hi welcome to my channel in today's
video I am putting together all of my
top tips for selling at craft fairs so
if you have any lined up or if you've
never been to one before then hopefully
this video will help you with everything
you need to have a successful time so if
you're new and don't know who I am my
name is Emily so I'm an illustrator and
I have done craft fairs in the past
several years ago and they went well but
this year I'm really getting back into
it I have Lourdes lined up towards
Christmas if you've watched any of my
past videos you'll see that I've been
spending a lot of time on my table and
prepping and making new products and I
have just come back from a really
successful time festival where I had a
table so I thought it was good to put
into a video everything I've learned I
have another one in two days time so
fingers crossed that goes well but
hopefully these tips I give you help I
have put them all in a list on my iPad
and I've also got some questions from
people on Instagram so I'm going to
answer them as well so yeah so let's get
into my top tips so the first thing you
need to think about is is a craft fair
for you and it's a really hard question
to answer because I've had very very
successful craft fairs where you know
the table I paid for the table and the
money I've made on the day has more than
paid for it and I've made a profit
there's also been times where I've paid
20 pound for a table and I thought this
is gonna be great I'm gonna make loads
and money of the tables cheap and nobody
bought I think it's honestly a really
hard question to answer
in my opinion you've got to just try and
sometimes you need to just pay for the
table and sometimes it doesn't work out
it's all good experience though so have
a look how much they cost I'm doing a
few tables that are gonna cost me 20
pounds I've just done one the festival
cost me a hundred pounds for two days
you know it the cost varies are good
questions
is how much football they're expecting
so you know if you I've been to some
that so quiet nobody's walking around
they're good to do to build your
confidence but please don't expect many
sales and whereas the festival I've just
done you know they had over quarter of a
million people walking around I did
really well so it all just depends I say
give it a try your first one maybe do a
cheaper one but don't expect them to be
as busy so my next tip on the build-up
to the craft fair you want to be posting
on social media I say this because of my
last fair the amount of people that came
to my table and said oh I saw you on
Instagram I saw that you were gonna be
here I came to find you that is just the
best compliment ever so post that you're
gonna be there
post your products before you go use
hashtags tag that you're going to the
event I don't know about you but if I'm
going somewhere I always go on Instagram
I search the hashtag I search for where
it is just to see who's gonna be there
make sure you are tagging your products
before you go to the event get people
excited that you're gonna be there I
think that's a great tip so one of my
biggest tips and I actually mentioned
this in my last video which was a vlog
of me at my craft fair so I'll tag that
below if you want to watch that but in
that video I talked about the importance
of your table and the display in my
opinion it's fine having beautiful
products but if your table doesn't look
inviting nobody's going to look at them
because people are just gonna walk past
so I put as much effort into the design
of my table as much as the products
something for you to think about is the
colors you're going to use so I have a
palette on my Instagram and you'll see I
use peaches and purples and blues and I
wanted my table to reflect that as well
I just thought that my table was
basically an extension of my branding
and maybe that's something for you to
think about as well it doesn't matter
what you sell you can design your table
to reflect your brand
think about the colors you want to use
think about how your products sit
together on the table whether it looks
harmonious and nice think about the
decoration these are things that are an
expense but they just make it look more
pretty so I bought bunching I bought
nice flowers and plants everything to
just make my table just a little bit
prettier and the amount of complements I
got from it just shows that it was worth
it even down to what I was wearing you
know I decided to kind of match my
outfit a little bit to my table I mean
it's not for everybody you know wear
jeans and t-shirt it really doesn't
matter but I just really wanted
everything to be thought about and I
thought as a designer as an illustrator
I thought it would just be quite a nice
thing for somebody to see as they're
walking by another thing to think about
when you're planning your layout is work
of different heights so instead of
having everything just laid on the table
really play with different heights get
people's eyes dotted about when they're
looking at your table I use boxes to
prop things Oh it also gives you more
space when you're using different
heights so my next tip leads on from the
last one in terms of planning the look
of your table and that is practice your
set up before you go I cannot stress
this enough so on the lead up to my
latest table I think I did three
practice runs in my kitchen now that
might seem excessive and it might have
been but it took the stress out of
setting up that morning at the event I
knew exactly where everything was going
