How To Have a Successful Market Experience 

✨First I just want to start off by saying this is my personal opinion based on my experiences with selling at craft fairs and markets. While I have seen more success with in person selling, not everyone will have a similar outcome .✨

🧶The top 5 things I have learned from selling at craft fair/markets:

1.) Location, Location, LOCATION📍: Depending on where an event is taking place will impact your profit margins significantly. Major cities with higher income levels are more likely to buy crochet items at a craft fair/ market compared to rural areas with lower than average income levels. So when booking your next event, be sure you are aware of the average household income of the surrounding area.

2.)  A Season for Everything🍁: Similar to location considerations, be sure to keep in mind the time of year your are intending to sell your crochet items. Whether you’re selling clothes, plushies, or decor, there is a season for it. My crochet plushies, for example, sell really well during the holidays but not as well at the beginning of the year. This is why I try to have most of my events take place during the October-December timeframe.

3.) Pop-Up Vendors Events are Not Crochet Friendly ⭐️: Now I say this not as a slight toward pop up vendor events. I say this based on my experience with participating in local “pop ups” where the mindset of the average pop up customer is to come and “have a good time” listening to music, eating good food, and just enjoying the atmosphere (almost like a festival or concert). Customers who attend craft fairs are more inclined to want to pay more for handmade items as they understand and appreciate the time, labor, and effort that goes into making individual items. In consideration of your time, save these types of events for leaner times.

4.) Make some friends👯‍♀️: This is one of the most important things I have learned from my time participating in craft fairs/markets. Having friends who participate in similar events affords you opportunities to find other events you’d otherwise not known about. This can play to your benefit as well when there are events you don’t consider doing, but can recommend to your new market friend. Helping to uplift another small business helps to propel more businesses into positions to make more profits.

5.) Experienced Event Organizers🧑🏻‍💻: I say this with the utmost respect and appreciation for anyone who takes the time to put together craft fairs, shows, and markets; be sure you apply to events where the organizers are experienced in planning and implementing large scale events. Consider how stressful it is for you to plan and run your business, now multiply that by 50 and add in varying personalities and other factors and you get a small idea of what event organizers have to go through each time an event is planned. This is why I say find events with an experienced organizer as they are better equipped to handle those pressures while also making sure the event receives proper advertising to draw in people for your business to make sales. Some questions to ask to make sure the organizer has experience would be “How many events have your hosted?” “How will this event be marketed?” “What os the usual turnout rate for your event?” “What will be provided for my use for this event?”

Just remember that taking the step to decide to have a small business is already a step in the right direction. Not everyone’s path will look the same, so enjoy YOUR journey to get where you want to go. I’m rooting for your success 👏🏾