Make Real Money Selling Crochet at Craft Fairs (expert tips)

If you’ve been wanting to make some side income selling your crochet creations in person, I’m here today to give you the inside scoop on how possible it is to make real money selling crochet at craft fairs.

After exhaustive interviews with several full-time craft vendors here in the Seattle area, I’m ready to report back to you the good, bad, and the ugly on how to sell crochet items, where to sell, and essential tips you need to integrate into your strategy.

Photo credit: @exquisiteknots

Can you make a living selling crochet at craft fairs?

Generally, it’s possible to make $100-500 per craft fair selling crochet items for a beginner. This amount increases if the craft fair is juried and in a wealthier area. Eventually, some crafters are able to make a full time income, up to about $80k a year.

This is obviously the first question that comes to mind when considering whether it’s worth it to start vending (selling) crochet items.

It’s very difficult to state a hard and fast rule for expected income, since every area in the US is different and not all crocheters are created equal, but for a beginner in their first year, it’s likely that you’ll make at least $100 per day at a craft fair, and maybe up to $500 if you hit the right combination of factors.

This is assuming that you’re vending in the lowest “tier” of craft shows, high school craft shows (we’ll talk about this more in depth later), and making small items that are priced at around $5-10 apiece.

This means that you probably won’t make back your time, but it’s a great way to try out vending and seeing whether you enjoy interacting with customers — as well as cranking out a ton of inventory.

In big cities that have a lot of competitive, juried craft fairs that attract a wealthier audience with more appreciation for handmade art, it’s certainly possible, given several years and a lot of hard work, to grow your business into a full time income — around $80k a year.

Do crochet items sell at craft fairs?

There is a large market for crochet items in major cities with higher income levels and an appreciation for handmade crafts. In smaller cities or rural neighborhoods with a lower average income, the market for handmade crochet items is much smaller.

Not everyone can afford to purchase handmade crochet items, so one of the biggest factors that goes into whether it’s possible to become a profitable crochet vendor is location.

Even if you’re the fastest crocheter in the world with beautiful creations, if the area you’re vending in is extremely low income, then the ceiling on your pricing will also be very low.

At a certain point, it’s not worth it to sell your crochet items, so it’s important to recognize when the location or another factor is holding you back.

Ideally, you’d be able to price your time at $20-25 dollars an hour to be able to make more income, so if you find that your creations aren’t selling or your customers seem put off by high prices, you should do some trial an error with different locations and craft fairs to see whether you can find the right audience.

Of course, when you’re first starting out, there could be a multitude of factors (that we’ll cover below) that could negatively impact profit, so be sure to keep putting yourself out there and slowly improve and tweak your process so that you can isolate whether the true issue is location or another factor.

Photo credit: @exquisiteknots. Seasonal items for Lunar New Year!

What are the biggest factors that affect craft fair profits?

Location, seasonality, quality of craft show, and weather are the biggest factors that affect craft fair profits for crocheters. If any of these factors is unfavorable, then it can completely determine whether business is good or bad at any given craft fair.

Aside from location, there are many other factors that can make or break your craft show profits. Keep these in mind as you continue trying various craft shows, and know that it’s always a combination of factors that determines how well business is on any given day or location.

1. Seasonality

In the calendar year, some months are better for craft shows than others. The holiday season, from November to December, is the absolute peak time for selling handmade items, since customers are much more eager to buy gifts and more people will be out shopping. However, this also means that craft fairs will be more competitive to get into, so take that into consideration as well.

Conversely, the lowest period is January to March, immediately after the holiday season when most customers are recovering from the holidays.

The summer is better than the early months in the year, especially if you’re vending in summer street festivals that attract a lot of customers.

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2. Foot traffic

The amount of customers you have walking in the door of the craft fair is critical to the amount of profit you can expect to see.

Craft fair vendors generally estimate that a single booth can expect to have 1% of total customers buy from their booth, no matter what type of event it is. This means that if there are 13,000 people attending a show, you might except 130 to buy from you.

You can usually find expected foot traffic numbers or last year’s numbers from a craft show’s FAQ for vendors page.

Obviously this is not a hard and fast rule, but it’s a good rule of thumb to evaluate whether a given craft show is good for your goals at that time, as well as help you evaluate how well you’re doing at that show.

This rule of thumb generally means the more foot traffic a show has, the better.

However, often bigger shows could create more barriers, such as a high admissions fee or distance from your location, so know that starting smaller is often a good strategy, with the goal to go to bigger craft shows down the road.

3. Type of craft fair

So if bigger craft shows are better, should you just apply to the biggest craft show you can find in the area? Not necessarily!

