WWA Info Exchange

Just wanted to see how many like to sell their work at Craft Fairs. I was thinking of trying it since I was laid off because of slow down.

I like to sell my stuff at a flea market, but I don't. Guess I'm overpriced!

Rog

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Dont badmouth no strangers, they just friends you aint met yet.

An ounce of responsibility is worth a pound of State and Federal laws.

I spent most of my money on woodworking
tools and beer, the rest I just wasted.

In the past I did some craft shows (fairs).

The problem is that you can never get what something is really worth. Most of the items you would build are one-of-a-kind, therefore should be worth more. Plus, the craftsmanship is there.

There are folks out there selling "hand made" country style furniture that they get from a wholesaler. You won't be able to complete with them.

All of that said, it probably couldn't hurt to try a few as long as you understand that you may not get your entry fee back in sales. But, you can get folks thinking about you and maybe they will call for something else.

Larry does a few shows. Maybe pm him for advice.

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Frank

If you always do what you've always done...you'll always get what you've always got!!!!

Thanks
Your are right the biggest problem is the price of items. I walked around the local craft fair and most of what I see is junk.

Unfortunately, a lot of people at craft fairs are not willing to pay for quality.

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John

That seems to be the way buy cheap and throw it out in a year

My wife's observation after going to the local festival for several years is that if you want to make money, you should come up with something that is less than $20, (preferably $5), easy to make, and a bit gimmicky. That way you can make them onsite, sell as many as possible, and then come up with something different the next year.

If you want to sell your handcrafted items you have a passion for, then you have to be a bit more picky in choosing which shows to go to.

There's a local show in which I'd put my higher end stuff in and not bat an eye about asking what they're worth, but the aforementioned festival, I'd think several times about entering anything that I was asking more than $20 for.

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Experience - Adding to the ability to get into trouble, the ability to get out of it.

No way to earn a living, but it can be a good way to dispose of the things you build to stay sane. I pay myself an hourly rate over materials, and price things accordingly. Most woodworkers say I'm too cheap, most customers prefer to dicker.

Depending on what you do, start shopping for "art" shows, where pretense pays more. People at craft shows have less disposable cash. You may have to modify some standard objects a bit to jury in, so look at the others' stuff before you apply.

I.ve sold at craft shows for longer than I care to admit. I did actually make a modest living at it, but that was back in the late 80's-early 90's. I've actually started making decent $$ at it just this year. Over the yrs., I've developed a product base of good sellers and add to it with new items and retire non-sellers. Lately, pens have been selling well. Not the high end ones, but less than $20 slims.

I usually do 10-12 shows/yr., all withing 60 miles or so. I never pay more than $75 for the space(s) and usually get 2-10x10 spots. Most of the time, I can pull in a couple hundred $$ and during holiday time...2 or 3 times that.

I don't believe that I'll ever get a new Rolls Royce on that kind of money, but then again, I do it mainly for the fun of it.

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Treasure from Timbers? Maybe Someday!
Pen turning fool

My wife used to sell crafts and found "fairs" or whatever that only hosted haqnd made items only, no wholesale items allowed.
She did surprisingly well with her knic-knacks and spent slow times getting to know other vendors for ideas and tricks of the trade.

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Sean

Countin' flowers on the wall,
that don't bother me at all,
smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo,
Now don't tell me I've nothin' to do.

Second recipient of the D'oh Award. 4-13-08

My wife and I have found that craft fairs are a good place to sell wooden toys and small items but not larger items. We have found that prices below five dollars such as tops and ball and cup sell well, but not larger items such as rocking horses .