Average Costs?

[Linden Blossom]

Hi All,

I'm relatively new to crafting-to-sell, and have only done one or two local fairs. I'd like to spread my wings a little further and aim for some bigger fairs - what sort of fees should I expect to have to pay?

So far I've checked out a 2-day event that was charging £100. Is this normal? It's a bit of a jump from the £15 I've been paying for afternoon ones! My concern is that I'd have to sell a lot of items (jewellery) to cover my entry and transport costs before I even began to see any contribution towards costs of materials, let alone some kind of profit. Is it worth the gamble?

Would love to hear anyone else's experiences.

[silvergirl]

Craft shows

There is a great temptation when you are searching for the elusive jewellery tables to take anything you can get in to but I try & apply a bit of maths before getting my cheque book out!

I work out what value of jewellery I would have to sell to cover all my costs and then divide that by the number of customers I would need make that value. My stuff ranges from £40 - £7 so I use an average value of £15. I then presume that of the number of people who attend the fair about 10% would be interested in my stuff & then only 10% will actually buy.

Obviously there is no real science behind this but it does give you an idea of just how many people you need through the door just to cover your costs so if the venue doen't get that many visitors you will have to be very fortunate to make a profit.

I tend to mostly stick to fairs that charge up to £30 with an occasional larger one if the numbers work or if I want my work to be seen in a different area, as I get a reasonable amount of 2nd or 3rd sales from people contacting me after a show or people offering me other fairs because they like my stuff.

Sorry about the length of my reply but hang in there for the right fair, they do come along!

Anita

[greannancrafts]

Hi Linden

I have paid anything from £5 - £300 per day for events.


Often with the more expensive fairs the public have to pay to get in, which means a family can pay around £25 to go.

some of the lower end ones have been fantastic - some of the upper end have been not so good.

Everyone looks for a different ROI on fairs - some like to double their stall fee - some like to take £1000 over stall fee (at big shows) some like their stall fee to be 10% of takings. it depends what you are looking for.

I am afraid it is all trial and error, or some you win and some you lose.

Sorry, I am not much help but there are no hard and fast rules

Jane

[Caroleecrafts]

As has been aid before, this is a tricky one, you also have to look at your own budget. I am being tight this year and only paying a max of £15.00, have done the Charterhouse and Losely Fairs paid through the nose and over a year lost £10, this might not seem much but when you weigh up the cost of the materials etc and my time to make and at the fair not worth it.

I would say as you are starting out start small, judge how you do then go bigger if you want, it is very tempting to book every fair going at the start.

A good point I use is try to visit an event first, maybe about half way through (not lunchtimes though) then you can see what is being sold, average costs, rough number of visitors (is it buzzing or slow), you could also try to talk to the stallholders and be honest, asking how is trade etc as you were thinking of joining. I am always willing to talk to fellow crafters, as we all need to support each other, helping when can, you may some are a bit sniffy but don't worry.

Good Luck

[HDevents]

hi
1 of the big factors is footfall, £15 fair lets say has 200 people through it thats 7.5p a person so if you are paying £100 and theres 3000 then its 3.3p a person and a much great chance of selling due to volume
but i can understand you reservations of course

[urbtaf]

was going to give Greannancrafts some rep for that post (but the computor says NO)
Try it and see then do it again if it works!!!
We dont do many fairs these days but we have done enough of them in the past to know that you cant tell how good or bad they will be.
2 classic examples- worked 1 in Daws south yorkshire, more money than you could believe in that area, and made our rent back.
Worked 1 in west yorkshire (I will not name it in case anybody comes from there) but it made "shameless" look posh, in 3 hours we almost sold all our stock, had to do "deals" on most things but was still in profit.
The attitude you must take is "try it" then dont go back if its crap

[Lilac Moon]

Hi. I agree with Urbtaf you cant tell really till you've done it. I paid just under £100 each for 2 different fairs, only just made my money back but one that I've lucked onto. I pay £48 for 2 days and do really well at. So it's really a case of try it and see. others I've paid £25 for and took £3.99 all day.

Sorry not much help am I?

[greannancrafts]

was going to give Greannancrafts some rep for that post (but the computor says NO)

Ah shucks - I am chuffed

I think you deserve a rep point.

Jane

[Linden Blossom]

Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback, everyone, really useful.

Silvergirl, I liked your idea about being logical and looking at the maths. I have to admit I tend to get a little carried away especially when it comes to buying materials (it's scary to look at my 'accounts' and think what I've spent compared to what I've sold and I don't even cost in my own time). Even though I do it for fun, I think I need to be a little more business like.

HDEvents, thanks also for the advice to consider footfall. Seems so obvious, but I have to admit I've only ever asked organisers where?, when? and how much? I'll definitely be asking about number of visitors in future.

I know just what you mean, Urbtaf. My very first fair was in, shall we say, a less affluent area, and it was really successful and the people were great! Others have been less so. As many of you have said, guess you have to suck it and see!

[urbtaf]

PETER why can I give anybody else rep power but not Greannacrafts!!!!!!!

Any way if your doing craft fairs, first look at the potensial footfall, how much advertizing is being done, how well established it is, who else is working it.
Then concider the cost, I would rather pay a lot to someone who is doing their best to promote an event than pay a little to someone who just opens on the day and hopes for the best

Sorry spelling going totaly wierd today, and nets mot around to put it right

[greannancrafts]

PETER why can I give anybody else rep power but not Greannacrafts!!!!!!!

Does it say you have to spread your points around? I tried to give some points the other day - I think I had recently given some to them - so it wouldn't let me - a good system really - unless of course Peter or someone has black balled me

Jane