10 tips on How to plan for your first craft fair (Tried & Tested)

ByWowThankYou

Are you thinking about selling your handmade crafts at a fair for the first time? It can feel exciting and a little overwhelming! Planning your first craft fair is a big step, but with the right tips, you can be ready for anything.

I attended my first ever craft fair back in 2000 and I wish I knew all of these tips before hand. In this post, I’ll share easy and helpful advice to help you get organized, set up your booth, and make your day a success. Whether you make jewellery, art, or any other creative items, these tips will help you feel confident and prepared for your very first craft fair.

1. Plan your fairs in advance

Find them on stallfinder.com or craftsforum.co.uk; check out local council websites; search online and in local press for craft fairs in your area. When we started nearly 25 years ago, this involved looking through the pages of the local free papers but nowadays it’s a lot easier and quicker to go online and search through directories.

That said, it may be that local craft fairs are being held in your neighbourhood right now. It’s always worth checking out local churches, schools, community centres, social halls, or leisure venues, such as sports centres or gyms. Any indoor space that’s used for public meetings is a potential site for someone to organise a craft fair.

The best advice as to how to plan for your first craft fair may simply be to go along with a friend and find out the contact for booking and how often the fairs are held.

HANDMADE BUSINESS TIPS

2. Plan your table setup in advance

Put quite simply; don’t rely on chance. It’s not a good idea to only have the vaguest of plans as to how your stall will look. On the day, you’ll have only a limited period of time to set up and if you haven’t worked out a plan to display your goods to their best advantage, you’re likely to be still trying to sort out this out when the doors open and hopefully the customers start flooding in!

It’s always a good idea to start by checking the size and dimensions of the table on offer. It may be that you’re bringing your own to save costs. If not, then take time to practise at home and make sure it’s flexible enough to fit on different size tables – they can vary quite considerably!

Which items on your display do you wish to stand out and for what reasons? So where do you wish to place them? Do you need to find or make room? It may be that you need to buy or make special containers or compartments to display your contents either on or in.

If you want your display to stand out it may need to stand tall so you may need to design several floors or layers on the table or else use upturned boxes to put things on.

Why not take pictures as do this, so you can record different displays and set out to help you decide which works best on the day. While we’re talking about content, don’t forget that less is more. A jumbled stall can often confuse customers causally walking by as they may miss what is right under their noses.  Then there’s the actual number of items themselves to consider displaying on the stall.

Do you really need to display all your stock at once? What’s the best selection to start with? Decide also where it’s best to display your prices; in front of the product, behind it or to the side. What may seem obvious to you, may not be so to the customer.

Don’t forget to consider the benefits of having an overall theme to your stall to complement your goods; whether in terms of colours for drapes and table cloths or the boxes in which your goods may be on display.

How to plan for your first craft fair involves knowing your brand and colour scheme for your business and this will help you to stand out over your competitors.

So you can see that there are lots of factors to consider in just setting up your table. And that’s just on what’s goes on display.  The likelihood is that you’re also going to want to get easy access to supplies and spares, and bags under the table, as well!

So how long will it take you to set up? Always longer than you think so it’s a good idea to time yourself from scratch and allow a little bit extra on the day as chances are that you’ll be surrounded by a whole host of other busy crafters doing exactly the same as you – often in an unfamiliar environment.

HANDMADE BUSINESS TIPS

3. Make a checklist of items to take

Once you’ve set up your stall at home, it’s always a good idea to note down all the items you need to take with you and pack in the car or van. If you’re being super practical why not actually load them up in the car beforehand just to make sure they all fit. Frames and tables may require extra space and care and you don’t want to damage any of your precious stock.

As well as stock, your checklist should Include, business cards, price labels, different size carrier bags, display boxes or baskets, drapes and table cloths, office essentials (pens, tape, scissors, clips, etc) and personal essentials (food, drink, medication, etc).

It may be a good idea to bring along a couple of spot lights to present your goods in the best possible light! If so, chances are that you’ll need an extension cable and access to an electrical socket. Did you specify this in your booking form?

After you’ve made a list of everything you think you’ll need, don’t forget the small handy essentials like blue tack and string! Oh and Velcro strips can often come in handy for a multitude of little tasks.

HANDMADE BUSINESS TIPS

4. Check the route in advance

Do you know where you’re going or how long it’s going to take? We’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve got stuck in traffic so it’s always good to make sure that you have the organiser’s mobile phone number in case you’re delayed.

You may get to the venue is good time and then find out that there’s no parking available nearby or that all the spaces have already been taken up.  So check parking options beforehand. You don’t want to be lugging all of your stock and equipment any further to the venue than you have to.

On this point, depending on your set up, some stall holders use trolleys to transport their stock to and from the car.

HANDMADE BUSINESS TIPS

5. Take an adequate float Money

And always keep your money on you for security – make a money apron or buy a waist pouch. Keep change separately away from notes. If you do have the facility for payment by card, make sure it’s charged beforehand and there’s a sign telling potential customers. It might just swing that impulse buy.

HANDMADE BUSINESS TIPS

6. Labels & prices

If you thought that setting up your stall was hard, then chances are deciding on what price to charge for your labour, time, materials and every last little thing that goes towards your finished product is probably going to be your toughest decision. So you need to decide this well in advance.

Having a range of prices is usually a sound move to cater for every pocket. Often customers are inclined to play it safe and buy mid range. Are you going to offer any discount on more than one item or offer an additional product for larger sales over a certain price?

Make sure your labels and prices are clearly marked. Tacky price labels may be seen as a reflection of tacky products.

HANDMADE BUSINESS TIPS

7. Your appearance is important

You may spend so much time in deciding how to plan for your first craft fair that you forget about yourself!

It’s often said that you are the best advert for your products. So make sure whatever you wear complements what you are selling or is at least neutral in outlook. Some stall holders will wear aprons or fleeces with a logo and their name or a picture or a web link to the product they’re selling.

If you’re thinking how to plan your first craft fair it may be worth investing in a smart fleece with the company’s name on it – if only to give the appearance of an established going concern!

HANDMADE BUSINESS TIPS

8. Support – Morale and Physical

Why not ask a friend to come with you – At some stage, you’re sure to need a break of some sort, whether natural or otherwise.  Trying to hide behind your stall while munching away is never a good idea.

9. Business card or a way of staying in touch with people

You want customers and potential customers to know how to contact you so a handy supply of business cards on the side of the stall may be a good idea. Better still, include one in each bag for purchased goods.

Even better still, have a contact point or website link on the individual wrapping itself – perhaps next to the ingredients if you’re selling a food product. Often customers like to know that there’re buying from local crafters and replying to ‘where are you based’ is a good starting point to establishing common ground or interests and a potential sale.

10. Plan to sell

Plan to sell or sell to plan? If you spend just a little bit of time going through these useful tips on how to plan for your first craft fair, the chances are that you’ll soon be planning your second and third craft fair.

Originally written on 11 May 2016 and last updated on 5 June 2025