Selling at Craft Fairs

On a personal note I love to visit and explore Craft Fairs. I love to stroll through the isles and visiting the vending tents to see what creative idea that person has made. Here in NC there are so many festivals and craft vending places to visit that its hard to squeeze in every place within that particular event month. I have taken my Etsy shop Flymeawaycreations on the road to sell at a few craft festivals. Being a craft vendor is fun, although it can feel overwhelming too. I am still learning through trial and error when I take my Etsy shop out on the road.  Selling your handmade items can be a rewarding experience plus it helps promote your online shop if you have one! Our shop is located in a small town near the NC coast we are lucky to be a part of a great craft/vendor market known as the Salty Air Open Market. After driving by this cute market multiple

times, I decided to stop one day and stroll around to see what type of vendors are set up. I noticed that my items that I create are unique and no one created what I did. After I spoke to someone and saw that I could bring something different and new to the market I had to try! Being part of this market is great and I have had successful sale days along with more traffic visiting my Etsy, Instagram, and Facebook Flymeawaycreations page.

I would like to share along helpful tips that have helped me succeeded on those market days.

1. Staging to draw in the crowds to increase sales. The key is setting a theme or props to help display your items, which can draw the people into your tent/table area. Having a covered 10×10 tent and tables help create your own area.   ( I sell 3D printed planters, so my tent is full of blooming flowers!) ( Starting this month I will have a 3Dprinter printing items to show our customers how our work is created.)
2. Bringing enough change, many people are likely to pay with cash, so be prepared to make change if you receive high $ bills. Also accept credit cards by using a card reader, this prevents a customer from walking away. ( Our shop accepts credit cards and cash, using a square card reader is easy, and I have sold many items by taking credit cards.).
3. Being organized and pricing your items is very helpful, it shows the customer that you are prepared and lets them know how much your items are worth.
4. Having business cards to hand out shows that you are professional and its a great marketing tool especially if you sell online. ( By doing this I have had more traffic at my Etsy, Instagram, and Facebook page.)
5.  Be friendly! Just saying hi to the people walking by can help start a conversation and it brings the people more into your area to get a close up of those handmade items!

Now, after finding your craft vendor fair/ festival that you would like to  set up and sell t take along these helpful tips above and go sell successfully & have fun!