Now that you have made all your beautiful items to sell and have set up your beautiful Craft booth, its time to sit back and let your shoppers browse... just kidding! Unless you are in a prime location, or have a hot ticket item, you may have to hustle a little to get shoppers to look at your booth. Here are a few things I've learned about how to sell at a craft fair over the years. Give them a try and see if they work for you. After you read my list, let me know in the comments below what I missed and what works best for you.

9 Creative Tips for How to Sell at a Craft Fair

1. Find a Hook

Just like in the writing and social media world, a hook is anything that grabs attention - Something to entice your shoppers to look. I first saw the importance of a hook during one of my early craft fairs. Along with our usual handmade items, my friend and I were selling these foam gardening hats (pictured below) that another friend had invented.

One of us stood at the front demonstrating how they collapsed flat for storage. People stopped and looked and then browsed our other items. We had people coming in and out of our booth all day! That's when I realized that it really helps with traffic to have something that grabs peoples attention.

Here are some ideas for hooks I've tried. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't but you have to experiment to find out.

Hooks I've tried:

• Stand out at the front corner of the booth holding a product or hand out a postcard occasionally and say "Hi" to the passers by. Be genuine and have fun. I compliment their dog or their baby or their shirt. I may ask where they bought the cute item in their hand. More often than not, they reply with a smile and a glance into your booth. Not everyone stops but some do and you bring possible business that would have otherwise passed you by. I have definitely made more sales doing this. Obviously you can't or shouldn't stand at the front the whole time.
• Have a small table at kid height with small items for kids. Their eyes will find them and bring their parents along.
• Once, I set up a mannequin right up front wearing a dress from a pattern in my sewing book with a necklace sign saying "Do You Sew?" most people have no interest in sewing but it started conversations and they stopped to shop.

• Hold a giveaway and tell passers by about it have them enter by giving an email address and have them sign up for your newsletter or have them follow you on instagram.
• Have a table with your most affordable items right up front so someone doesn't have to walk too far into the booth to look at something.
• Place a candy bowl on a front table with seasonal treats

2. Create a Buzz in your Craft Booth

It is not very easy to manufacture a flurry of shoppers, but I've noticed that shoppers are more likely to stop and look at a shop if there are already shoppers in it. When there is a little buzz of excitement in your booth, others walking by can tell and want to know what everyone is looking at. Tell all your friends about your sale. Ask some of them to stop by and stand to the side as you chat.

Another way to make it appear as if someone is shopping is to be a shopper in your own shop. If I'm alone, I will periodically stand up and rearrange a few items, pick things up and look at them to check to make sure I cut all the strings, etc. Shoppers sometimes assume I'm a shopper and come in the booth while I'm up and looking.

3. Hold a demonstration

If you bring something small to work on at the side of your booth it gives shoppers something to watch or ask you about and something for you to do during the down time of the day. You could even sit up at the front corner of the booth so you are more visible.

4. Advertise to Your Own Followers

All good craft fairs will do their own advertising but make sure to invite all your people to attend as well! Share their advertisment or make you own sharable image on Canva and post it to your Facebook Page and Local groups who know you. Your friends will want to come and check it out and support you! Here's an example of a simple invite I made one year.

5. Let Shoppers Look

Once shoppers are looking, greet them kindly and let them browse without too much interference. You can say "Hi, and let me know if have any questions". Or show them some of your favorites or how something opens and closes if it isn't obvious but mostly just let them browse without being too annoying.

6. Be Clear About Pricing

Whether you tag your items or place a price label on a bin, don't leave your customers guessing. It is tricky for my brain to think fast and remember all the different prices on all the items I have for sale anyway so I always make sure I have a list of items and the prices to go with it and tag as much as I can.

It does take extra time to tag each item so plan accordingly and spend some time adding prices before your event (Tie on tags and little pricing stands near items work best for me).

Don't let shoppers negotiate the price. Some shoppers think craft fairs are like a garage sale and want to negotiate the pricing of the item. Just say no with a smile and tell them you are firm on your price. Sometimes I do offer a discount for multiple items purchased or older stock.

7. Bring a Friend to help you Sell

Everything is better when you bring a friend. I often do a craft fair with a friend who also makes things. I don't always have enough items to fill a booth so it's nice if I find another crafty friend to join me. We unabashedly promote each other and brag a little about the items the other made to shoppers as they come in. "Isn't this the cutest bag! This one's my favorite, perfect for..." Gushing about items other people make is way easier for me than trying to promote my own items.

8. Keep a Positive Attitude

I always go into a craft fair knowing I just may not sell too much. It is easy to get disheartened watching people continually walk by without stopping. I like to use slow times to experiment with some of the ideas listed above. Look around at other booths and see what they are doing right and learn from them for next time. Selling at craft fair is one big experiment. Listen to your shoppers comments. Look for ways to improve.

9. Don't clean up early!

One more thing... when shopping is slow, you might be tempted to tear down your booth early. Starting to clean up 15 min or so before the end is okay but I find I always make a sale or 2 that last 30 min of the show and it is worth sticking it out.

Hope these tips helped! Let me know in the comments below what I missed about how to sell at a craft fair and what works for you. Also, do you have any other questions about craft fairs? I'm thinking to add another post about the logistics of what you need to bring and be ready for when you are doing a craft fair. What do you think?

Check out my other posts in this series...

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