How to Prepare for Your First Craft Market

Local craft fairs and markets can be hugely beneficial for your new or growing small business. Markets help you connect with local customers and fellow business owners, market your products, and gives you the opportunity to test out how different products, packaging, or displays are received by your customers. Markets can also be a lot of work and if this is your first time, you are probably feeling overwhelmed and confused on where to start. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there! I’m going to share tips on how to prepare for your first craft market, including a free market prep checklist.

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Before Applying to a Market

The prep work for a craft market actually begins before you even apply to be a vendor. You want to make sure the market is a good fit, that you are available on the date, and that you have enough time to prepare. If you decide to apply, you may need to take a few steps to get your application in top form to improve your chances of acceptance. If you have been participating in markets for a while, you may be able to skip some/most of these steps but I still recommend researching a new market before applying.

Find Local Markets in Your Area

Before you can sign up for any local events, you have to find them! Maybe you already know of events in your area by attending them as a shopper or seeing them advertised. Here are other ways you can find local markets:

• Social Media – Join local community groups where market hosts often share about events. Search for “craft markers”, etc. in Facebook Events. If you follow other makers in your area, browse their social media pages to see any events they have shared about in the past.
• Local Paper – Browse the local events or Classified sections.
• City/Town Website – Look for a local event calendar.
• Community Websites/Event Pages – Some communities have websites to advertise events in the area. Browse upcoming calendars (and past ones to make note of events from last year as many repeat annually).
• Local Flyers – Visit places where local event flyers are usually on display to browse for any upcoming markets. Think downtown shops, community centres, church halls, etc.

Research the Market

If you haven’t participated in this particular market before, I highly recommend doing some research on the event. There are more and more craft shows popping up these days and not all of them are reputable or a good fit for your specific business and products. If you’ve attended this market as a shopper previously, you may already have a feel for the event.

Take a look at the market website and social media pages (if they have them). Are they active? Do they have many followers and are their posts getting likes and comments? Do they showcase vendors that are going to be participating at their events? This is marketing for your business if you join their next market and it also gives you a look at the businesses who have participated in their markets before. You can reach out to some of these businesses and ask what their experiences were like at past markets. You will also get a sense of what types of businesses they include in their events which helps guide whether you will be a good fit.

What are the vendor fees for the market? Higher fees may be indicative of a higher quality show with more advertising, a nicer venue, more established vendors, etc. Lower fees may be a sign of a market with low budget for advertising that draws out a smaller crowd. BUT this isn’t always the case and you have to consider your budget. Markets with low vendor fees have a lower risk if they aren’t successful and can be a good way to gain market experience if you are brand new to selling at events.

Juried Events

When an event is “juried”, it means that your participation is not guaranteed. The market host will usually create an application form with a deadline. Once the deadline passes, they will take a look at all of the vendors who applied and decide whether or not they would be a good fit for the event. They will then send out acceptance offers to the vendors they choose.

It has been my experience that markets which include only handmade businesses are more successful for my handmade business. These markets attract shoppers who are seeking handmade, one-of-a-kind items which they know come with a higher price tag. If any type of vendor is welcome to participate, there can be a lot of low-priced hobbyists or resellers which can give the event a garage-sale feel that draws out bargain hunters who aren’t interested in or willing to pay for your handmade items. Events where the vendors aren’t the main feature can also be a bust as attendees are not going there specifically to shop and are more likely to skip right over the vendor booths entirely.

Beware of Scams

A very popular scam that is going around on Facebook these days is for accounts to comment on posts about a local market pretending to be the market host and recruiting vendors to message them to sign up. They will then take your money in exchange for a vendor spot, however since they aren’t the real market hosts, you will have sent money to the wrong person and show up to the market without a spot. Most market hosts are aware of these scammers and do their post to find and delete these types of comments, but it is impossible to stop them all before anyone falls victim.

Due your due diligence before sending money to anyone for a market. The host should be able to send you a lot of information about the event. Check out the account that you’re messaging with – does it look like a real person or was it created recently and have little to no friends, photos, etc.? Message the person/business who created the original event post, not a random account who is commenting on the photo/event page.

Prepare your Vendor Application

Once you have decided to apply to the market, you may need to take a few steps to prepare your application. First, read through the entire application form, making special note of the deadline so you do not miss it. If there are any sections where you don’t immediately have the answer or files ready, jot them down so you know what needs to be prepared.

Hosts will typically ask for a business introduction. This is your elevator pitch. A few lines where you introduce your business and what you sell. If you have a tagline, this can be a great place to include it. Tell them not just what you make, but why your products are unique.

You may need to submit photos of your products so the host can see what you sell as well as the quality. If you don’t already have these, you’ll want to take a few photos of your products to showcase for the application. Make sure your photos are well-lit. Some applications may ask for photos of your vendor set-up. If this is your first market, they may accept a sketch instead, showing your plans for your vendor table/booth.

Once you Receive Acceptance to a Market

Hooray! You’ve been accepted to participate in a local market. The first two important steps are to confirm your acceptance with the host and send payment for your vendor fee. Then it’s time to start preparing your products, event display, and planning a few other logistics.

