Im planning on attending the first craft fair on the run up to Xmas in the beginning of September. Itl be a new venue so Il be interested to see if sales improve.
Every year I take note of ideas I have while at the fairs.
I tend to make a mish mash of things, but Ive noticed stalls that have a similar theme tend to have people buzzing around them. So this year Il focus on my fabric and home décor items instead of jewellery and soldered items(il take those nearer Xmas as they will make good gifts)
Has anybody else noticed this?
What changes have you made, if any, over the years?
I started well over 30 years ago, both craft fairs and my work have changed! You get to know which are the best sellers and which colours sell best quite quickly. You always need more stock than you are ever going to sell.
I have heard so many different tips in my time, too many to publish here, just give it a go, see what happens.
I have now reduced my fairs to 4 this year, one of those I started doing 30+ years ago, that is the sign of a good fair!
I simply haven’t got the passion for them anymore, every week, lugging stuff around, packing, setting up, packing up again, but it’s a fantastic way to meet people and hear positives and negatives about your work, enjoy 
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Good luck with your September craft fair. I hoping to my first (for many years) early December and found these articles from Folksy really helpful.
http://blog.folksy.com/category/seller-tips/craft-fair-advice
Elaine
I think that stalls with a range of items fitting a clear theme (eg all the items are rustic or gothic) prove popular if the theme is right for the area (ie no point doing a gothic stall if there are no goths about but if you are in Whitby you could expect to be busy). If you have a mish mash of items and no clear theme/ style then shoppers don’t know what to expect and rather than risk some of their time they just move on.
Over the years I’ve found that how an item is displayed is almost as important as what the item is - I used to put stud earrings in little boxes and they never got looked at, they are now on cards (handprinted for me by my uncle to keep with the hand crafted feel) in trays so that people can flick through them and they now sell well. Sometimes you just have to keep trying until you find the right display method for a specific product.
Don’t get disheartened if it doesn’t go great - new fairs/ venues can be tricky as either no one knows they are going on so you have a bad day or everyone turns out to see what the new fair is like and you have a busy day.
Good luck
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I have done one fair each month this year, at different venues. Each time something different is popular so I just display as much variety as I can.
The atmosphere is always welcoming and I have met some lovely people, the crafting community are great aren’t they. This makes the days enjoyable even if the sales are not huge, I usually make back my costs though.
I find that if you have similar items it is easier to view everything. I find that people don’t like full stalls, they like to be able to see what they are buying like looking in a good shop window.I only do about 3 fairs per year and never do a country house as people just come to look round. Good luck
