Hanging In and Hanging On

Just like with any new adventure… life can be filled with trial and error. I saw this first hand with my mom over the years as she ebbed and flowed with the tide of pop culture. You may have the desire to want to make what is trending and popular, and if that is your style go for it. I found that if people know that you make a constant and reliable product, they will come back to you year after year.

Craft fairs are pretty much a dime a dozen between October 1^st and Christmas. They are at churches, fire halls, and can even be done as fundraisers. Application fees start at about $25 and up. 99.9% of venues will require you to have a tax identification number. Some places allow direct sale vendors, while others do not. Some require handmade only, while others are juried for entry. While one may argue that crafters and vendors should be allowed at the same event, a person who sells mass produced jewelry at a cheaper cost will undervalue the work of someone who has hand beaded a necklace for sale. Get my point? It’s a broad rule, but a fair one in my opinion. Juried craft fairs are also difficult for those whose items are compared against other like items. If you are the only one selling a specific handmade item, you are usually allowed entry to the show. They do this to keep the show from being overrun by too many of the same thing.

My main staple and my favorite product to make has always been cards. Early on with Pinterest, I would save all sorts of things that I would make and TRY to sell. Altered notepads, gift tags, gift card holders, candy favors, etc. I found that these took a lot of time to make and use a lot of my supplies. In order to make a profit, even a small one, people wouldn’t always pay the mark up price on my items. Whatever candy items I had left over at the end of the year would be given away. Same thing with the notepads or gift tags… and they weren’t the easiest to store either.  Also, making these items took away from my main source of craft fair revenue… my cards. The items that rarely sold seemed to just clutter my table space. Since these items didn’t really sell, I decided to focus on what did sell and revamp my display. I simply was not making money unless I focused solely on making cards. So that is what I decided to do, and have been successful at it ever since.

On the final installment of my craft fair blog series, I will discuss my “formula” on how I make cards, keeping them as affordable as possible for my consumers while maximizing my profit. Hopefully these are tips you can use!