Building up Inventory

In order to make sales at the market, you’re obviously going to need product ready to sell. Make a plan for which products you will be bringing and how many of each product, size, colour, design, etc. Unfortunately there is no magic formula for deciding how much product you will need to bring with you to the market as it depends on so many factors. Try to bring a variety of sizes, designs, etc. to showcase what you have to offer. If you don’t bring it with you, you can’t sell it, so it’s always better to have more product than not enough. The amount of time you have to prepare for the market will likely be one of the biggest factors in how much product you make since handmade items take time to produce.

You must also consider the fact that you will almost certainly have product leftover after the show. Will you be able to sell this product afterward on your website or at your next event? If not, you may want to prepare less inventory so you don’t end up with too much waste.

One helpful way to think of it is to consider how many products you hope to sell per hour, and multiply that by the length of the show. (Ex. If I want to sell 6 candles per hour [that’s 1 every 10 min], and the show is 5 hours long, I need to bring at least 30 candles.) Having a sales goal in mind can give you a better sense of how much product you need to make.

Be mindful of your top sellers – bring more of those and display them more prominently. As well of any upcoming seasonal or Holidays if you have products that correspond with those.

Planning your Vendor Display

How you display your products can have a huge effect on your sales. You want your display to capture your customer’s attention, be inviting, and showcase your products effectively. I could write a whole post about vendor displays (and I will!) but for now, consider the basics. Remember that whatever display pieces you use need to fit into the vendor space provided.

Most products can easily be showcased on a table (which may be provided by the venue or you may need to bring your own). A tablecloth is a must (I use and love these fitted tablecloths which come in many sizes and a rainbow of colours to match your branding.) Add height to your display using shelves, baskets, etc. which can display your product on multiple levels. I made my own wooden risers for displaying mugs and candles – find plans to build your own, buy pre-made or try these acrylic ones. If your products need to hang, you might want to use gridwalls for a better display.

It is a great idea to do a trial set-up before the event to decide how you want to lay everything out and see if you are missing anything.

Other Market Prep

Other tasks you should get started on include:

• Ordering a payment processing device so you can take sales with debit or credit cards (I use and love the Square contactless card reader)
• Ordering supplies needed to make your products
• Setting up event insurance. Your regular business insurance may include coverage at events; reach out to them to confirm and let them know when and where your event is happening. Some markets may require that you list them as an additional insured on your policy. If you aren’t already covered, you can use a company like Duuo to get affordable coverage for a single event.
• Booking accommodations (if you need to travel to the event), rental vehicle (if you don’t own one or need more space to transport your product and displays), and a babysitter

Market Preparations in the Weeks Before the Event

As the market date approaches, you should be hard at work making products for sale and preparing your displays. If you have wholesale customers, you may wish to notify them ahead of time if your order lead times will increase due to the market.

Here are some other tasks that you may want to start tackling.

Advertise for the Market

The market host will be advertising the event but as a vendor, you also want to help spread the word. The more people who hear about the event, the better, and you want to bring your customers out to shop from you at the market.

Share about the market on social media. If the market host has sent graphics to use for this purpose, be sure to use them. Post on your feed, stories, etc. If you have a website, it’s a great idea to have a page where you share local events that you will be at so customers know where they can find you.

Prepare for any Swag Bags, Raffle Donations, or Giveaways

If you have volunteered to contribute to a raffle prize, market swag bags, or giveaways, you will need to prepare the items for donation. This could be product that you regularly offer or perhaps you’re making a miniature version of one of your products. Make sure to allocate enough time and supplies to get these completed by the market. Some hosts may require that you drop them off ahead of time.

If you want to run your own giveaway at your vendor booth the day of the market, you will need to plan out what the prize is and how guests will enter. For example, you may need slips of paper for them to fill out with their contact info and a basket to drop the slips into.

Last Minute Market Preparations

In the last few days before the big event, you will probably be frantically trying to do everything at once. It can be very helpful to prepare for this earlier by making yourself lists and a schedule to have a clear picture of what needs to be done in those last few days. Here are some tasks you won’t want to forget.

• Get directions to the venue
• Wash and iron your tablecloths
• Prepare your packaging, such as stamping your bags with your logo or inserting business cards in each bag ahead of time.
• Make price signs, stickers, or tags
• Take out cash for a float
• Update inventory on your website. If your payment processing system does not sync with your website, you may want to remove items or update quantities on your website if you are bringing those products to the market so you don’t accidentally sell something online that you no longer have available.
• Share the event again on social media
• Plan your outfit. Check the weather and wear layers with comfortable shoes. If the event is outside, pack a change of clothes in case of rain.
• Pack plenty of snacks, water bottle, and a lunch.
• Charge your payment processing device, phone, tablet, etc.

There comes a point where there is nothing else you can do to prepare. Try to get some sleep the night before the market and remember that this is as much of a learning and networking experience as it is about selling your products. You will learn a lot simply by trying and putting yourself out there. Be proud of yourself, try to introduce yourself to some other vendors, and have fun!

Good luck!

Free Market Prep Checklist

If you found this post helpful, I’ve created a simple one-page printable checklist with all of my recommended steps to prepare for your first craft market. It’s also helpful for subsequent markets as well to keep you organized as you gear up for future events. Join my email community below to get access to this great freebie!