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Saturday, October 23, 2021, I had my first fair/market experience as a vendor at the Village Venture Arts & Crafts Faire in Claremont, CA. It was the first time I put my product in front of people I didn’t know, got immediate feedback, and made my first in-person sale. I had a crazy blend of nervous and excited energy but overall had a great time. I learned A LOT. I had a sales target in mind, but my ultimate goal was to gather feedback on sellthrough and brand reception.
Today, I’m going to share my top 10 ideas for selling at arts and craft fairs and markets. The core areas are booth layout, signage & décor, and branding. If you’re on the fence about whether or not you would like to sell at a fair or market, DO IT. Download my day of checklist at the bottom of this post.
VENDOR BOOTH DISPLAY
1. Plan out your booth space before the day of the fair
I did not do a booth trial run before the fair, but I strongly advise it. As a result, I overbought rentals and décor. I don’t regret this. I’m also the queen of returns (take pictures of all of your receipts before you leave the register).
My booth space was a 10X10 pop up canopy. The Pinterest booth layout searches were endless. I found this post the most helpful. I knew I wanted my booth to feel like a store with candles at eye-level and easy to grab. I wanted every visitor to feel comfortable touching the products and asking questions. For this, I would say think about your best customer experiences and flow of traffic. Where will customers enter and exit? Do product groupings make sense? I know it’s only a 10X10 booth, but it matters when the booth gets crowded.
If you are renting your canopy, table, and or chairs from a rental company, ask them to set up everything on-site before leaving. I didn’t follow my first mind on this because I didn’t want to be “difficult”. That’s another post. I’m working through it. Two of the canopy legs were broken, but my brother and BFF resolved it. The tablecloths did not go all the way to the ground to hide my backstock and other items; the tables dipped in the middle. While no one made mention of it, these things bothered me.
2. Place your products at eye level
Vendors cannot see a product when it is laying flat on the table. They need to see something enticing within their line of sight. I purchased three poster tube frames from Target to hang at the back of my booth and fill in and enclose the vertical space of my booth. I hung them using fishing line from the top of the canopy. I customized my product photos on Canva using my brand fonts and printed them at Walgreens using same-day printing. Originally, I planned on having walls on my canopy to enclose my booth. However, things didn’t work out with my rental vendor. I had to change course last minute with the poster frames.
I chose to display my pillows on a double clothing rack using boot clips, since I don’t sell them with pillow inserts. I knew people would want to touch and choose their own pillows because they’re all handmade. I displayed each of them with a pillow insert on a table in the tent, so people could get an idea of how it would fit in their space.
I displayed my candles using two 3-tier shelving units purchased from Target on top of a six-foot table. I made sure my shelving would take up at least four to five feet of the table length and stand at least 30 inches high. I used my dining table as a reference for table height and measured up from there to determine the height I needed. These were a great investment because they fold flat, have the right dimensions, and can be used at smaller marketplaces where I can only have one six-foot table. My other smaller items were displayed on easels and in vases.
3. Organize your checkout materials and station
I forgot it, but I planned to check out my customers on a round bar height table. I’m 5’10 and would prefer not bending over for hours. I also thought it would be great for getting emails for customers and passersby. It was a nice-to-have, but I would have still liked having it there because I pretty much checked out everyone from my iPad and reader in hand. My wrist hurt a bit, but I made it through. All of my packaging materials were stored on IKEA’s NISSAFORS 3-tier cart, which made it easy to move, get organized, and keep with my black fixtures look. I’ve also seen vendors hang their bags from the top of the canopy using s-clips, which is a pretty good idea.
4. Create a day-of checklist and FOLLOW IT
I was so tired from all of the packing that I did an eyeball of my place as a mental check that I had brought everything. I went through the list the night before but did not the morning of the event. As a result, I forgot some things. If you have help, ask them to go through the list with you to hold you accountable. This will prevent you from skipping over things.
BOOTH SIGNAGE & DECOR
5. Make sure your business name is visible and at several places within your booth
I went with a vertical business name banner hung with zip ties. On the day of, it actually served as a partition making my booth even more intimate. I purchased it from Vistaprint due to turnaround time and pricing. My banner was a simple text banner, so I wasn’t concerned about the overall quality of the print. I also had acrylic sign holders on every table of my booth with my business name, logo, pricing, and QR codes to my socials, site, etc.
6. Display your prices and business info as much as possible
People must know your prices and how to access your business. Potential customers will walk away because prices are not readily known and they don’t want to ask.
7. Coordinate your décor with your brand
I have a brand kit for my business that includes my brand colors, brand inspiration, fonts, logos, vision, mission, and brand stories. I use this whenever someone is doing creative work for me or I am looking to garner business with another business. I had several people who curate markets come in and tell me about future events. Here is the sample brand kit I used.
My booth décor was simple with artificial plants and seasonal items. I tried to pick things up from the Dollar Tree, 99 Cents Only Store, Target, and IKEA to keep costs low. My primary brand colors are black and white with a rust-colored accent color, so it’s pretty neutral and worked with whatever I bought.
BRANDING
8. Have business cards
I was hesitant about having them. People generally throw them away, so I thought they were a waste of money. However, they came in handy for people who just wanted information but didn’t really want to come into the booth. I purchased 2.5 X 2.5 inch cards from Office Depot and printed them at home with my logo on the front, a QR code for my business, socials, and website. In conclusion, make sure you have something to give those interested but not ready to buy. You never know who will return to make a purchase in-person or online. I also included a similar type of card in each shopping bag with a thank you message and QR Code.
9. Include something about yourself and/or your company
I printed a portion of my brand kit on a 20 X 30 inch poster board and placed it on an easel outside of my booth. I used Walgreens again for their same-day pickup printing. Many passersby took a picture of it and said they would use that info to contact me about future outdoor markets or other endeavors. People want to know about you and your brand. Have it on full display, even if only to draw people in for conversation. You’re there to network as well.
10. Brand your shopping bags
You MUST have shopping bags. I purchased kraft shopping bags in three different sizes because I have products of various sizes. All of my bags and boxes were hand stamped to keep things cost-effective. I purchased my 4 X 5 inch stamp from Zazzle. It was fairly reasonable and shipped quickly. HUGE shoutout to my friends who helped with so much of the prep and day of work. They did everything from stamping bags, packing, and helping me checkout customers. I would not have been able to do this without them.
BONUS
Of course, this depends on the type of product you sell, but people are triggered by their senses. I sell candles, candle accessories, stationery, and pillows. I took the lid off one of each candle and burned one in my booth. Honestly, I am not sure what the regulation on this was, but I had a fire extinguisher by the requirement of the event coordinators. I put the candle out of reach of visitors behind a plant to prevent them from burning themselves or knocking it over. It worked out perfectly because people were drawn into my booth by my core collection candle, berry season. I continued to use this candle to demonstrate how my USB lighters work. The lighters were a show-and-tell item people loved. I also had a small Bluetooth speaker playing music softly in the background.
I advise you check with the powers that be before setting anything ablaze to prevent citation or removal from the event.
*FOR MY CHANDLERS* Bring at least 100 candles for an all-day market, nine hours. 50-60 candles are good for smaller shorter markets. I scoured the internet for this answer and got so many ambiguous answers. Also, peak market time for all markets is between noon and 3pm. I also had a change of $100, a mix primarily of 10s, 5s, and 1s. Depending on the price point of your items, $20s may not be necessary. People will give you cash throughout the day.
