15 Things to Look for as a Seller in an Art Fair: Marketing & Selling Your Handmade Crafts

Your friends have enthusiastically applauded your framed photography or your crochet doilies, or your home made jellies, jams and preserves. Or maybe you make jewelry out of paper beads, or embroider baby clothing, or knit lovely scarves and hats and mittens or mold your own spectacular aromatic candles. Or maybe you are a dynamo at crafting woodwork or creating stunning stained glass lamps. Whatever your creative talent and fancy you have been told people would buy that! Nearly everyone knows about places to sell your wares online from auctions to online boutiques, but some artists and craftspeople enjoy the experience of people to people live person interaction and the thrill and excitement of a trade show or local art fair. Before you plop down your hard earned dollars and lose money, follow these 10 tips to choosing the right art fair venue for you. This advice will not only keep you from losing money, but will result in a profitable and successful craft selling event!

1. If you see a listing on Craig's List advertising an art fair in search for vendors, ask some basic questions such as How Many vendors will there be? How will the event be promoted? Has the person hosting this event hosted previous similar events? What is the anticipated turn out? What other kinds of items will be sold at the fair? Are there any restrictions to the types of merchandise that will be sold? What fees, if any are involved for setting up a seller space? You probably do not want to participate in an art or craft or gift fair that is not really limited to hand made items. There is nothing more disappointing than attending a unique gift show that really is just a public garage sale or a bunch of multilevel marketers hawking commercial cosmetics, health products and food storage containers! You are in search of an art or craft fair that is limited to unique and hand made items and draws in a customer base seeking and shopping for such items! You want to participate in a venue that is geared toward and appreciates the labor and love and care you have invested in your hand made items.