Tips for Successfully Selling Your Creative Work at Craft or Vendor Shows
Whether you paint beautiful artworks or knit cozy winter scarves and hats, a creative hobby can be both relaxing and enjoyable. It may also offer a means of making some extra money if you choose to sell your handiwork at a craft or vendor show. This national database lets you find opportunities to sell your creations based on your location. Finding the appropriate venue is one thing, but how can you prepare for the actual event? It takes more than showing up with your products, so refer to these guidelines and you'll be good to go.
First Things First
You’re probably excited about selling your art, and you may not be thinking about the various administrative tasks that all business owners have to attend to, especially if you only intend for this to be a part-time gig. But everyone from busy CEOs to part-time artists have to pay taxes! As a self-employed artist, you can make tax time less stressful by estimating and saving your potential contributions in advance. In addition, don’t overlook the benefits of establishing an LLC for your business for asset protection and tax benefits.
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Create Tailor-Made Marketing Materials
When you're at a crafts or vendor fair, you're competing for visibility with many other people in the same space. Make sure passersby know what your business is about with the use of appropriate signage. You can order custom-made banners to hang on the front of your booth through companies like VistaPrint. Also, get some business cards made while you're at it. People may not be ready to buy when they see you in person but if they're interested in your product, they can take a card and use it to find your website for online shopping later.
Get Aesthetic Accents for Your Booth
You will find that the space you get at a vendor or crafts fair is very minimal in terms of design. You will likely just be provided with a plain table and perhaps a blank backdrop — and little else. Come prepared to dress the booth up. You can find cost-efficient table linens at Big Lots, for instance. If you are selling accessories or clothing, bring along a mirror or two so people can see what the items look like when they’re on.
Prepare Your Pricing and Inventory
Figure out how much you will sell your goods for in advance. Not sure how to price your items? Bluprint offers suggestions like checking out competitors' prices for reference, assessing the costs of hard supplies used, and considering how much time you put into the project. Once you’ve decided on a price list, label your products accordingly. You can combine this with an inventory sheet; list all goods and prices beforehand and then tick off what you sell, allowing for an easy overview of your success at the end.
Figure Out How to Collect Payment
Determine beforehand what types of payment you will accept, and then prepare accordingly. If you will only accept cash, you will need to have enough change on hand to break big bills, for instance. If you want to accept credit card payments, you need a merchant account at a bank plus a traditional credit card terminal or point-of-sale system. Another option is to direct customers to your online shop. You can create an e-shop using an easy DIY platform.
Get Creative about Making Additional Sales
Another advantage of pointing people to your website when they stop by your stand is that it affords them the opportunity to view additional products you might not have on-site that day. Hire a top-notch professional photographer like Holly to ensure you have excellent photos of all your products online. You might consider having a tablet on hand during the show, which allows shoppers to browse your website with ease while you’re available nearby for questions.
With these guidelines, you should be prepared to make your first vendor or craft sales event a success. Last but not least, don’t forget to smile: Research shows that a great grin can actually boost sales. A welcoming demeanor is the finishing touch to rounding off the above suggestions and enticing passersby to stop at your stand and check out your goods.
Make your craft business stand out with excellent photography. Reach out to Holly Birch Photo by calling 217-737-0971 or filling out our online form today!