Yes I will have some of those birds, which are very similar to your logo. I love your birds too and will love to see them in real life.
See you there. Best of luck.
Oh I love the idea of selling from a beach hut. Thanks a totally new one to me!!
Totally agree with the āentertainmentā side of things, Joy! These events are not always the best and I have really noticed the difference. Yes, it gets people in and promoters say they have had a large footfall but by the time the kids have had their faces painted, burgers have been bought etc there are a lot of people just browsing! 
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I would love to know a good fair in the northwest of England. My last one this year was the Friday before mothersā day weekend and was Ā£30 a table and in a hall in a small town centre on market day. The outside market was heaving but the footfall inside was minimal. Most people took nothing all day! Then last Christmas I did the 02 Handmade xmas market which was a disaster and ripped off lots of stall holders with no redress - even the OFT donāt care. I really want to have a good experience but seem to be throwing good money after bad! I am very disillusioned with craft fairs.
Some people are amazing! I have had the odd person who wanted my work for free and didnāt seem able to understand that I would be seriously out of pocket - complete strangers, by the way. But your story is about cheek of a higher order!
That is the mentality of some people I am afraid. I also make cakes and the venue where I sell them is quite upset that I might have to pull out of the monthly event because it is costing more to bake, package and sell the cakes than I am actually taking in money at the event. The other stalls all sell donated charity items, so the stalls donāt actually cost them anything. I donāt think the organiser understands that ingredients actually cost money!
Oh bother, Iām trying to change a text, but have to go now insteadā¦
This is the hardest question to ask, as a regular fair goer I pay all sorts. Firstly I would like to say that I see events as a means of advertising, every sale I make they get a business card in their bag and if they are very interested in what we do but dont actually buy anything I make sure they leave with a card, this way I have a chance of later online sales.
I do regular weekly markets, these dont always pay off on a daily basis, so these get added up at the end of the year (costs/takings) and an average is worked out, then I can work out if they were worth it.
Larger single events can vary from anything from Ā£15 - Ā£250 (the latter for 3 days) the more I spend on an event will depend on a few things, how long the event has been running (I avoid new events that dont have much of a following), footfall, if I am paying Ā£250 for an event I would expect in excess of 5000- 10000 through the gates, then you need to look at where they are being held, a village hall in the middle of nowhere will struggle to get the footfall, but sometimes as these may only cost a fiver they can be worth it, as it only takes one customer to make it worth it.
I am a spreadsheet fanatic, I plan my entire yearās events, with costs, predicted income, actual income and actual profit, this then gives me a rough idea what to expect to earn for the year, as I said it doesnt always work out as the weather can change your takings, but when you have done the same event a few times it gives you a good idea.
However I did pay Ā£180 for a 2 day event (local) which was supposed to be brilliant, it was my first year there, I only doubled up on takings where as I would of liked to of taken at least 3 times the fee, so I wont do that one again. Its trial and error unfortunately.
Lastly I am happy to pay Ā£250 for a 3 day event if it means we are going to have a bit of fun too, for instance we have a music festival in August and the whole family are coming, we are treating it as part of our holiday (which we will only of just returned from France the day before), camping, fishing in the harbour in the morning, listening to music etc and earning a bit at the same time! Cant go wrong.
Good Luck!
Sorry bit long!!
Donāt apologies, a very interesting post!
I did a lovely fair on Sunday. A handmade summer fair.
Town centre so lots of passing trade as well as people coming in as a result of the rather superb promotion / pre-advertising. Also people coming in for food and drink from the car boot across the street.
Venue excellent - a concert hall with a nice snack bar.
Iād chosen my table and it was a brilliant location, In the foyer of the concert hall which is lit from both ends and above. Opposite the snack bar (handy for drinks) where snackers could look across and see my glass. Also had a shelf behind me which was fantastic as i had taken a couple of stand up mirrors so of course could use them on the shelf - and I sold 2 of my bigger suncatchers I had stuck on the mirrors,
People were visiting my stall on the way in, then going round the main hall (without any natural light) then coming out to my stall again - and in several cases buying what they had spotted first time round.
I paid Ā£25 for that one and booked while I was there for the one in December (Ā£30) as I did pretty well on Sunday for a mid-year event so am expecting a pre-Xmas to be pretty excellent. Iāve even managed to book the same table.
