Hi Dave! Totally agree with everything already said, but thought I’d add my tuppence worth.
Fairs can be exciting and it’s so good to meet customers in the flesh. My advice is to do your research on the fair, i.e. footfall, type of customers, other vendors etc to get an idea of how you might do there. Is it well advertised etc? You pay a bit more for bigger/better organised ones, but in my experience it pays off no end. If you can get in contact with someone who has sold there before they’re usually happy to share their experience. Don’t forget to pop on all your social media that you’ll be there too, so people who already love your stuff can come and see it in the flesh and hopefully make a purchase.
I take a float of about £50 made up of fivers and pound coins. (On that note - it helps to give your products nice round, whole-pound prices). As others have said, definitely consider a card reader. Most of my takings are usually by card, especially for big ticket items. No need for a printer, you can text or email a receipt if they want one from the app. Another consideration if you’re stuck with an older phone as you mentioned above, is PayPal here…you just give your customers your paypal here “name” and they can pay you that way…but obvs they (and you!) need to have a paypal account to do this. There are fees, but isn’t there with everything? Better than losing a sale! If you go down any of these route - you might want to get a power pack for your phone to make sure it lasts all day!!!
For the fair itself - make a small tool kit! It’s surprising what you find you need on the day! Mine includes sticky tape, masking tape, blue tac, safety pins, string, various sets of battery lights (some places are really dark!), spare batteries, pens, notebook/sticky notes, stapler, screwdriver, scissors. If you don’t end up needing them - you can guarantee that a stall holder near you will shout out for something random, and you’ll get a new best friend!! I’d never opened my blue tac in four years, but last year at a Christmas Fayre I was upstairs in a converted barn with a wooden floor…every time someone walked across the room my little figures that I make would spin around and even jiggle their way off my display from the vibrations, so I ended up having to pop a tiny blob of blue tac underneath each one to keep them in place!!! Haha!
I also have a couple of chalkboards in my kit - just in case I forget to price something, or suddenly realise I need to show some extra information - it can easily be added to one of these and still look nice. The little letter boards that are everywhere at the moment are another idea for this too.
A clear banner saying who you are and business cards are a must - it will help people remember you when they need that something special, even if they don’t buy from you today.
Insurance - Direct Line do an insurance for Crafts People and Makers, I think I pay less than a fiver a month.
Hope some of that is useful! Have a fab time if you decide to do it!
Nat xxxx