First craft fair bag question and general Help!

[Former_Member]

Hi all,
Our first craft fair is coming up and I am getting nervous. We sell mainly log tealight candle holders and heavy items.

What kind of bags do you put your sold items in? Do you get them someplace online? Do you decorate them? I have never thought about this and right now all I have are about 100 used plastic Walmart bags (we recycle and re-use them for shopping) and I think that would NOT be a good idea. :)

Also, right now we have two 6 foot tables that we can fill up with candles, rock tealights and things like that. Do you think that will be enough? We can get a third table and fill that up. Any thoughts on how much to bring?

Here is a link to the photo of our stuff. Is this enough?
http://www.facebook.com/DeerwoodCreekGifts

[Former_Member]

Brown paper bags with handles is always a great neutral to use at craft shows. And they do come in many sizes and can be customized with your logo, name, etc. I have bought them from gift wrap departments, dollar stores, and craft stores. I know you can get them online. Years ago I did a show and I had much smaller items, we used lunch bags and folded and stapled a fold over "card" with our info on it. It was cute.

[ReyesRobledo]

I always use brown paper bags which I decorate with my logo stickers or just a pretty ribbon. Lately, I have been looking at Pinterest for packaging inspiration, there are so many wonderful ideas out there!

[Former_Member]

People always say take everything you've got, but for me, it is never enough. I have been very sucessful at getting follow up orders from folks that I've met at craft shows (they didn't purchase that day) by really talking up my shop as a super convienient way to check in and order items that I maybe sold out of (and custom orders for me, but not sure how those work in your shop). Just bring a crap ton of cards and let people know where you are. I love the instant income of craft shows, but I really think of them as a form of marketing. In short, you can have a very sucessful show even if you don't have "enough". Good luck, have fun!!!

[Former_Member]

you can find a picture of my table somewhere on my facebook page (I posted one last month). I barely had anything at that show, maybe 30 ish items? But got tons of orders and still sold a chuck of what I did have!
facebook.com/forkeepsamanda

[Former_Member]

Like Amanda says bring as much as you can. But keep only minimum on the table. Customers will hesitate to buy if they can come back later after they've checked the rest of the booths out. Scarcity drives sales. Try to only put 1 or 2 of the same item on the table, and be ready to restock as it sells. Also too much of the same thing makes people subconciously think that no one wants to buy your items.

[Former_Member]

Thank you guys so much! I was thinking we had to cram as much as possible on the table to show everything we had. Your way makes a lot more sense.

Amanda - cute display!

We were also thinking of having one table with the glass wedding centerpieces to advertise that we want to get into decorating for weddings. Any idea how to market that at the craft fair?

[Former_Member]

At craft fairs (I do stained glass www.swanson-glass.com) I ALWAYS leave an empty set of chains (showing that I sold a panel). It makes people think that my work is in demand. HA

The mix of the 2 is a hard-sell, unless they are the same birch as your candle holders. Have plenty of cards and a photo album of your wedding work. That is my skinny on it :O)

[Former_Member]

To kick up the wedding theme consider some sort of drapery: off-white tulle, rafia, cheese cloth...something that compliments your pieces. Also, it would be great if you could make it kind of cozy, darkish to set off your candles. You might also want to think about battery operated tea lights because you don't want to be shut down by a drive-by fire marshal. (Yeah, they do check out art fairs for being compliant. Some even require that you have a fire extinguisher in your booth. Depends on the city.)
Love your work. You're going to do great!