preparing for craft shows

[Crochet Buffet]

This year, I hope to get a booth for the Winter craft show here.

This will be my first time & my son plans to have things to sell, too.

 

My question:

How many items is a good inventory?

I'm still playing around with what items to offer, but

I need a good number to shoot for.

 

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[threeolivemartini]

the best thing i can tell you is get with people that have done that show and ask them .. it varies from place to place

[klouised]

My mother and I never went by how many items, but rather how much inventory $ do we have in stock. If we sold every single item in our stock how much would that come to? Then we would decide if that sounded like enough. LOL. We never sold everything, but that gave us an idea of what we wanted to shoot for. Make sure you have a variaty of prices and sizes. We would have a few higher priced/larger items that are mainly for making the table look nice, then we would have half medium and half lower priced items. We would have some $5 items that are out front. I hope that helps.

[CraftyShannon]

It's really hard to pinpoint an exact number, so I'd say just have a good assorment of different things, but don't make tons of one item. You don't want to look like you have tons of one thing because people will think they can just come back and get it later and you risk them not coming back. Normally, I only display one of each color and maybe have one or two identical items hidden under the table.

 

How many at what price range depends on your target market too. What part of town is the craft show? If it's in the elite part of town, they usually don't care to spend more. If you're gearing towards the average person, they usually spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 to $10 per item.

 

Good luck at your show!

[Crochet Buffet]

Wow - this is great input!

 

I'm thinking of mainly offering wrist bags and matching hat sets, plus I'll have my handmade soaps as well.

I'm thinking on having some shrugs out, too. Fashion is kinda slow here, at least that *I've* seen, so maybe a few ponchos, too?

 

Pricing - well, it's the average 'Joe' I'd be catering too, so most of my items will be in the $5-$10 range, with the larger items going higher, of course.

 

I'm wanting to use some of my son's afghans to pretty up the booth, plus allow for him to take special orders.

A few shawls...

 

Just tossing thoughts about!

 

Thanks for the ideas!!!!!!

[threeolivemartini]

make sure you have a sign that says you will take special orders.. that is always a good idea .. and have a calendar there so you can write down who orders what and make a feasible time table for how much you can get done ..

 

dont underestimate your self either.. people will pay for quality work..

[CraftyShannon]

Jackie- Regarding fashion, try looking in the local stores and/or take mental notes on what you see people wearing. At least where I live, I haven't seen people wear ponchos for almost a year, and the only ones I see in the store they are selling on clearance for next to nothing. However, I'm seeing shrugs everywhere. The last time I was shopping, I noticed a lot of skull caps, but they were either decorated with a flower on the side or sequins on the brim. Something that will make them look special should help your sales.

 

More than likely, it will be the last thing you'd ever think people would buy that will be what sells. I also sew and last year at one show, I made up a bunch of little pouches just big enough to hold credit cards, that literally were fabric scaps sewn together with a velcro closure and scraps of trim sewn on the outside. I really didn't think anyone would buy them, but that's what everyone bought, and to this day I can't tell you why everyone carried on over them except that they were cheap and still looked nice enough that women felt they were buying something nice.

 

Be sure you've got some business cards for the show too! Sometimes customers will want to contact you or maybe someone from another show will want to invite you to do another show. If you don't have cards, you can buy a pack of plain business cards and either print or write out your own. Some people keep them out for anyone, and others only give them out when they are asked. I choose to give them only when asked or to those who have purchased something.

[Ambersafghans]

I'd love to have 1 or two of everything, in every color in every size. But alas! I kind of get what I can and what will fit on the table.

 

As far as cards go, I just got new business cards from overnightprints.com

You can get 100, or you can get 1,000 for $50. I need to take a picture of my cards..... Good luck with the show!

 

Amber