to be placed I had laid out on the floor
of my kitchen the space I was allocated
so in this instance I had a three meter
by 3 meter gazebo so I laid that out on
my kitchen floor I put my tables up and
I planned everything I fought a graph
where everything was gonna go and it
just meant on the morning off
there was no stress I knew everything
was gonna fit I knew everything was
gonna look right I just think if you if
you have the time to do it do a test run
do several test runs it's definitely
worth it
it's also worth bearing in mind that you
have to
and sizes depending on your craft fairs
so the most recent one
like I said eight a three meter by 3
meter gazebo my one on Sunday I have
half that size so I'll have three meters
width but I only have one and a half
meters depth so I can't do the same
setup as I had last week so I'm gonna
have to change it but because I've done
the test run already I know the space
I've got it'll all be fine
so yeah that's another top tip do a
practice room so it all depends on what
you're actually selling but for me as an
illustrator I also do personalized
portraits of custom portrays obviously I
can't do them on the day I take orders
for them so because of this what I do is
I set up an easel and I have a portrait
that I've already done made big and I
have it there next to my table the great
thing about this was it's a talking
point it's right there as people walk
past for people to point out and it
draws attention so this is my next tip
is try and have something large
something big a big sign something when
people are walking past fast and they
don't plan to stop at your table for
them to say oh they're more likely to
come over and have a look if I didn't
have that easel up I don't think the
fair would have gone very well last
weekend the amount of people that came
over and checked it to me because they
saw the easel and they liked what they
saw
I just think people walk past fast
they're not they're talking they're not
paying attention so I mean it's hard if
you're not doing something like that but
maybe have a think have a think of you
know if you sell prints maybe have one
of them printed big frame it put it on
an easel it's a great talking point
people can see it from afar and they
don't have to come over to your table
and have a look it's it's something to
draw their attention so once you've got
them to your table a way to keep them is
to have items at different price points
I also mentioned this in my last video
if you saw it so in the past I have sold
prints and cards but I've had things
that start from about five
which is fine and you know when I sold
things but in my most recent fair I
decided to put items on my table that
were very cheap and that started with
badges at 50p the great thing about
having badges for 50p or postcards or 50
for 50p meant that it meant that i did
quite a few sales from people that just
didn't have an intention of buying but
50 P's nothing so you know it was quite
easy for them to pull 50 P out and you
know buy something a lot of people
though once they you know decided on
buying that 50 P item they'd look over
and say oh this can't bear for a pound
or there's a print there for four pounds
and a lot of people spend 20 plus pounds
without an intention of doing so when
they came to the table and I think it's
because I started with that low price
point and you know they found more
things whereas if the lowest item they
saw was 5 pounds you know that's a big
stretch if you're not planning on
spending any money yeah look at what you
can sell put things on your table at low
price points you know I did a sale
section on my on my table with just old
prints and old postcards that were
tucked away in a cupboard that I'd
forgotten about you know I'm not that
bothered about making any money on those
so popped sale on there and they win you
know but for scabs went it was crazy
so definitely different price points
start very low and work your way up you
know I was selling portraits for over
100 pounds and badges for 50p and I have
that whole price point in between so
it's suitable for everybody so my next
tip in terms of taking money is buy a
card reader take a card reader with you
card readers are not expensive at all
and if you follow me on instagram you'll
see that two days before my last fare my
card reader died oh it's a good job I
got a replacement but I will post some
links or some different card readers
below I use PayPal at the minute which
isn't than what isn't the cheapest
option you can get cheaper but it's just
something I'm used to the great thing
about card readers are normally people
have put off when there's cash people
that carry cash anymore the ability to
let people do contactless was just
perfect people loved it and yeah I
really recommend buy
buying a card reader and displaying that
you do take card I think I got a lot of
orders because people knew I took card
and they didn't have cash on them so
another thing for your table and this is
something I've learned from past
experience and really struggling with
sales is make your prices really really
clear so what I've learned is some
people would rather not buy anything
because they're terrified to ask the
price in case it's too high and they
don't want to pay it and they would
rather just walk away so what I do now
is just price everything I make it very
very clear in front of every item how
much it costs so in theory no one needs
to talk to me if they don't want to they
can just walk off but by having the
prices there people can just say yes