Craft shows are not all created equal, and often bigger and more competitive craft fairs require a huge amount of preparation in advance.

A craft show that might be right for you when you’re just beginning is probably not going to be the right one for you a few years down the road.

With that in mind, let’s go over the types of craft fairs that exist and why you might choose a given one for your burgeoning craft business.

Here’s a quick chart to get started.

I also want to caveat that these numbers are from a few subjective experiences of crafters from one city who all primarily vend in and around a wealthy metropolis in the US. Your mileage may vary greatly, so take this with a grain of salt.

Type of ShowBarrier to EntryProfitabiiltyAmount of Prep
High School Craft ShowLow – Admissions fees are generally $50-100 for a whole weekend with long days, making it approachable for a beginnerLow – Most HS Craft shows have no entrance fee, so many come to just browse. Cheap (~$10) pieces sell very quickly, but more expensive works likely will not sell. If you can produce a lot of product, you can make maybe $500-1000 a weekend.Low – Usually indoor, so only need a 6′ table and tablecloth (and a business license).
Farmers MarketsMedium – Booth fees a little higher than HS Craft shows, but can buy season passes (average $50/day). Days are a little shorter, so less time to sell. Medium – Customers tend to appreciate handmade more, so prices can be higher with more profitability. High – Outdoor markets require vendors to bring their own canopy and setup. You’ll also need insurance from this stage onwards.
Comic ConsHigh – Comic Cons are juried shows that require an application, and also have high booth fees ($300+). Some Comic Cons only accept 2D art.High – Customers tend to pay higher prices, especially if it’s on theme for a Comic Con.

*Comic Cons are really fun to vend at! People are really friendly and it can be a great experience.
Medium – Indoor events only require a table, but you’ll need a great set-up to get accepted.
Street FestivalsHigh – Juried show that is somewhat competitive, booth fees ~$250/day, and can go up to $1500 a day.High (ish) – Street Festivals can be a toss up since there are often a huge amount of vendors. Sometimes the quality of all vendors is also variable. However, the amount of people makes it worth a try.High – Outdoor events require a canopy and full set up.
Juried Craft ShowsHigh – Juried craft shows are extremely competitive, often makers do not get in their first year (especially if in a competitive category). Booth fees are ~$300+.High – Juried craft shows often only include high quality handmade artisans, and are carefully curated so that only a few of each craft are accepted so as to maximize profits (up to ~5-6k/day)Medium – Often indoors, but you’ll need an incredible set-up to both get accepted and impress customers.

I’ve ordered the craft shows roughly in order of accessibility. However, accessibility and profitability are often at odds with each other; the craft shows with the highest fees also often end up being the most lucrative.

However, it creates a natural progression for the path a beginner to take. Even though a juried craft show might yield several thousand dollars of profit a day, obviously it’s not recommended or even possible for a complete beginner to get accepted to a craft show like that without a solid inventory and some experience.

The most profitable craft shows can still fall flat without the necessary experience, so it’s important to work your way up the ladder and slowly take more risks as you learn about the nuances of your specific location and what kinds of products do and don’t work.

Therefore, high school craft shows are the best place to cut your teeth and evaluate whether you’re capable of producing enough inventory – and fast enough – to fill up a whole booth, as well as learning some basic marketing and sales skills.

However, high school craft shows have a sort of built in ceiling on pricing, since the clientele might not be the most appreciative of handmade art, so if you find that you still aren’t able to turn enough of a profit despite your best efforts, it’s a good idea to try a farmers market and see whether you’re able to raise your prices.

A more exclusive craft show won’t redeem a poor setup or lack of inventory, so it’s really important to make sure that you have the basics down before you start applying for street fairs, juried shows, etc, that all come with a hefty booth fee that you won’t be able to get back.

Photo credit: @exquisiteknots. Outdoor craft fair at a farmer’s market!

4. Amount of competition

The amount of competition from similar vendors can take a huge toll on the amount of profit that you make at a craft fair.

Especially for crochet vendors, even just one other vendor selling crochet items can cause a 20%+ reduction in revenue, unless there’s a large difference in the type of crochet items that they are selling (e.g. if one person is selling hats and the other is selling amigurumi).

If there are multiple crochet vendors at a given craft fair, revenues will take a hit since there’s so much competition.

For this reason, high quality and juried craft shows tend to carefully limit the amount of vendors they let in for each craft, with a ceiling of 3-5 per craft, depending on which product line it is.

This results in much better sales for all who are accepted, and also creates a better experience for the customers who don’t want to be bombarded with ten booths of candles.

