# fees for craft shows???



## rubato456 (May 15, 2009)

:shock:  :shock: i've been looking around at different shows in my area.....and they have booth fees between $525 and 700!!!!! yikes. i actually found one which has a first timer's fee of only $50...that's more my speed. however i'm wondering if the fee is commensurate with the attendance.....i imagine it is. i went into a crafting store to buy ribbon and i asked them if they attended the show i'm interested in going to....she said they used to but that they didn't make what they wanted to and so stopped going.  she said that most of the crafts there were quilters....if so maybe i would do ok as one of the few soapers?  

wondering what other's experience is re fees for booths


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## Guest (May 18, 2009)

rubato456 said:
			
		

> :shock:  :shock: i've been looking around at different shows in my area.....and they have booth fees between $525 and 700!!!!! yikes. i actually found one which has a first timer's fee of only $50...that's more my speed. however i'm wondering if the fee is commensurate with the attendance.....i imagine it is. i went into a crafting store to buy ribbon and i asked them if they attended the show i'm interested in going to....she said they used to but that they didn't make what they wanted to and so stopped going.  she said that most of the crafts there were quilters....if so maybe i would do ok as one of the few soapers?
> 
> wondering what other's experience is re fees for booths



OMG, in Philadelphia, there is an event called the West Oak Lane Jazz Festival, in Philly there are events and oppotunities to sell every weekend during the summer but egads...these folks want $750 for a boothe.  It's a 3 day event but $750, that would be a large chunk of anyone's profit for selling anything.

If I was a hotdog vendor making a $1 profit off each sale I'd have to serve 750 to break even, or if I had high end merchandise I'd have to sell 7 people who hopefull brought $100+ dollars to a street fair.  I think this is utterly ridiculous. :roll: 

I'm going to attempt to bribe a person who lives along the route to let me vend on their property for $100 :twisted:


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## carebear (May 18, 2009)

don't forget to apply for and pay for your permit.


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## Guest (May 18, 2009)

carebear said:
			
		

> don't forget to apply for and pay for your permit.



along the route are houses where they have what we call landings (really don't know if everyone else calls them that)...in Philadelphia you pay a one time (used to be) $200 fee for your business license, if I'm on someones landing I shouldn't have to pay for any permit to set up a simple card table and sell soap (since I've had my business license for almost 15 years)

(similar to those who sell water ice out the front living room window in the summer)


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## Tabitha (May 18, 2009)

The more you pay for a booth, the money funds the show has to advertsie. The more advertising they do the higher the attendance.

When I did shows, a $50.00 1 day booth would  yield approx $200.00 in sales while a $100.00 1 day booth would yield $400.00 in sales give or take.

I found I made next to no money if there were lots of kids activities cause mom spent all her cash on rides & games for the kids & really did not get a chance to break away & do any shopping at all.  I prefered the shopping type events vs the carnival, family  day, country fair events for this reason.


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## rubato456 (May 19, 2009)

i have my tax id # which i got from the state of texas comptroller's office, where would i get a business license? do i need this in addition to the tax number. i dont have a store front brick and mortar thing.....i've just doing internet sales and craft shows.  (assuming i ever sell even one bar of soap which i haven't yet....given away lots but not managed to sell yet....)

i'm going to take out a small ad in a vegan magazine (my target audience) and see what happens. it's about the price of a small-med size craft fair booth price.....fingers crossed!


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## llineb (Jun 29, 2009)

rubato456 said:
			
		

> i have my tax id # which i got from the state of texas comptroller's office, where would i get a business license? do i need this in addition to the tax number. i dont have a store front brick and mortar thing.....i've just doing internet sales and craft shows.  (assuming i ever sell even one bar of soap which i haven't yet....given away lots but not managed to sell yet....)
> 
> i'm going to take out a small ad in a vegan magazine (my target audience) and see what happens. it's about the price of a small-med size craft fair booth price.....fingers crossed!




it is different for every state so you should google tx buisiness license.  i didn't need to get one in TN.  i sell at craft shows/internet only.  i didn't even need a tax id # since i make it at home and don't have any employees.  you can use you social for the tax id in this instance....hope this helps!


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## llineb (Jun 29, 2009)

rubato456 said:
			
		

> :shock:  :shock: i've been looking around at different shows in my area.....and they have booth fees between $525 and 700!!!!! yikes. i actually found one which has a first timer's fee of only $50...that's more my speed. however i'm wondering if the fee is commensurate with the attendance.....i imagine it is. i went into a crafting store to buy ribbon and i asked them if they attended the show i'm interested in going to....she said they used to but that they didn't make what they wanted to and so stopped going.  she said that most of the crafts there were quilters....if so maybe i would do ok as one of the few soapers?
> 
> wondering what other's experience is re fees for booths



i have a craft show article and it states that more than a $250 fee is not profitable for soapers.  it also says that you can expect 1-3% of the total attendance to buy a product....or the 7 times rule, which is you should make about 7 times your entry fee.  i'm not claiming any of this but am just reading the article to you!!!!!!!!    

but i do heed the advice and don't usually do a show over $250 and it has worked great for me.


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## carebear (Jun 30, 2009)

I don't do fairs because I'd either have to bring my kids or pay someone to look after them. The first option isn't fair to ANYONE (including me!) and the second is absurd considering the general "profit" of a fair.

This said, depending on the venue it may be about more than what you make THERE - one place I went to back a few years ago was the perfect place to get to know the people who owned a bunch of local businesses...

But you have to REALLY know who the attendees are before going for THAT reason.


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## Lindy (Jul 4, 2009)

Thnre are Gift Shows around my area that I would like to attend next year.  These are basically a Trade Show for retailers to come to and order merchandise.  It's pricy, but I think it would be worth it if you are pursuing wholesale accounts and are willing & able to keep up with the sales.  At least that's the hope.


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## ilovedoxies (Jul 4, 2009)

Space rental around here at various craft shows range from $10 - $30 per space.  I always split with a friend.  The last show I went to was in April, it was 26 miles away from home and a heavily advertised show.  I sold $12 of products and that was only 3 bags of dog treats.  Not worth my time and I will definately not be going back to that one.  

Also to add insult to injury I scratched my boyfriends truck bed beyond all repair on that trip, so it ended up costing me another $400 for a bedliner. 

I've found that the shows closer to Christmas are more productive.


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## Lindy (Jul 5, 2009)

I've got a bunch of "tourist" fairs this summer and I'm hoping to do well at them - the malls are pretty quiet right now with everyone out on the water and beaches.......


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## Guest (Jul 5, 2009)

I am going to try the weekly farmers market here .It is juried , so will see what they say and there is no soap there so , who knows ?

Kitn


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