I'll buy this thank you very much in the
past I haven't laid out my pricing very
well and it's it's been very clear that
someone's looked at something and
because they don't know the price they
thought I won't even bother I won't even
bother asking lady prices out and make
it very clear so people don't have to
train on for how much things cost really
just put it right there this is how much
it's gonna be you're probably more
likely to get a sale so a few questions
on Instagram I had one of the first ones
was about different pieces of marketing
I had on my table so this is really
important there's different people out
there there's people that absolutely
love coming to craft fairs they love
coming over and looking through
everything and chatting to you and you
know this outdoor sort people and then
this people that want to go past as fast
as they can and not make eye contact and
don't to look at you because they're
scared you're gonna try and sell for
them I can promise you we don't do that
I don't do that anyway I will just sit
there say hi and yeah there's people
that don't want to even look at your
table which is absolutely fine there's
some people though that are so really
really want to come and look you can so
tell but they're terrified and all they
want to do is walk passing grab a
business card as fast as they can and
then go and sit on a bench and look at
you on Instagram it happened it happened
a lot that's one of the things you need
you need business cards you can get them
very cheap I'll post a link to who I use
so on my table I had business cards I
had them at the ends of the table for
people just quickly grow
not have to come over I also had
leaflets on the table on one side I had
information about the portraits I did
the other side was information about me
and again I put them at the end of the
table for people to just grab I'm here
to order some more because they pretty
much went and my last fair and then with
every order in the back that I gave them
I popped a little thank-you not in so
that's just like a little postcard and
that just said thank you and it kept my
details on it so there are three types
of marketing that I put on my table and
it's definitely worth doing so like I
mentioned before I sell portraits
massive reason I do my fairs is yes to
sell cards and print that's wonderful
but if I get just one portrait order
that pays for the table and it makes it
all worthwhile so it's been five days
since my last fair and I've had six
orders from that festival so it's just
wonderful and they're all people that
came up to me ask for a leaflet and I
told them how to get in touch with me so
it's definitely worth just spending that
time and making those little bits of
marketing so another question I got was
about stock and how much stock to take
with you
so obviously I'm an illustrator I take
prints and cards and stationery I can't
answer for every type of crafter because
I don't I really don't know but for me
what I did was I printed 10 of each item
I was honestly worried that wouldn't be
enough it actually worked out ok so some
prints I've pretty much sold all of
those on the day but it was fine because
I could come home and print more if I
needed them for the next day if you are
printing externally I would take a few
more it all depends on how busy it's
gonna be you've just kind of got to go
for it and try I have to say I'd liked
the idea of something to look like they
were selling out on my table rather than
keeping it fully stocked all the time I
just feel like it looks like you've done
better and maybe that would entice
people I don't really know it's so hard
to answer how much stock to take I it's
trial and error that's all I can say
trial and error what I will say if
you've got an Etsy shop then you know
it's brilliant because you can have you
can just anything you don't sell you can
put straight back on onto the shop if
you do multiple crafts
again you've got stop ready to go to the
next one you don't need to worry so much
what I want to think about is if you're
doing sort of a Christmas Fair I would
avoid trying to do too much Christmas
stuff this is just based on past
experience so my last Christmas Fair was
a few years ago and I did so much prison
stock I did Christmas cards I did and
gift tags and just everything and they
did sell ok but at the end you know I
was stuck with all this stock by the
time the next Christmas had come I
didn't want to sell that you know it was
old I honestly I think I lost quite a
bit of money that Christmas because I
just made too much so this Christmas I'm
gonna do a couple of Christmasy things
but I'm not gonna go crazy on the
Christmas I think those sort of events
dress your table Christmasy but um but
yeah I would have boys doing too much
seasonal stuff but if you disagree
please let me know let me know your
thoughts below that's just me my
personal experience so a few people
mentioned insurance on my Instagram and
whether you need insurance and you know
what you need to do every single fair
I've done and all the ones I know about
ask for public liability insurance and
you need to make sure you have that in
place and you have proof of that when
you go to your fair some places ask for
it to be sent beforehand so yes you do
need insurance so this is just for the
UK if you're watching from America or
wherever I'm honestly not sure of the
rules and I'm really really sorry in the
UK you knew public liability insurance I
think the standard is you need 5 million
cover that's how much I have anyway
