# Successful craft show?



## samirish (Dec 12, 2014)

Just wondering, what do you personally consider a successful show in regards to the booth fee?

I've heard people say they consider the show successful if they make back twice their booth fee..then I read an article that says a successful show should make you 10 times your booth fee.

What do you guys think?


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## cmzaha (Dec 12, 2014)

Anymore making the booth fee is a good craft fair... Lots of luck with the 10x's. Fairs are just not good this year


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## SplendorSoaps (Dec 12, 2014)

I just did my very first craft fair last weekend and did about 5 times the booth fee (granted, the booth fee was pretty small at $25 for the day).  Out of 17 vendors, there were TWO of us selling soap! :roll: Foot traffic was VERY light (for everyone, not just me), and it made for a long day.  Still, I feel like it went well and provided some great practice for the next one!


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## tinytreats (Dec 12, 2014)

I think it varies on the show and how much the table costs. I've been to craft fairs where tables cost $60 and I've be to fairs where the table costs $600! I've made anything from double my table fee to 6 times my table fee! Actually, I lied, one time I didn't even make my table fee back. Boy, was I mad!!

 I think now that I've been selling soap for a few years now, I've built my brand and I seem to be doing better with each show. But let me tell you, it's taken a good (almost) four years before I got to where I am now. And I still feel like I'm only just doing "okay".


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## girlishcharm2004 (Dec 12, 2014)

I would think it depends on how long you're there in addition to the price of your product.  Is it a 3 hr farmers market? Or and all day 8 hr craft fair?


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## houseofwool (Dec 13, 2014)

And when you say "make your table fee" is that gross or net?  

Our last show of the year we grossed 10x the booth fee, which is the best we have ever done.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Dec 13, 2014)

houseofwool said:


> And when you say "make your table fee" is that gross or net?
> 
> Our last show of the year we grossed 10x the booth fee, which is the best we have ever done.



This is a very good question.

Example - Booth fee is $50 and the soaps retail for $5.  So if I sell 20 soaps I have taken $100.  yippee!

BUT

I retail my soaps for $5.  My soaps cost me $3.00 to make, including wrapping, which means that from my $100 taken, $60 is already accounted for in the cost of the goods themselves.  So I have $40 left over and a $50 booth fee.............................

I'm out by $10.  

So I hope that people who do the fairs are calculating "making the booth fee" based on actual profit from soap rather than just retail value.


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## srblatt17 (Dec 25, 2014)

I just finished my 2nd craft fair this month.  My first was in September.  I sold my soap for $7 a piece or buy 5 get one free.  I sold almost everything there and sold out completely the next day.  I was very happy with the result.


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## cmzaha (Dec 26, 2014)

srblatt17 said:


> I just finished my 2nd craft fair this month. My first was in September. I sold my soap for $7 a piece or buy 5 get one free. I sold almost everything there and sold out completely the next day. I was very happy with the result.


Glad your fair went well for you and it is a great feeling to sell out, but the big question is how many bars this includes. It is easy to sell out of 25-50 bars, it is almost to impossible to sell out of 400 bars, which is approx what I take to all my weekly markets


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Dec 26, 2014)

srblatt17 said:


> I just finished my 2nd craft fair this month.  My first was in September.  I sold my soap for $7 a piece or buy 5 get one free.  I sold almost everything there and sold out completely the next day.  I was very happy with the result.



Very good - IF the profits from the soaps sold (profits only, so excluding costs of making the soaps) are more than the costs of the fair.


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## shunt2011 (Dec 26, 2014)

I agree with Carolyn.  I too take 300-400 soaps plus other products.  However, I had my first really good year selling in the 4 years I've been doing it.   I'm also very careful about what shows/markets I do.  I won't spend a huge fee to do shows either.  My products aren't high priced and it takes a whole lot of sales to even make the fee.  I do several about 3 hours from me as the fee is reasonable and I have made back my booth fees and made between 8-10 times or more than my booth fees. I basically do this because I love what I do and am proud of my products.  It also get's my name out there and has helped increase my online sales as well.   Location also play a big part as there are more and more soapmakers popping up all the time and shows seem to be accepting more and more into their shows.