Further, if there are multiple big craft fairs or markets happening the same day, this can also impact sales since the same type of people tend to go to these events.

Organizers of craft fairs tend to be cognizant of this and will avoid scheduling fairs at the same time as others, but it’s still important to keep in mind.

However, craft fairs that are not as carefully controlled like street fairs or high school craft shows might not place a cap on how many vendors of each category are allowed, so this can result in variable profitability depending on the day.

5. Placement in the craft fair

Where your booth is located in the craft fair and also impact your performance that day. Craft shows tend to have a flow, with booths at the front and going down the middle enjoying the most amount of foot traffic, whereas those off to the side or in the back may get overlooked.

There’s another quirk as well, which is that in the US, people tend to turn right after walking in the doors, so if your booth is placed towards the right of the door, you may get more people walking by your booth.

On top of that, customers tend to be more attracted to booths that draw the eye with setups that are built up from the table with shelves or hangers.

They also tend to be more comfortable browsing booths when other customers are already there, so keep that in mind as you observe the flow of people at your craft show!

6. How fast you crochet

How fast you crochet is an element that could make or break how worthwhile it is to sell crochet items at craft fairs.

Eventually, it’s a good idea to set your pricing goal at $20-25/hour for your crochet items, so if it takes you many hours to simply crochet a keychain, then it will be extremely difficult to be able to reach this hourly “wage.”

It’s normal to crochet more slowly at first and then become faster as you become more experienced, and it’s also unrealistic to be able to immediately price your crochet items at $20-25/hour. However, it’s good to keep this number in mind as a sanity check for times when you feel like something is taking forever.

If you crochet products in an assembly line — crocheting 50 of the body, then 50 of the limbs, then 50 of the head, for example — this can speed up your process a lot. Since you group together the same steps, you’ll be able to generate a lot more crochet products this way.

Even at juried craft shows, experienced crochet vendors will sometimes introduce an item that ends up taking too long and only sells at a lower hourly wage. This is a good way to identify products that won’t work for you — the winners are quick projects that can sell for a higher price.

Photo credit: @exquisiteknots. Using assembly line methods to make bubble tea amigurumi!

7. Type of customer

The demographics of your customers at a given craft show might be one of the biggest indicators of how much profit you can expect.

This is also tied to the type of craft show that you’re at, since different shows attract different types of people.

It’s extremely important to understand who your customers are. Successful crochet vendors target young professionals or wealthy college students with disposable income — people between 20-40 who are willing to spend ~$40 at a time on crochet items.

Part of being able to attract the right audience is branding yourself in the correct way. Those who see your products as kids’ toys will not be willing to pay as much as if your products are seen as handmade pieces of fiber art.

This is why you’ll see more luck with raising prices at craft fairs that draw a crowd that loves handmade products and is willing to spend more for them.

Craft shows that have an entrance fee to even attend will attract customers who value handmade products highly and are expecting higher prices.

High school craft shows might attract a customer base that’s bargain hunting or expecting flea market prices.

Areas that are more affluent will also attract a well heeled clientele, so some towns or cities that are low income may have a natural cap on how much a craft show vendor can make without traveling.

Generally, bigger and wealthier cities with exclusive craft shows will yield the best results, so keep in mind that eventually you may have to travel to another location for a higher quality craft show.

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What kinds of craft fairs are there?

There are four main kinds of craft fairs: high school craft shows, farmer’s markers, street festivals, and juried craft fairs. High school craft fairs are the least profitable and the most accessible, and juried craft fairs are the most lucrative but also the least accessible.

Craft shows are not all created equal, and often bigger and more competitive craft fairs require a huge amount of preparation in advance.

A craft show that might be right for you when you’re just beginning is probably not going to be the right one for you a few years down the road.

With that in mind, let’s go over the types of craft fairs that exist and why you might choose a given one for your burgeoning craft business.

I’m going to restate my amazing craft show chart from earlier in case you skipped down to this section!

I also want to caveat that these numbers are from a few subjective experiences of crafters from one city who all primarily vend in and around a wealthy metropolis in the US. Your mileage may vary greatly, so take this with a grain of salt.

