What should I know?

[Former_Member]

I'm not doing my first craft fair until the fall. I need that time to create my stock, I have an 11mo daugther, and my husband does lumberjack competitions. So I'm waiting until I'm not so crazy busy. lol.

But what are some things I need to know going into it? What do I need to bring for my booth (all will be inside)? Any other info I need to know?

I live in a rural area so most fairs are small and at a school, American Legion hall, etc. I'm not doing the big, big ones about an hour away at this time. Not with the baby and when I don't know if I will even make back the registration fee.

[Former_Member]

Julie I would recommend you read through the treads here to get info. Also go into the Etsy forums and search craft shows - you will find tons of articles. Also I did a workshop here in Omaha about a month ago to share with folks interested in doing craft shows. Here is the link to the google doc of my talk:
https://drive.google.com/?pli=1&authuser=0#my-drive

Best of luck to you!!

[Former_Member]

Here's my craft show "to go" list of things to bring. I'll modify it for you since your shows wil be inside presumably with no tent.

$100 change
Credit card reader (I use square- it attaches to my phone, and its a free ap)
Tables
Table cloths
Chairs
Calculator
Price tags
Marker
Scissors
Gift bags
Note book
Display pieces
Business cards
Trash bags
Snacks
Water
What ever you're selling

You really do need to accept credit cards. I didn't at my first few shows and lost LOTS of sales. Good luck!

[Former_Member]

Oh! One last thing... Bring a helper! If one of your friends isn't available, see if one of their teen or pre-teen kids is.

[Former_Member]

Thanks!

I'm not accepting credit cards this year. It would involve getting a smart phone. If I find that I lose a lot of sales, it might be worth the expense of a data plan but I don't want to deal with that until I know. There is only one cell phone company in my area so can't get a cheap plan. I'm hoping that where I am pretty rural and many people still use primarily cash, it won't be a problem.

[Former_Member]

Some banks have an option to "call in" a credit card if you have a business account. I would seriously look into it. I know that when I went to a craft fair this past Fall, I couldn't buy anything from vendors who didn't have some way to accept cards. Of course I'm speaking for myself, but I never carry cash...and I'm sure there are others like me. You could miss out on sales because of this.

[Former_Member]

I may just have to lose some sales then. I don't have a business account nor can I afford to buy a smartphone with a $25/month data plan. At least not this year. If craft fairs go well, then I will look into it. Around here, cash is still king so I'm not too worried about it. If I start to travel some, then it will be a bigger issue.

Moving on from credit cards...:)

Is there any one item you can't live without at a show?

[Former_Member]

Julie you could look into processing credit cards online and then just getting the "old fashioned" knuckle buster machine to charge peoples credit cards. Check out Paypal for online processing. And opening a business account is super easy - I just opened a seperate business checking account at the same back where all my other accounts are located. Believe me it is totally worth the money to have an online processing account. I would say that at least 50% of my sales are credit card and at some shows it can be up to 80%.

And I wouldn't say that is just one item "that I can't live without" - I think that you should always be prepared - it will show your customers that you are professional and it will bring them back to you. But I guess money, business cards, water and snacks are probably the most important to me.