Message Board
- Hi there. I'm a beaded jewellery maker and desperate to start selling at craft fairs/fetes. I have been in contact with a couple of craft fair organizers who have been extremely helpful, but at the moment I can't afford the expensive rates for stall hire upfront and its starting to get me down. Are there any craft fairs/fetes that anyone knows of that don't charge the earth? I have done one craft fair before and only had to pay £25! I live near Alton in Hampshire, and can't help but think there must be loads of village halls etc that host smaller craft fairs on a regular basis. Someone help me please!2 Mar '07 - 1.28pm
- Have you thought about starting a fair yourself? If you can get together with other like-minded people and find a local venue available on a Saturday or Sunday (perhaps one day a month?) with tables that you can use, then the cost of stall hire could be very low. Remember that if you do this, you will need to promote the event, so you would need to include something in the stand cost to cover the costs of such things as printing fliers, small ads in local papers etc. Effectively by setting something up yourself, you would almost certainly end up spending more time, but hopefully less money. If you can find a core group of committed people early on, people who are not likely to lose heart easily (!) then this may well be a good way to proceed.
Alternatively, perhaps there is an existing local event that you haven't considered, such as a local farmers market that might be willing to accept crafts stands - if you can find other local makers who would like to come along as well, you should stand a better chance of success than proceeding on your own.
MB2 Mar '07 - 2.31pm - Hi,
I also started selling my jewellery last year and came across the exact same problem. I did several 'expensive' events without even making my table money on some before deciding to stick to small local events. Now I don't pay more than £20 per day - usually £10. I search the internet for sites that advertised community events - your local/county website is a good place to start. Search for 'What's On' in your area. I decided I was prepared to travel up to 30 miles and now go to fairs in 4 counties. Once you have done a few fairs and made some contacts hopefully you will find that people will tell you about other events. You must get chatting to the other people at fairs - networking is key. Look at other crafters tables and take their business cards and flyers, as their websites often show details of where else they are going to be. A couple of other points - there are so many jewellery (and card) makers now you might have to go on a waiting list and some organisers lists are completely closed to these crafts now. Also many events run regularly so if you do well at one, book for the next one there and then if you can before you miss out. I also sell on eBay as a shop only costs £6 per month and you might want to consider websites such as www.etsy.com.
It is hard so Good Luck!5 Mar '07 - 3.36pm - Hi sarah
Lookout in your local press for pamper evenings run by schools and playgroups. They are usually reasonably well attended and cost just a few £s and a donation to the raffle! good luck.7 Mar '07 - 1.04pm - Hi,
Don't know if this helps. The Rising Sun Arts Centre in Reading... http://www.risingsun-artscentre.co.uk/ may be something worth considering? They charge £10 per day for a stall, and 20% of your total proceeds as commission per day - that quite reasonable. They are quite new to Art Markets, but I think as time goes on, and the publicity takes off, it should attract quite a crowd.
Good luck
Steve11 Apr '07 - 11.10am