Craft Fair Income

[Goldielocks]

My DD just finished selling at her first craft fair (a church basement type of thing).

She is in grade 12 and had been wanting to participate in one for a number of years, but this was the first year she was pulled together enough to think of an idea, buy materials, create product, price and sell it. (with only a smidge or parental reminders).

Her craft was metal christmas ornanemts, some made from embossed copper and painted / beaded, and others from steel CNC plasma cut sheet metal.  All decorated with very attractive ribbon.

She did it all in only 2 weeks, so a bit stressful, and is not a great one for tracking details, like costs.

At the end of yesterday, I had her immediately account for her takings... 

Me:  Why don't your figure out what your sales were?
DD:"I made $107!" 
Me: Give dad and bro back the money they gave you for your float.  That does not count as Gross Sales.
DD:  I made $72!
Me:  Now calculate your profit...How much did you spend on materials and table rental?
DD:I made only $9.   

Plus, of course-- I am pretty certain that her materials cost more than $63 dollars... Good entrepreneurial experience, for certain.

Anyone successful with craft fairs as more than a partial recoup of hobby costs?  How?

[I'm a red panda]

I belong to an online group that centers around the Silhouette die cutting machine. I use mine solely as a hobby; but it seems most of the group sells things.  I imagine most aren't paying much attention and would have this exact experience if they figured out their "profit". 

Making things is often pretty time consuming and there are always "what should I charge" posts, and the responses are "I charge $5 for that" with no attention to the market, what price the material was purchased at, etc.

I bet a lot of people aren't even breaking even, but they spend whatever comes into them as "profit". Tons of "I sold 100 elves at $5 each! I made $500!".  Except these are grown women, not children.

[frooglepoodle]

I belong to an online group that centers around the Silhouette die cutting machine. I use mine solely as a hobby; but it seems most of the group sells things.  I imagine most aren't paying much attention and would have this exact experience if they figured out their "profit". 

Making things is often pretty time consuming and there are always "what should I charge" posts, and the responses are "I charge $5 for that" with no attention to the market, what price the material was purchased at, etc.

I bet a lot of people aren't even breaking even, but they spend whatever comes into them as "profit". Tons of "I sold 100 elves at $5 each! I made $500!".  Except these are grown women, not children.

I think I belong to the same craft group! I personally haven't monetized my craft hobbies because I haven't figured out how to do any better than break even on time and materials, much less meet the (time and materials) x2 = wholesale, wholesale x 2 = retail guidelines. It's hard to price at that level when most are just trying to break even.

[I'm a red panda]

I think I belong to the same craft group!

If you do, I know at least one person making good money there. My college friend runs the group and the referral income from it and her blog are apparently amazing.

[frooglepoodle]

I think I belong to the same craft group!

If you do, I know at least one person making food money there. My college friend runs the group and the referral income from it and her blog are apparently amazing.

I can imagine! The group is huge!

[MrsDinero]

I think it is great your daughter did a craft fair.  Knowing how to price things is the hardest part.  You want to make it reasonable but at the same time make money.

I belong to an online craft group. People are always asking how much they should charge for something and the response is almost always:

3 * Cost of ALL materials + labor costs

I worked up a spreadsheet that calculates costs, if you're interested I can upload it. 

[munchabunch]

To be fair, I've never done craft fairs, but I've done a good chunk of Etsy/online commissions/sales.  There was a year I was unemployed waiting for my husband to graduate and made crafts to sell online.  I averaged enough to pay rent ($800/mo) and that was all profit.

The best and only way I can recommend to actually make money is track everything.  Every supply I bought, every dollar in fees or materials went into a spreadsheet.  Lots of online groups talk about pricing models and $/hr.  I found it was much less efficient to calculate an individual item, and more valuable to calculate the total cost of X items - say, if I make 10 objects and the total material costs for 10 objects is $100, then the average cost is $10/object.  If you just calculate the cost to make a single object, you end up with all sorts of weird rounding artefacts (shipping, cost of 1 spool of thread that can be used to make 5 objects, for instance).

And second, find the areas of craft markets that pay more per input cost.  This usually means there's a price point "sweet spot" and an area that's underserved or has massive demand.  Right now think custom pokemon crafts; when I was doing it, it was My Little Pony.  Folks pay more of a premium because it's popular, there's a larger fan base, and there's more demand for specific or customized objects than the manufactured items meet.

If your daughter can channel the excitement of that original $107 with the practicality of the $9, crafting is a pretty low stress hobby that can at least pay for itself, if not help support other hobbies or desires.

And it's WAY less stressful when you don't have to worry about paying rent/food with that $$ either...

[MrsPete]

My kids took part in a craft sale to pay for a portion of a youth group trip -- their experience was similar to your daughter's; that is, the materials cost so much that they didn't earn much actual profit. 

To make this type of thing pay, you have to do one of two things:

1.  Acquire your materials at a lower price. If she can use coupons at a local craft store, scour the internet for lower prices, or find materials in other ways, she might be able to increase her profits.  She might also find ways to use her materials more efficiently (perhaps cutting so that she has less waste).  Or she might be able to make smaller models so that she uses less material. 

