry]

Good question. Here in Hawaii we've had very strict social distancing rules in place and that's made a huge difference in controlling the outbreak here. The state is slowly and cautiously opening up. Eventually outdoor craft fairs will start again but, how to do social distancing like the grocery store do at a fair? I plan to have hand sanitizer to spray on customers hands before and after they touch any of my jewelry, I'll wipe surfaces, as much as I can with, sanitizing wipes, wear a mask, I'm thinking about ways to make a plexi-glass sneeze guard. But how to handle money? I can take credit cards with a tissue, wipe down a stylus for customers to use while I hold my phone out for them. But how do I maintain 6' distance  while watching out for shoplifters or trying to help customers. Time to get creative for the new normal.

[wavejewelry]

What happened to this team? It used to be so active with artisans who gave a lot of information and insights. This is an important topic that should be discussed. Too bad. I guess the changes Etsy made to the teams just screwed everything up.

[RobynBraunwarth]

It really sucks, I used to come here a lot for information, and just to read how people did at shows. I keep checking back every now and then, hoping something will pop up.

[DragoninKnots]

The captain basically jumped ship without appointing a new one.

[TigersandDragons]

Yes, and several people offered to be a captain and/or leader. 

But she didn't choose anyone, just purposely wanted the team to die, if she was no longer involved.

[SplendidCargo]

I hear ya - it's sad to see this team be a shell of its former self. We used to have such a vibrant and active community here, and ever since the changes in Forums/Teams, it's been a frustrating experience just trying to find old posts and getting other members to engage.

[RobynBraunwarth]

The majority of my income comes from craft shows, I don't have an online shop at this point in time. I don't have any paid for markets until November, but with my dad (who attends markets with me as he enjoys helping, and visiting with other vendors), my mom, and myself being high risk it's up in the air if I'll do it or any other Christmas shows. While I obviously miss the income I also miss visiting with other vendors and interacting with customers. Right now, because my stock is mostly crochet and thus keeps, I'm focusing on making as much stock as I can so when I can go to markets again I've got loads of stock. 

[wavejewelry]

That's one positive thing about the lock down; I now have tons of inventory. I continue to keep my normal routine, except the doing craft fairs part, of working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week at my workbench. I've had time to come up with new designs and I'm looking forward displaying them whenever shows can start again. Has anyone come up with design for a portable sneeze guard that could be clamped onto a table?   

[wavejewelry]

I just ordered two face shields, the kind that dentists wear, to use instead of a sneeze guard! 

[DragoninKnots]

How's everyone holding up?

I've decided to take the year off from shows. It doesn't look like the ones I normally do are going to be held this year, and even if they are, I can't make a profit if the attendance is significantly lower than a normal year. So I'm trying to focus on online sales.

[RobynBraunwarth]

Holding up as well as can be. Very few Christmas shows in my area, which while it sucks for others I decided not to do any Christmas shows. I did two open air farmers markets in August and did fairly well. 

I don't have an online store, so right now I'm just focusing on making stock as it's crochet so it keeps.

[HomeSewnByKate]

All my shows have been canceled which I honestly don't mind. Sales have been going down and I questioned continuing them after last year. Downside is that extra $ financed my Christmas spending. Fingers crossed more people are mailing gifts this year. I would like the the organizers to promote the vendors on social media the day of the event.

As to the state of this team: I'm very disappointed the "captain" didn't pick someone to take over. There were many offers and she made it sound like none of them were good enough. What was once a great source of information that helped me when I first started shows is now filled with spam. Perhaps we should all contact Etsy and see what they can do?

[RobynBraunwarth]

I know there are over 9000 people in this group but I wonder if it would be possible to start a new group an encourage people to move over to it?

[DragoninKnots]

It's a possibility, Robyn. I don't think we'd get everyone to move over, especially now with most craft fairs being cancelled for the immediate future. It would be mean losing all the great existing info (currently buried under all the spam). I'd like to try to save this team first, but we need help from Etsy to boot our inactive captain.

[RobynBraunwarth]

Yes, would definitely suck to lose all the great info! Hopefully we can get this team back/active.

[DragoninKnots]

Have you contacted Etsy yet? I'm not sure if they have a policy for awol captains. It would be great if the team could be transferred to another captain.

[DragoninKnots]

I sent an email. Not sure if it's the right Etsy email address, but gotta give it a try.

[HomeSewnByKate]

I did send one and haven't heard back. I also messaged the "captain" but she isn't responding. Her shop hasn't been active in years so....

[FacetsbyKathryn]

Like everyone else I had six art  fairs cancel this summer/fall/winter. Trying to keep creating on a smaller scale. Some sales coming in. I'm a retired but part time worker so I still keep busy. Hoping this summer things will improve.

[HomeSewnByKate]

I wonder if this will end up boosting craft fairs. My sales were going down at shows and I considered stopping altogether. But now that people are itching to do something maybe sales will be better. 

[SplendidCargo]

I like to think that once it is safe to gather in groups, people will be more excited and enthusiastic to start doing those things that they missed, including craft shows. 

[PrairiePrimitives]

Hi everyone! I cut waaaay back on participating in Etsy teams when Etsy changed from the user-friendly format a few years ago. I pop in every once in awhile ... like now.

I did 2 very small "shows" last year. The first one, held at the end of June, was billed as a flea market. I've occasionally done flea markets and I've learned not to take my good handmade stuff to these events. It turned out to look very much like a biannual vintage market held at the same location ... and the shoppers asked where my primitives were. I sold a whopping $50.

The second event was the regular Fall vintage market at the same venue. Someone had booked a car wash to be held in front of the vintage market. This blocked the market from street view. I think we probably lost many shoppers because they thought the cars lined up for the car wash were lined up to park at the market and they didn't want to be in a big crowd during the pandemic. In reality, there were very few shoppers at the vintage market. I sold ~$300, about half of what I sold there prior to the pandemic. 

I've signed up for this Spring's vintage market at the same location. The booth fee has increased by 50% (WTF?!) and I hope there won't be a car wash this time!!! I'm waiting to hear if I've been accepted for a small barn show about an hour away. And I'm considering doing a craft fair at a local "antique mall" (term used loosely since it's mostly vintage and not much in the way of antiques). 

Mask up, keep as much distance between yourself and shoppers as possible, and good luck at this year's events!