I did my first 2-day craft fair this weekend and it was a very nice experience for both my sister and I as we shared a booth (8’ table). We both made some money and made some good contacts and my sister received several commissions (she makes absolutely gorgeous cards and inspiration wall hangings).
Having zero expectations, I took 40 bars of regular and goat milk soap in various fragrances since I make small batch to begin with. I displayed them on a couple of 3-tiered spice racks you put in your cupboard with additional bars on the table in front of them. I had 20 jars of Bath Salts in 4 colors/scents and 75 mini Lotion Bars in 5 scents; I put one of each Lotion Bar in a dessert bowl.
The mini Lotion Bars were very popular...biggest sellers were English Rose, Vanilla Bean and Baby Powder. Most of the purchasers were women over 50 who loved the size of the bar and were pleasantly surprised at such a reasonable price...$2.00 each or 3/$5.00.
We were both invited to participate in a few other ‘fairs’, but had to decline...this year...as neither of us were prepared for more than this one.
Though we could have each used an extra foot of space, overall it worked for us and our products complimented one another. It was also nice to be able to get up and take a break without leaving your table alone. We also made sure to bring something to actively work on (I bought some knitting and my sister stamped beautiful designs to her business cards) so we wouldn’t be tempted to play with our phones. And working with yarn and card stock was a good selling point on how non-greasy my lotion bars were.
Things I would change...better set up and packaging for my Lotion Bars. I’m thinking of making ‘testers’ in deodorant tubes; easier to label, won’t break and I can offer more scents in the same amount of space. As for packaging, tins would be too cost prohibitive for their size and tubes too tacky. This weekend I wrapped each in a coffee filter and put in a generic labeled open-end cellophane bag. I’m thinking of cutting more appropriate sized circles of double layer tissue paper with a quarter-sized sticker with the name of the bar and then putting them in generic labeled 3x5 ziplock bag.
For my soaps, I received a lot of compliments on my oval-shaped labels so I will keep them and along with ‘address labels’ for my ingredients on the back was perfect. But I need to find better shrink wrapping, something that just wraps a little bit around around the sides so folks can smell them better.
One thing I will definitely keep...shopping bags. Except for the Partylite lady, I was the only other vendor who had actual shopping bags...everyone else used plastic grocery bags. I bought a bunch of solid, brightly colored bags with handles that would easily hold 6 bars of soap from the Dollar Tree...3/$1.00...and they really stood out. I also stapled my business card to the outside.
Two things I will add for next year...a wheeled canvas garden cart with appropriately sized totes so one-trip in and one trip out, and a small banner for my table.
All-in-all, it was a good experience and I learned a lot.
Having zero expectations, I took 40 bars of regular and goat milk soap in various fragrances since I make small batch to begin with. I displayed them on a couple of 3-tiered spice racks you put in your cupboard with additional bars on the table in front of them. I had 20 jars of Bath Salts in 4 colors/scents and 75 mini Lotion Bars in 5 scents; I put one of each Lotion Bar in a dessert bowl.
The mini Lotion Bars were very popular...biggest sellers were English Rose, Vanilla Bean and Baby Powder. Most of the purchasers were women over 50 who loved the size of the bar and were pleasantly surprised at such a reasonable price...$2.00 each or 3/$5.00.
We were both invited to participate in a few other ‘fairs’, but had to decline...this year...as neither of us were prepared for more than this one.
Though we could have each used an extra foot of space, overall it worked for us and our products complimented one another. It was also nice to be able to get up and take a break without leaving your table alone. We also made sure to bring something to actively work on (I bought some knitting and my sister stamped beautiful designs to her business cards) so we wouldn’t be tempted to play with our phones. And working with yarn and card stock was a good selling point on how non-greasy my lotion bars were.
Things I would change...better set up and packaging for my Lotion Bars. I’m thinking of making ‘testers’ in deodorant tubes; easier to label, won’t break and I can offer more scents in the same amount of space. As for packaging, tins would be too cost prohibitive for their size and tubes too tacky. This weekend I wrapped each in a coffee filter and put in a generic labeled open-end cellophane bag. I’m thinking of cutting more appropriate sized circles of double layer tissue paper with a quarter-sized sticker with the name of the bar and then putting them in generic labeled 3x5 ziplock bag.
For my soaps, I received a lot of compliments on my oval-shaped labels so I will keep them and along with ‘address labels’ for my ingredients on the back was perfect. But I need to find better shrink wrapping, something that just wraps a little bit around around the sides so folks can smell them better.
One thing I will definitely keep...shopping bags. Except for the Partylite lady, I was the only other vendor who had actual shopping bags...everyone else used plastic grocery bags. I bought a bunch of solid, brightly colored bags with handles that would easily hold 6 bars of soap from the Dollar Tree...3/$1.00...and they really stood out. I also stapled my business card to the outside.
Two things I will add for next year...a wheeled canvas garden cart with appropriately sized totes so one-trip in and one trip out, and a small banner for my table.
All-in-all, it was a good experience and I learned a lot.
