To those who attend and do business at Arts and Crafts Fairs...?

Question

Have you found that there are certain parts of the country where the customers are more or less inclined to buy your product? Do you think there is an especially "generous" state? Or a particularly "cheap" state? Or is it just completely random from state to state and fair to fair, even within the same city? Please let me know your thoughts and experiences, and maybe what your product is, if you think it makes a difference to your experiences.

Answer 1

We quit the road 3 years ago after we had done arts and crafts shows since 1975. We worked from East to South, from DC to Fla. We sold Christmas items , high end, smallest ticket was 175.00. We found that the quality of the show was important, if the promoter did a good job advertising, was there parking, and how much was the entry fee. With high priced items we did well in all the upscale shows. We could not sell in the cheap outdoor shows. We had to lay out the money to make money. Our only bad town was Charlotte NC , could not sell there at all yet Greensboro NC not that far away was a sell out every year.
Our friends who made the most money in the shows were selling food items, like dips and prepackaged bean soups and things like that. Food sells no matter where. Good luck to you.

Answer 2

I believe the range is more from venue to venue rather than state to state: I can sell my patchwork purses for $40 each at some of the higher-end artist shows I've done, but when I do a church-sponsored or "in-the-park" show around the holidays, I tend to put more into smaller, inexpensively priced items like holiday ornaments, tote bags, etc. - things that people can buy from $1 to $5 or thereabouts since many people are looking for stocking stuffers and not statues or diamond jewelry.

State fairs are good for all price ranges since you'll find some people in a spending frenzy and others with only a few dollars left after the rides and food but who'd still like to take home something special.

Just attend some ahead of time to check out what the other venders are offering and make/price your items competitively. Good luck!

Answer 3

I am a distributor for Mia Bella Soy Candles and I live in the Northeast - people are willing to pay for good quality candles - I am not sure how it would be in other parts of the country. Our candles tend to be different, they don't have any black soot, are triple scented, etc so I use those things as selling features - and people like the scents of course, so those reasons are just bonuses!! Hope this helps!