there's a few places you can get them
you don't have to pay a lot I think ok
like 2 pounds a month I will leave a
link below for some places where you can
get public liability insurance it's
definitely worth having anyway if you're
a freelancer all you need to do is input
what you do and you can print your
certificate and take it along with you
just in case anybody asks for it and the
final thing I got asked was where do I
buy everything for my table so where I
buy the greeting card holder and the
boxes and everything all the visual
things where did I buy it from and the
answer from
again I'm gonna leave some links for
things below so my greetings card
holders were on eBay my tablecloth was
from eBay my easel was from eBay just
everything I could get cheap was on eBay
so yeah so I will leave links below
everything I used it didn't pay a lot
for anything really I try to keep
everything as white and clean as
possible with a few rose gold touches in
terms of my decoration so my bunting I
had made from a shop on Etsy I will link
them below brilliant I got some bunting
from hobby craft so another tip I have
is to do with the setting up and getting
to your craft fair so it is hard work
I really recommend buying some big
storage boxes I got mine from being em
they were two for twelve pounds they're
really big I have two of them I have one
to put all of my stock in and another
one to have all of my and what would you
call it my things my scissors my blue
tack my rope buy everything I need to
set up the table so I have those two
boxes and they have everything in it so
I do recommend you takes a pair of
scissors some blue tack some tape some
rope safety pins are you safety pins to
prop up my banner let's see what else
did I take with me a pen and paper
always take a pen paper you might want
to take someone's details or you might
want to write down what you sold I did
that so I could keep track of inventory
and what need to be stocked up um it's
also worth taking a little pot put your
money in I took with me about 30 pounds
in change if you're selling things for
50p make sure you've got some 50-piece
you've changed always make sure you've
got a lot of change with you a few years
ago I remember going to my first craft
and I just took ten pounds in one pound
coins with me and the first person came
up to me with a 20 pound note and I
looked at this I'm like I don't have
change for you and I lost that sale
because they were like oh we'll move on
so now I make sure I have so much change
with me because trust me the first
person that comes up to you will have a
twenty pound not
guaranteed and my final tip is take a
friend with you I take my mom I've taken
my cousin and best friend Laura it's
always worth having someone with you
please don't try and do them alone
there's usually run all day so like my
one on Sunday will be 11:00 till 5:00
that's a very long day on your own yes
you might have people coming up and
chatting to you but if you want a drink
or if you just someone to talk to it's a
very long day so I would definitely try
and get someone to come and do it with
you just to you know give you a bit of
company my mom came to my last one and
literally just sat behind the table on
her little chair reading her paper
having her tuna sandwich and but it was
just brilliant because I had someone
there who you know could pop and get me
a drink or if I needed to go to the loo
she could just sort of stand at the
table for me
it's definitely worth having someone
with you yeah for the day so those are
my tips I really really hope they're
useful I I've gone through my list and I
have covered everything that I wanted to
so basically if you're going to take
anything away from this it is do a
practice run do as many as you can make
the table look as beautiful as you can
really show off your products by having
a really pretty table that people have
to stop and look at because it's just so
so pretty that was my goal have items at
different price points so whether it's a
child coming up and they like a badge
that you need to be able to quickly pay
for it with a 50 P or somebody that's
got a hundred pounds on them and wants
to spend it on your products have items
for everybody make sure you've got
insurance in place and print out the
copy and take it with you just in case
somebody asks for it have marketing
materials on your table business cards
leaflets whatever you can so that if
somebody can't make a purchase on the
day they can still take your card and
know where they can buy from you or
follow you or yeah just keep in touch
with you from then on and finally have
fun enjoy it people are coming to see
you and they're spending money on things
you've made I mean it's just the biggest
compliment ever so enjoy every second
and have a smile say hello to people if
people are terrified to talk to you
run passionate evil as fast as they can
and just give them a smile because yeah
they'll probably follow you on Instagram
afterwards so if you want to follow up
any fairs that I have coming up like I
said I've got one at the weekend follow
me on Instagram that's where you'll find
me
this channel is fairly new and is very
small but yeah I would love if you would
subscribe I show you what it's like
working in my studio and working as a
new mom I have a six-month-old baby and
yeah please tag me in any of your craft
fair tables that you that you're gonna
do I would love to see them thank you so
so much and I will speak to you soon bye
guys
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