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## srblatt17 (Dec 28, 2014)

Yes that makes sense.  I should have clarified.  I probably sold 150.  The booth was $35.  Like I said this was my second show so I'm still trying to increase my stock but it's not easy when I work full time, kids etc....so I just do what I can.  I definitely think if I had more it would have been gone.  Live and learn and try again next time.  I've been making soap for 6 years or so but just started to sell this year.


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## srblatt17 (Dec 28, 2014)

I wanted to add that the booth time was 9-3 on a Saturday and I had almost sold out by 12.  I plan to do more next year and up my game lol but at least I have a sense of how they go and what I need to do next time.  I think there was one other soap maker but the soap wasn't  anything like mine.  Mine were bigger and you could smell them.  I also think it helped where I was located too lol...(next to food)  the booths next to me (selling different things) didn't sell a single thing so I felt like I did well.  It was fun.


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## DeeAnna (Dec 28, 2014)

Remember the "new kid on the block" often gets more attention than the regulars, because customers are looking for fresh gift ideas. I've found that it works better for me to go to the local holiday craft fairs every other year or every two years. I sell more that way for less work.

edit: I'm selling gift and home decor items, not soap, just to be clear....


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## srblatt17 (Dec 28, 2014)

Oh absolutely! I think you are right.  Mine are definitely unique and different so I think that's what spark people's interest.  I just enjoy making soap.


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## Mellifera (Jan 1, 2015)

srblatt17 said:


> I just finished my 2nd craft fair this month.  My first was in September.  I sold my soap for $7 a piece or buy 5 get one free.  I sold almost everything there and sold out completely the next day.  I was very happy with the result.



Congrats! Isn't that a great feeling? The first big fair I went to, I sold every last lotion bar (I was doing honey, lotion bars, lip balm, and candles)--a women even offered to buy the tester! It's so great when people love the things we make, isn't it?


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## srblatt17 (Jan 2, 2015)

Yes it is! Thank you! It is rewarding to be able to create something that people love....including me lol.


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## Mellifera (Jan 2, 2015)

srblatt17 said:


> Yes it is! Thank you! It is rewarding to be able to create something that people love....including me lol.



Right! and these first fairs are as much for the experience as for the sales. This gives you an idea of what's involved, how much product to bring, how to talk to people, set things up, what kinds of signs... 

I really liked talking to people at fairs. It was always a great way to get feedback.


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## TBandCW (Feb 24, 2015)

I agree, it is an awesome feeling to have someone appreciate your hard work.

I have found that shows and markets vary from year to year.  One market I did very well at so I had two booths the next year.  I ended up losing $$!  Hard to predict the future.  Some markets weren't worth the $25 for 4 hrs, and then others were worth the $100 for 4 hrs!  Take the good with the bad, and hope at the end of the year it all works out!


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## Dorymae (Feb 24, 2015)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> This is a very good question.
> 
> Example - Booth fee is $50 and the soaps retail for $5.  So if I sell 20 soaps I have taken $100.  yippee!
> 
> ...




While I understand your principle, let me just say that if your soap costs you $3 to make and you retail them for $5, you probably will never be very successful.  A soap that I retail for $5.00 would cost me between $.85 and $1.25 to make!  If you are retailing for $5 then you can wholesale for $2.50, and you had better still be making a profit.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 25, 2015)

Dorymae said:


> While I understand your principle, let me just say that if your soap costs you $3 to make and you retail them for $5, you probably will never be very successful. A soap that I retail for $5.00 would cost me between $.85 and $1.25 to make! If you are retailing for $5 then you can wholesale for $2.50, and you had better still be making a profit.


 
Dory, it was just a set of numbers to get the idea out there, plus a lot of people have higher costs than they should but are constrained on the selling price by their target customers.

If you look through my general views on the matter, you'll see I am also a "2x costs = wholesale and 2x wholesale = retail" person.


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