2.  Find a way to sell her crafts for a higher price.  This is unlikely to happen at a typical craft fair held in a church basement just before Christmas.  Why?  She's limited to people in your area who are looking to buy that one day -- so she's paying for a booth to sell to a very limited audience (people in your area who are shopping on one single day).  She might well do better online; I don't know much about Etsy, but it might be a good first look spot. 

A whole different thought:  Has she considered HOSTING a craft fair next year?  If she provides the space, she collects all those table rents.  If she does it at a church, they'll probably expect it to be a fundraiser for the church, but school gyms can be rented very cheaply.  Of course, she'd need to recruit crafters and advertise the event. 

[Tris Prior]

I've been selling online and at fairs for about 7 years and I've been in the black every year except my first. Mainly I do this by holding down my expenses as much as I possibly can:

-Sourcing my materials as cheaply as possible (I was lucky that my previous Day Job was at a company that sold supplies for my craft and I got a generous employee discount; sadly the company folded in the spring so I'm going to have to get creative when I have used up the huge order I placed before we closed.).

If she's doing metal ornaments, can she use scrap metal or found-object metal? Without seeing her work I have no idea if that's feasible. But. that sort of thing is HUGE these days because people want to be green. I know a crafter who makes jewelry from literally stuff she finds on the street or on the ground. She does really well.

ETA: I didn't mention displays! This was my killer, my first year. I spent a lot on premade jewelry displays - earring stands, necklace busts, etc. But now I mostly DIY my displays or repurpose things I already have. If she's doing ornaments and plans to do that again next year, she should hit the after-Xmas sales for cheap trees and ornament stands. I got a bunch of really nice tabletop mini-trees for like $4 total one year, which I now use in my booth.

- Thinking hard about buying supplies/making stuff that may or may not sell. I'm as guilty as any hobby crafter of getting a case of the "ooh-shinies" when I see charms or pendants or sparkly things or whatever that I think would make a beautiful piece. But I've been doing this long enough that I often realize, "hmmm. That sort of thing didn't do well for me in the past. Better pass."

- For craft fairs, I focus on small items that I can make quickly, rather than larger or more elaborate pieces, that give more bang for the buck. In my experience, people are not spending a lot at fairs these days; they're looking for small gifts or stocking stuffers.

-Whenever I can, I share my booth with another crafter. (unless the spaces are too tiny to make that feasible). That way I only have to pay half the booth fee.

Good for her for doing a show! They're not for the faint of heart and, as I'm sure she's realized, are a ton of work.

[tardis]

First I would like to say great job at setting your daughter up to accomplish a successful sale on her first try!  It is a great learning experience and even if she doesn’t continue will have a better understanding and appreciation of the work involved in sales of all sorts that can be applied in all sorts of ways.

My suggestions.

1.   Get really good at making whatever it is you’re making.  It should look professional and not easily replicated whether it is or not.  A lot of this is practice, design and research.  I have also found that generally the items that involved the most “investment”- are the most “unique” with the subsequent lack of competition.   Spend a lot of time on great design, difficult technique, hard to obtain material, unpleasant process etc. and you’ll get the most reward in general.

2.   Display- again, it should look professional.  This doesn’t have to mean expensive, but think about standard, designed labels, a unique display etc.  It should also emphasize the best qualities of the product.  For example, if it sparkles, moves, etc. find a way to show that off.

3.   Purchase wholesale.  Look for “non-purpose” sources as well.  I find jewelry supplies and tools in the hardware store all the time.

4.   Find your customer market.  Are you low cost/high volume seller, high cost/low volume, or somewhere in-between?  You shouldn’t pigeonhole yourself and want a range of products at various pricepoints, but this will help you figure out where to find the people who will buy your product.  I sell primarily through an art gallery- they get 33%, but also do the work to provide a high end setting and find the high end customers who will pay prices that are more than 33% higher than a local craft sale.  This lets me make primarily the complicated, one of a kind, expensive pieces I get the most enjoyment from.  They do not move the volume needed for another type of product however.

5.   Look for the “big city” arty holiday craft sales.  I haven’t done this myself, but have talked to people who make for the whole year and net 10K+ at one event.  This requires a big investment into table, display, transport etc. as well as product.  Assuming ¾ profit on 10k, you need to spend 2.5K on materials and 7.5K of “work” which is about 300 hours @ $25/hr.  Reality is it’ll be more like 500 hours until you do it a few times.

[cpa cat]

From what I hear, some craft shows are worth buying a booth at and some aren't. I suggest spending the rest of the holiday season looking for holiday vendor shows, visiting, and making notes about which ones seemed popular. Then follow up and find out when a booth would have to be purchased and how much it would cost.

She could even ask vendors what their favorite/most profitable events are and if she sees people who do something similar to her, she can ask what items are most popular with customers.

It might feel a little strange to ask "the competition" questions - but I've found that most people are happy to chat about their experience.

