Woah well im not expecting to make 10 x the fee! Previous years ive done xmas fairs and not made any money at all, but they were always free or very cheap to do, so i thought i might have a go at a more expensive one in the hope that its better organised… perhaps?
I’ve applied for a stall anyway… might not even get a place so i may not need to worry about the price! I think its a bit of a gamble but ive got a much stronger inventory than previous years and this place is only a 10 min walk from my house so travels not an issue
I’m just starting out myself. I haven’t sold anything on here or on Etsy yet. Stalls can be disheartening when you stand there all day and folk show interest, but nobody buys. But try not to get disheartened, keep the smile give out business cards with or without a purchase. Keep going
Stall prices have gone up I reckon. Tables used to be tenner, now I’m finding stalls around me are 25+
do a little research and get a table where your competition is, they will have similar customers. Better to follow in the footsteps of those who have done it before.
A really useful blog for comparison of rates and experiences. I tend to use one Heritage site most months, sell handmade cards and a small amount of wall-art. Have had from no sales at all one day, to over £100 , and bearing in mind the individual goods are relatively inexpensive, you have to sell a lot.
Encouraging that several craft traders now buy from me regularly. One customer bought a couple of cards last year, - nine months later phoned me and ordered a really big acrylic print of one of those images. You can never tell.
We avoid days where we have to pay for parking. I want to try some other venues but table costs and distance are a factor. Funnily enough, sunny weather is not always a good indicator of potential customers, have had our best sales on unsettled weather days !
I decided to go for something a ‘little’ big bigger this year and it looks like I have a stall at the Christmas Fair at Blenheim Palace over 4 days in November. The fair is a massive event and is extremely well publicised and attended with over 100 coaches going last year as well as visitors in cars.
I’m hyper excited about it and I’m now trying to figure out how much stock I’m going to need for it as making additional pieces over night isn’t going to be an option!
Photographing a good tip, depends how much stuff you have. So far I would only pay £10 for a table as my items are all low-priced so shouldn’t take long to cover the cost. Yet fairs gives the hands-on approach for folk ie see and feel the item for themselves, an advantage over online, always pros and cons aren’t there. But then you all know this …discouraging times I agree.
I know I must be naiive, but so far the village craft fair-type sales have asked for a flat rate for the table. I wasn’t approached for a percentage of my sales, in which case I suffered a distinct loss!! Though was pleased I’d covered table cost. I took it as an opportunity to see others, network haha, and generally get a feel for what I was doing wrong/right- my poppy brooches sold like hotcakes, which I was really proud of, wish I’d made lots more, but time was against me.(I displayed notice I would put a proportion to Poppy Fund by the way, and I did). Lessons learnt though for that day. Not good publicity/advertising for that day let us all down.
I paid £60 for a Friday/Saturday event, which did really well (by our standards!), the next time it was on the table was £65 and we did well, but not as well - especially considering it was Sat/Sun. The next time they put it on it was £80 so I didn’t do it. I went to have a look around and it was far more aimed towards crafters, the folksy selling handmade goodies just weren’t selling anything as it was completely the wrong audience.
I’ve paid £10 - £20 and to be honest the lower fee tables have seen far better sales. But… it really does depend on who turns up!
The most I’ve paid so far for a stall is £45 - then I was too ill to go on the day, so I’ll never know if it was worth it! In general, I don’t like paying more than £30, and my ‘regular’ fair has been £20 this year but is increasing to £25 next year. There’s only been one occasion where I didn’t make my table fee back (local community centre with it seems no promotion for the event at all, and therefore no footfall except for friends & family of stallholders) but it’s really just the luck of the draw how well you might do on any one day.
I can’t quite bring myself to ‘invest’ in the higher fees for the higher profile, bigger events. Maybe I would make the money back - but maybe I wouldn’t, and there’s a limit to how much money I’m prepared to lose for the honour of being there! When it comes to higher table fees, I definitely feel my time is better spent online…
In one weekend I’ve just matched my entire year’s sales on Folksy at a large Christmas fair that cost me £200. It’s a lot to pay out, and a risk if you’re not sure how well you’ll sell, but there is no comparison between the smaller local fairs and the big, well-attended ones. You do have to do your homework and find the right ones for your product, with the right demographic of visitors, but you can make a good profit if you choose wisely. This fair has run successfully for many years and is at a National Trust property - it attracts thousands of people and is very well marketed, with good advance ticket sales and a team of volunteers helping sellers and visitors over the weekend. I would definitely book it again.
