How to Increase Your Sales at Craft Shows (Expert Sales Tips from Experienced Craft Fair Vendors)
Want to learn how to sell more at craft fairs?
You've come to the right place to boost your craft show sales!
In this video & blog post, get expert advice from two seasoned veterans of the maker market scene: Nicole Stevenson and Mallory Whitfield.
Nicole Stevenson is the co-founder of Patchwork Show, which grew from a 25-vendor parking lot event to a multi-city phenomenon supporting thousands of creative businesses across nearly a dozen cities. She also founded Craftcation, the first business + craft conference of its kind in the U.S., and previously built Random Nicole, a six-figure clothing line featured in over 250 shops worldwide.
Mallory is the creator of Badass Creatives and author of How to Make Money at Craft Shows: Art Market and Craft Fair Tips & Tricks. She spent nearly a decade selling handmade products at craft shows.
Watch the video above, or keep reading below for our tips on how to increase your craft fair sales and make more money from your handmade products!
Tips for Selling More at Craft Shows
Here’s our tips for navigating the application process, getting on the jury's good side, and increasing your chances of success:
Create an Inviting Booth Experience
Your craft fair booth setup is your first opportunity to attract potential customers.
Nicole emphasizes the importance of creating ways to draw people into your booth and keep them engaged:
"One of the things that I love is having a little activity for kids or whoever's with people who the person is shopping... Some of our vendors I've seen them do a little coloring station, so they'll have like a little tiny table and kids chairs and you know just Xerox coloring pages and some crayons and that will keep the child engaged while the parent is shopping and that will increase your sales absolutely."
Another smart strategy Nicole suggests is using your less-than-perfect items strategically:
"I'll bring any of the stuff that I made that didn't work out very well, like my imperfects, I'll have those at the front to kind of draw people in. And it's also a great way to get rid of stuff that didn't work out."
Just because that handmade item might seem less-than-perfect in your eyes (we know how creatives often struggle with perfectionism!) - that doesn’t mean that it won’t sell, especially if priced appropriately!
Strategic Pricing and Promotions
Smart pricing strategies can significantly impact your sales. Nicole shares her experience with strategic pricing, using 2-for-1 deals as an example:
"I love two-fers. So, you know, whatever the thing is… when I was selling my t-shirts, I feel like it was $28 a shirt or two for $49. So it was a huge discount when you bought two and especially instead of saying like $56, I did $49."
Mallory confirms this strategy's effectiveness: "One of the things I sold was earrings and I would do... $12 per pair or two for $20. And I had a little sign about this 2-for-1 deal and those were some of my best sellers."
Whether it’s signage for pricing and promotions, or setting up your booth so that it invites people to shop and explore, the way you design and lay out your craft fair booth can make or break your sales. That’s why we also did a whole video dedicated to craft show display ideas:
Maximize Payment Options
Nicole emphasizes the importance of offering a wide range of payment options:
"Make sure that you accept multiple types of payment. So I know we all pay with cards, but have cash and have change. Have cash, have change, have cash, have change. And then accepting Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay... all of that stuff is going to increase your sales."
Basically, you want to make it as easy as possible for craft fair customers to make a purchase from you!
Create Strategic Impulse Buy Opportunities
Many of the rules that apply to any type of retail environment also apply to craft show sales. As you’re shopping at your local grocery store or favorite brick & mortar boutique, pay attention to what they do to boost sales and consider how you might apply it to your craft show booth.
For example, Mallory shares her experience with impulse items:
"I carried other artists and makers products in addition to my own. One of the artists that I carried, they had really funny greeting cards and magnets with their work. And so the magnets were like $5, the greeting cards were like $4 at the time... the sales of these low-ticket items would often make my booth fee. And so then I got to really make extra money on all the other higher-priced stuff."
When selling at craft shows or art festivals, it can be helpful to have products at a wide range of price points, both inexpensive impulse buys as well as higher end products.
For a fine artist like a painter, for example, this might look like having magnets, greeting cards and prints of your work as low-ticket items that are at a price point accessible to many people. You would also have original artwork or paintings for sale at a much higher price point (potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars per painting).
Inventory Management Tips
One thing newbie craft show vendors often wonder about is, “how much inventory should I bring to a craft fair?”
Nicole offers a crucial rule of thumb for inventory:
"How much stuff should I have at a craft fair? I will say you should have at least 10 times what you hope to sell. So if you hope to sell a hundred dollars worth of stuff, you should have a thousand dollars worth of stuff with you at the craft show."
She adds: "I found that the more stock and variety I brought to a show... the better I would do. Once my stock got dwindled, so did my sales."
Proper inventory management is a crucial skill for any type of retail business, craft artisans included! To learn more about this topic, check out the interview Mallory did with craft business coach Gwen Bortner:
Pricing Your Products Properly
Nicole provides detailed insight into pricing strategy:
"I am a strong believer in a pricing formula... Looking at what are your materials costing you, do not forget to put everything in there. So if you make t-shirts and you screen print on them... what if you sew a tag on the back? And then you're like, okay, the cost of the tag, but what about the cost of the thread? And you're like, it's only like two cents. Well, guess what? That two cents adds up over time."
She emphasizes the importance of proper pricing: "Underpricing, it just hurts everybody. It hurts all of us. So don't underprice."
Custom Orders and Future Sales
Both craft show experts emphasize the importance of being flexible with custom orders. Nicole shares:
"I did tons of custom orders and I would have people pay half of it upfront at the show and then they paid the other half when they picked it up. Yeah, and that worked really well for me."
Talk to People and PRovide A Great Customer Experience
If you want to sell more at craft shows, you need to interact with customers. The art of selling means you need to talk to people and not just hide in a chair at the back of your booth.
Mallory notes that not everyone is naturally suited to selling:
"For some artists... Sometimes you have a big craft show and you might need a helper. There are some artists who have actually found that it is better to just straight-up hire a helper who is more of that extroverted customer service salesperson type if you are really just too shy."
Nicole agrees, adding: "I never had a time where that was not worth it, where it didn't increase the sales enough to at least pay for that, what I was paying that person."
Post-Show Sales Strategies
Both experts emphasize the importance of email marketing. Nicole advises:
"Collecting email addresses at shows if you're not doing that, you are missing out on a huge, huge opportunity. I'm also a big fan of giving them something for signing up for your email address, like having some type of an opt-in."
Learn more about email marketing for handmade businesses
Final Thoughts
Success at craft shows comes from a combination of thoughtful preparation, strategic pricing, and excellent customer service. As both Nicole and Mallory demonstrate through their extensive experience, even small changes in your approach can lead to significant increases in sales.
Remember that every show is a learning opportunity. Take notes on what works well and what doesn't, and continuously refine your approach based on your experiences. With time and practice, you'll develop a system that works best for your unique products and customer base.
Want to learn more about how to be successful at craft shows?
For more marketing & business tips for artists and handmade business owners, subscribe to Badass Creatives on YouTube, or check out other craft fair tips: