Craft Show Preparation Tips

How exciting! You want to participate in a craft show as a vendor! You’re excited at the prospect of people looking at your amazing stuff and actually handing you money for something to enjoy doing. But you have no idea where to even begin planning for such an event.

That’s where I come in. Here is a break down of all the important stuff you need to do to smoothly sail through your first show of the season. For seasoned vendors you may pick up on some new tricks to help with your routine.

 

Find A Show

First you have to find the craft show. This can be a daunting task. Where do you even begin?

Word of mouth.

It’s always good to start with what you know. Start by finding local events you’ve attended as a guest in the past and find out how to sign up as a vendor. The easiest way to do that is that magical know-it-all website; google. Google the event in question and you might be lucky and they have a website with everything you need: deadlines, applications, contact names and numbers, etc.

Or, if you live in Western New York and/or want to vend in Western New York I’ve already done the work for you! Check out my previous post: Western New York Craft Shows. Go check them out and start planning what shows you’d like to participate in!

 

Apply

Now it’s time to fill out the application well before the due date! As in months ahead of time. Why? Spots fill up quickly. Many events are first come first serve. So always send in the application as early as you can.

 

Prepare

Now that your application is in, you can’t just wait for confirmation that you are in. There is so much to do before the actual event! Let me break it down for you, assuming you entered your application 3 months ahead of time.

 

3 months to show

• Craft your behind off!

I mean it! Don’t just sit around waiting for that phone call/letter in the mail to tell you your application has been accepted! You have to have product to sell when the events does come around.

I admit it. I’m not very good at this planning ahead thing sometimes. I mean there’s always tomorrow to sew right? WRONG! Every day that goes by is another day closer to the actual event. So every day you don’t craft means less products for you to sell later.

It’s very important you have a decent size inventory for you show. You don’t want to be at an event and run out of things to sell! Not only does that mean you’re missing out on potential sales, the people in charge of the event don’t like and and may black list you. That means you will not be invited to come back next year and if you apply they may decline your application. Don’t get put on the black list! Make sure you have enough products to sell throughout the entire show.

• Products

This is also a good time to go through all your products to make sure they are sell worthy. Time to put aside the ones you want to fix before the show or after. After all, no one is perfect, especially me.

I am always judging my own sewing. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve come across threads that I never cut or unfinished necklines or arm holes. There are so many steps to each of my products that sometimes I leave a few items unfinished. Not good. Not good at all to have one of those appear on my display at a show. To avoid this, I go through each and every piece I make before I pack them up nicely for the show.

• Business Cards

If you haven’t ordered any or designed a memorable business card you may want to do that ASAP. Business cards are KEY to potentially getting sales later on. They also tell your customers that you are a serious crafter. It makes you look trustworthy, making them more willing to purchase from you. Three months before the show is cutting it close, but now a days you can order new cards and get them easily within a week.

I still recommend you order them three months out so you can start handing them out to friends and family to spread the word that you are a crafter. I also like to order them early in case they take forever to get to me (get lost in the mail somewhere) or if there are typos that I missed when I ordered them.

• Apply for Certificate of Authority

You only need to do this if you are planning to participate in larger events that require you collect sales tax and display a Certificate of Authority at your booth.

This is a very important document if the show requires you have it. You don’t want to not have it when show officials come over to see your display and it’s missing. This could get you kicked out of the show immediately and never invited back. I suggest three months because that is when you are supposed to apply for it. You want to make sure it has plenty of time to get to you before your show.

• Display

Work on your display. This is not as easy as you think. You need to come up with a good display for your products and then make sure it is people proof. For instance; one of my first shows I didn’t think about how brutal people are to your display stands. I spent most of the show holding onto my stand, praying it wouldn’t fall as people roughly searched through my hanging items.

It’s always a great idea to set your display up completely before every show. That way you can judge where you want your tables and how you want to display your crafts without pressure of potential customers coming to purchase items and you’re not prepared.

Need ideas for your display? Check out Pinterest! People have so many wonderful amazing ideas! Here is my board, Craft Show Displays, that is full of all sorts of display ideas!

 

2 Months to Show

• Products

Now it is time to really review you products. Make sure everything is in order. Make sure everything has a price tag, count your inventory (You should be keeping track of inventory as you make things), and fold/ pack everything carefully in appropriate bins to transport to the craft show.

• Checklists

This is also a good time to make a few checklists. Make a checklist of all the things you need to bring with you to the show. There are some great pins on pinterest that give excellent show checklists! If you’re having trouble finding some, check out my Pinterest Board Craft Show Tips.

Since my younger brother and sister end up helping me set up for a lot of shows, I’ve started making a setup checklist. It literally goes from table to stand explain what needs to be put where and what needs to be set up first before something else can be set up. It helps make setup run a lot smoother. I no longer have to stop what I’m working on to direct what else needs to be done. Instead they just look at the list and do what hasn’t been checked off yet. It’s great.

Do you have checklists that work great for you? Or want to see my setup checklist? Comment below!

 

1 Month to Show

Now you’re getting down to the wire. There really is not a lot of time left to prepare for your show. This is usually when you start losing sleep and the nightmares begin. You imagine all sorts of things that can and potentially will go wrong. You get yourself all worked up. That is why you need to take a step back and breathe.

• Breathe

Take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay. Everything will work out great. Just take a day or two, or even a whole week to relax and not think about the upcoming show at all. You need this time to mentally save your sanity before the show. Trust me, this is necessary and your significant other, who you’ve been ignoring these past two months, will greatly appreciate seeing your face.

• Rehearsal

Now that you’ve had a moment to breathe, it’s time to get all your stuff out. Mark off the allotted space for your booth. Most craft shows give you a 10′ x 10′ area. Though, I’ve come across a show that has a 5′ x 11′ area, so be sure to read your information sheet and find out how much space you get.

Once you’ve got the area marked off either in your living room, driveway, or yard, now it’s time for a rehearsal. That’s right, you should have a dress rehearsal. Get your stands up, put all your merchandise on your displays then step back and admire. Or not.

This is a good time to look at your booth from all angles as if you were a potential customer. Have friends, family, and neighbors come over and give their opinions. Would you be attracted to your booth? Or would you keep on walking to the next one? Now is the time to make any changes to your display.

I also suggest when you are finally satisfied with your booth that you take pictures of the setup. This will help you immensely on the day of the show. All you have to do is pull up your pictures and now you can set your booth up exactly how you had it before. No need to stress about where you’re going to put that table.

• Products

Yes, yes, I know we have covered products the last two months. But seriously, they are VERY important to how well you will do at your show. So now is your last chance to finish up any unfinished products, any last minute fixes you might have, or if you’re sanity can handle it, make more products for your show. This is also the last chance you have to pre-show price tag everything and check for any damages.

When you’re finished, make sure you properly pack all your products in your craft show bins. What I mean is if you have clothing make sure it’s folded neatly because you won’t have an iron to get wrinkles out, if you have glass cups they are wrapped in bubble wrap to keep them from breaking during transport. Also, make sure your bins are not too heavy for you and your help to carry over a good distance. Remember, you have to move all your stuff from your vehicle to inside a building or out on a lawn somewhere. That means a lot of carrying back and forth. I suggest getting a dolly and only bins that can fit on your dolly to make your life a little easier.

• Equipment Check

Now is also a good time to check all your equipment. Does your credit card reader work? Don’t have a credit card reader? Probably should order one. I use square and have not had any problems these last three years.

Check your calculator, make sure it has batteries. Make sure you know where all your phone chargers are and make plans to charge your phone and other electronics the night before. Go through your checklists. Do you have everything you need? Pens? Paper? Email sign up list? Table cloths? Shopping bags? Change? Go through everything! If you don’t have it or it’s not working right now is the time to get it fixed and/or replaced. Once you know you have everything you can think of for your show packed and ready to go you can breathe even easier. You can be confident that you have everything.

I definitely did not do this once. I figured I’d done enough craft shows that I no longer needed to go through my checklist. I was so wrong. I forgot all of my hangers. Here I had a pile of baby buntings, scarves, and blankets that needed to be hung and I had no hangers. Luckily, my apartment was a short 10 minute drive away and I had my mom to keep setting up while I raced back to get the missing hangers. Never again will I go without going through a checklist.

• Partner in Crime

If you don’t have one yet, find one! I highly recommend you have someone commit to helping you out even the day of the show. If they only help with setup, take down, and perhaps an hour or two in the middle so you can pee, it’s a huge help. So beg, bribe, call in that favor, or ask your mom. Once you find someone, it’s good to do the rehearsal setup with them so they aren’t lost puppies the day of the show.

 

1 Week to Show

• Inventory List

You should already have an inventory list started if not finished. Now it is time to complete your list, make sure it’s up-to-date and decide how much of your inventory if not all you are going to take with you to your show. Believe it or not, at some point in your craft show career you will need to make the decision what you bring and what you don’t bring with you.

I like writing my inventory list after I do my rehearsal. It’s easy to count how many I have of everything as I put them away one at a time into whatever bin will be their new home until the show. Once they are in the bins, I know they have been counted. If for some odd reason I find ambition to make more before the show, I know I need to add those into the final total of what I already counted.

Having an inventory list is great because at the end of the show, you make a new inventory list. Now you can see how many of each item you sold. This tells you what is popular, what isn’t going anywhere, and what is your biggest profit item. It also points out potential shoplifting that may have occurred. Not a happy topic, but it doesn’t happen occasionally at craft shows, so be aware.

• Change

This is also a good time to start collecting cash change for the show. A good rule of thumb is to have lots of smaller bills. I like to have: $50 in $1’s, $30 in $5’s and $10 in $10’s. It’s better to have too much change than not enough. Though, if you have a vending partner, you could always send them to get more change if you’re running low at some point. Only if you’re vending on a day when banks are open unfortunately.

• Check in with your Partner in Crime

Make sure nothing has come up and your partner in crime is still up to the task of helping you out this week. If not, I hope you have a plan B in place otherwise this could be a very stressful week.

 

Night Before Show

This is your last chance to look through everything and make sure you have everything. It’s a good idea to review your checklist of what you have to bring and what needs to get done that way you don’t forget those hangers like I did.

Use this time to neatly pack your vehicle or if the show allows, to go and start setting up some of your displays. If I get the option to setup the night before a show, I take it. That way I’m not rushing the morning of. It relieves a lot of stress and makes the morning fun, not stressful.

Once the car is packed, you’re done. Go make a good dinner, watch a movie with your lover, and get to bed early! You have a big day tomorrow and it’s going to be great!

 

Your Turn

Did I miss anything? Please let me know!

And don’t forget to tell me how you prepare for a craft show!