Wednesday 8 February 2012

Some Tips For Starting Out as a Trader at Craft Markets and Fairs

I had an interesting email from someone inquiring about how to become a trader at craft fairs. They said:
"I just came across your email while searching for craft fairs and thought I would contact you and ask if you can tell me how to become a trader at craft fairs.
As craft fairs are a way of bringing my Jewellery and handmade cards to the public... I am hoping you can tell me/ show how to get started.
Any help and info you can afford me will be greatly appreciated.
My apologies for randomly emailing you and asking you for your help. I do hope you dont mind. I'll keep my fingers crossed in hope that you will reply.
With kind regards and wishing you a lovely weekend."


I felt compelled to help and so replied with this. I hope it might be of use to someone else!

A good way to start is to register with various craft fair sites as an exhibitor/seller. A couple to get you started are UKCraftFairs and Handmade-Crafts UK Directory. You will be surprised how quickly you get inquiries. If you are on facebook, there are sites which post events to which you can make enquiries.
Once you establish a space at a market or fair, be professional. Ask any questions you need. Prepare your products, make sure they are clean and tidy, labelled with your co name and priced. Have business cards for people to take away. If you have space a small guestbook for future updates is nice.
Find out the size of your prospective table and prepare a display in advance. Use a nice white cover and small table boxes and shelves to organise and elevate your display. Photograph it and bring along so you know exactly how you will set up. Saves time and makes you look professional from the word go! Prepare a resource bag with spare tags, pen, pins, string, blue tac, stuff that might come in handy.
Try not to eat or use your mobile phone at your stall unless you have to, smile and be friendly to customers, don't pack up early. Those are my tips and I hope they were useful!





Above: My table layout preparation and below, the actual display.

1 comment:

D.Martin said...

You did a Good thing