[Tris Prior]

It might feel a little strange to ask "the competition" questions - but I've found that most people are happy to chat about their experience.

Yes, definitely do this! But, if you're walking around a show and asking vendors how the show's been, phrase it like, "I'm thinking of vending this show, do you think it's worthwhile?" Not just "How's the show been for you?" Because, when I'm asked the latter by a customer, my answer is always "Great!" even if it's awful. Because you don't want to be negative in front of customers. But if I know you're a fellow crafter then I absolutely will be honest if it's a bad show.

Also, take a look at the other vendors' work and see if your work fits. I have a pretty specific aesthetic that tends not to mesh well with a lot of traditional fairs. If everyone's work looks different in style from yours, then it's likely you won't do well - it is usually not an advantage to stand out aesthetic-wise.

Avoid shows that have non-handmade vendors (Scentsy, Partylite, Pampered Chef). Shows that allow those vendors typically draw customers who will gravitate toward those known brands and won't be interested in buying handmade.

[Goldielocks]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies and suggestions.

I think that the show was a success for her primarily because of three items:

1) She had to plan a reproducible craft that would appeal to the low $ per item market.  In the past, she has only sold one of a kind items, at art gallery type shows or commissions.   (Has sold only 4x this way, but it is a start).   It takes a different mindset to take one idea, make three versions of it, and then create 10 of each with variations.   She also had to buckle down into "production" mode, which is new.. and now has "leftovers" to consider.

2)  She had to take costs and fees and net out proceeds.   Business math, as many here point out, is a failing of many vendors, so this was crucial early in her "career".

3)  She had to coordinate a booth with another vendor.  (Her share of the booth was only $7.50, and the other vendor waived that because DD did the legwork to acquire the table when the others sold out).  This was a fundraiser, for crafters only, and the main draw was the huge bakesale and raffle going on upstairs at the same time, that attracts up to 200 people each year, who line up while waiting for doors to open.

4) Learning that the least expensive, least artistic item on her display was the one most in demand.   (a laser cut, custom designed steel snowflake).  If she had cut out the copper metal items with their custom painting, and emphasized more laser cut designs, her expenses would have been half.

5)  Time management - she was stressed before the show, not used to a deadline for producing more than a single item and could not spend the time she wanted on each and every one.   Also the somewhat boring aspects of sitting at a booth for 5 hours...  nicely filled by working on the crafts at the booth, which was when she sold the most...

6) Show prep - planning a display, a money float, getting a credit card reader, (YES!  she took credit cards!), posting prices, etc.   DH and I essentially did these items for her by asking questions, doing it, handing it to her, etc.  But learning for next time.

--------------------------

From your replies, I tend to agree about how to be successful with craft fairs...   the most successful people:

1)  Sell through a gallery (with high overhead to the gallery or a online site) and direct from their studio (as commissions), first.

2)  Choose one or two fairs per year, and produce all year for that fair.  One vendor I know chooses the Vancouver fair at the convention center around this time of year, with its very high entry prices, but produces wooden high end items from their studio near Mabel lake, BC.  They have ONE fair where they make more than half of their income each year, and the rest is from their studio / gallery per point 1 above.
 
3)  Material costs -   use of found materials -- excellent idea!  Especially for metal works for art, there is such an abundance of scrap metal from industry production runs.  We are also quite close to many metal recycle shops where we live.

4)  This one is not mentioned, but I am starting to do it for my work conferences -- advertise to your clients ahead of time that you will be at XX fair.. to drive people to the fair specifically to see your display.

5)  The comment about choosing a fair that does not have the MLM vendors, and have similar theme or concept is a good one.   I also noted that there are "textile / quilting" type fairs and "artistic" fairs (which may have hand crafted textiles, but with a unique approach)...  or a theme fair such as Christmas, steam punk, etc may be better, with targeted theme items.   -- I think that the local maker fair that she and DH attend each year may be a good location for her metal crafts, if the price is low enough to enter...

[Slinky]

My husband is working on building up a side gig/encore career selling his work. We stumbled into our first show this summer with only a couple of months notice and I thought it went pretty well. It was a brand new show and exactly the sort of thing he wants to vend at so we kind of jumped into it. He didn't sell enough to come out completely in the black, but he covered all the show costs (hotel, food, gas, etc) and a good chunk of his initial investment in tent and tables and such. If he can break even on show costs with a month or two of weekends making primarily "filler" products and a hastily pulled together display, I'm optimistic about his profits for a better stocked booth with more experienced vendors next year. Also maybe without the unrelenting heat, torrential downpours, and tornado concerns.

[Tris Prior]

It sounds like she's doing a lot right already!

And yes, when you're an artist, production mode kind of sucks. I like to make big weird epic pieces but instead, especially at this time of year, I'll sit down at my work table and crank out yet more of the same damn ornament that keeps selling over and over. Which, yay, it's selling well! But yeah, it can get a little boring. Part of the reality of running an art/craft business is being willing to buckle down and do the tedious production work because it makes you money - sounds like she's already starting to learn that, which is great if she wants to continue this!