Happy Bunny.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152111989253603&set=a.10150229148653603.325620.71748953602&type=1&theater
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I would love to go to an event that only took 10% or 20% of my takings!
I definitely donāt do village hall affairs any more, as they always seem to be full of underpriced granny-knit baby sweaters, tombola and facepainting. And yes, those cellophane wrapped sweetie bundles - how many years of practice does it take to master that craft?!
But the real craft fairs around here are Ā£20-Ā£50 per day, plus petrol and the rest of it. Impossible for 10% of on-the-day sales to cover costs. I use it as a showcase and marketing opportunity. My most expensive booking this summer is Ā£32 in the craft marquee at a big agricultural show. They do a lot of promotion, the footfall is large, the demographic are right for my type of products. I will make some sales, but I will talk to many prospective customers about commissions, and hand out lots and lots of business cards.
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Iāve started doing the bigger fairs now. Someone pointed out to me that if you add up the Ā£15/Ā£20 smaller local events and looked at the profit (probably not great), then itās probably worth stopping those and paying more for one big fair.
So I started that last year and itās a learning curve. I found that big country fairs in the summer with a craft marquee werenāt great as people just wandered through and werenāt really interested in buying from anyone.
A weekend fair I did which was just a craft/gift fair was much better. Itās a huge event with thousands if people and cost Ā£75 a day for three days. The footfall was huge.
So thatās what Iām doing now. I still do the odd local fair, mainly to promote my business and direct people to my online shop. The late night opening fairs in local towns at Xmas are usually good.
Laura
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Iāve done 3 craft fairs to date, all of them in December last year. 2 were local ones, one of which was very poorly advertised and I only just made my Ā£10 table fee back, the other was slightly more successful but not by much.
The third one was amazing though as it was a very well known xmas fair that had been running in a small village for a few years and I was blown away by how much I made and how much people seemed to love my items.
Iām actually gutted this year that Iām working on the day of this years xmas craft fair and am unable to book it off 
Iāve yet to try a popular āsummerā fair but Iāve learnt to only go for ones that are very well advertised or established otherwise it is a bit of a waste of time - Iād rather be making and designing new items in the 4-5 hours Iām sat making a tenner
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I am new to the Folksy forum and so this is really interesting and helpful. Razale
I know this is a very late post to this thread, but I am new and have been reading this with great interest. I have been doing local fairs for a few years now. Gradually as my work has progressed, so have my price points risen and I feel I need to be branching out now. I am discovering that when you sell higher quality items but are having a stall next to someone selling items in the region of Ā£5, those types of craft fairs are probably no longer relevant. They are still great for meeting people and generating awareness locally, but perhaps it is time to start branching out. I love the post on saving the money you would have spent on a few smaller fairs and saving up to show at a more expensive venue. This makes great sense and I am going to put this into practice. Sorry for long post!! Razale
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Hmm i was going to start a new thread but my question is totally related to this!
Ive been invited to do a Christmas fair this year in a local gallery, it runs over a weekend but theyre charging Ā£70 for both days! is that a bit steep? ive only ever paid up to Ā£20 per day beforeā¦ im really torn as the date is prime xmas shopping time and i know theyll advertise well (i did an art show there in May) but theyve never done a craft fair before, and i just canāt imagine making a profitā¦ maybe its worth a gamble though?!
Ā£70 for a 2 days isnāt expensive. I pay Ā£50 for a 1 day event at the beginning of December, but it is always a good day for me. I would take the plunge and if it doesnāt work you know not to do that one again next year.
Pauline
I think it depends on the value of the items you have for sale @stitchcity . My personal calculation for if a fair is worth doing is can I make 10 x the stall fee .
Ā£70 for an event that has no history is quite a lot to gamble on - but maybe they have a loyal clientele .
I would calculate how much money you would need to take to cover standing there for 2 days , stall fee and travel +other expenses and work out if it is viable or not. If not then the gallery is the only one that benefits.
Way back at the start of this thread I said that I was doing a big 3 day event at Earls Court (HyperJapan) with my vintage kimono silk items from my other shop (AnnChandlerOriginals) and I am pleased to report that it was a good event and well worth the Ā£96 stall fee.
I think Ā£70 for 2 days is reasonable, especially at Christmas time and as you know the venue and have done an event there I would go for it.
Ann
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