Type of ShowBarrier to EntryProfitabiiltyAmount of Prep
High School Craft ShowLow – Admissions fees are generally $50-100 for a whole weekend with long days, making it approachable for a beginnerLow – Most HS Craft shows have no entrance fee, so many come to just browse. Cheap (~$10) pieces sell very quickly, but more expensive works likely will not sell. If you can produce a lot of product, you can make maybe $500-1000 a weekend.Low – Usually indoor, so only need a 6′ table and tablecloth (and a business license).
Farmers MarketsMedium – Booth fees a little higher than HS Craft shows, but can buy season passes (average $50/day). Days are a little shorter, so less time to sell. Medium – Customers tend to appreciate handmade more, so prices can be higher with more profitability. High – Outdoor markets require vendors to bring their own canopy and setup. You’ll also need insurance from this stage onwards.
Comic ConsHigh – Comic Cons are juried shows that require an application, and also have high booth fees ($300+). Some Comic Cons only accept 2D art.High – Customers tend to pay higher prices, especially if it’s on theme for a Comic Con.

*Comic Cons are really fun to vend at! People are really friendly and it can be a great experience.
Medium – Indoor events only require a table, but you’ll need a great set-up to get accepted.
Street FestivalsHigh – Juried show that is somewhat competitive, booth fees ~$250/day, and can go up to $1500 a day.High (ish) – Street Festivals can be a toss up since there are often a huge amount of vendors. Sometimes the quality of all vendors is also variable. However, the amount of people makes it worth a try.High – Outdoor events require a canopy and full set up.
Juried Craft ShowsHigh – Juried craft shows are extremely competitive, often makers do not get in their first year (especially if in a competitive category). Booth fees are ~$300+.High – Juried craft shows often only include high quality handmade artisans, and are carefully curated so that only a few of each craft are accepted so as to maximize profits (up to ~5-6k/day)Medium – Often indoors, but you’ll need an incredible set-up to both get accepted and impress customers.

All of these craft shows can be good for a vendor at different times in their vending career, so don’t discount one or the other because of its high admissions fee or its low earning potential.

You can learn something from all of them!

What are the best crochet items to sell at craft fairs?

Fast and easy crochet toys are the best items to sell at craft fairs. Ideally, vendors should be able to make them in an hour or two. Using chunky or bulky yarn will allow vendors to create a larger item in less time, and thus be able to charge more.

If you’re at a loss, check out some of the patterns below as well as my blog post all about the most eyecatching amigurumi you can make for craft fairs!

Also, keep in mind that safety eyes are not child safe, so if you’re making amigurumi, make sure you let all your customers know, or replace them with embroidered or glued on felt eyes.

1. Spring Bunnies

Free pattern by All About Ami here!

These lovely rabbits are just perfect for welcoming the Year of Rabbit!

The pattern provides detailed instructions and step-by-step pictures for some tricky parts.

I love that the creator also provides patterns for their accessories—the roses and carrot just add so much more personality to these cute buns!

You can also choose to customize the colors of your bunnies—gray, cream, or brown for realistic bunnies, pink or blue for fantastical ones!

2. Fluffle Teddy Bear

Free pattern by me here!

This sweet teddy bear will certainly draw the eyes of people at the craft fair! At first glance, most people won’t even realize this teddy bear has been crocheted!

Faux fur yarn can be a bit finicky to work with, but since it only requires single crochets, this is the right project for beginners to try it out!

And don’t worry! In the pattern tutorial, I’ve included many tips on how to work with faux yarn.

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3. Chubby Cat Amigurumi

Free pattern by Little Love Everyday here!

Calling all the cat lovers to your booth!

These mini cats are the perfect size to sell as a keychain or bag charm! Or you can choose to make a larger version by substituting the yarn!

If you choose to use a jumbo-sized yarn, you might consider using sport yarn to embroider the stripes instead of embroidery floss.

The stripes surely add character, but if you find yourself short on time, you may choose to forgo them!

4. Jumbo Bee

Free pattern by Curious Papaya here!

This bee or a variation of it has made its rounds on Instagram and TikTok! You’ve probably seen it, and so will your potential customers!

The final size measures at 13 in. x 10 in. (33 cm x 25 cm), truly a jumbo-sized bee!

I love how the pattern provides an option to create felt eyes instead of the usual safety eyes! It really adds character to the bee.

5. Amigurumi Pumpkin

Free pattern by móhu here!

Save this pattern for when fall comes around again! Which is soon, for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere!

These cute pumpkins will happily greet your customers!

If you crochet them using the recommended size and hook, you may choose to attach a chain and sell them as keychains!

Otherwise, you can upsize them and sell giant pumpkins instead.

6. Strawberry Bee

Free pattern by me here!

Here’s another bee for you! This pattern is by me and I’ve ensured that it’s easy to understand, even for beginners!

This strawberry bee would be absolutely delighted to join in your craft fair!

You can substitute the recommended colors with any colors you want! For instance, you can create a rainbow bee if you like!

More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:

7. No-Sew Amigurumi Octopus

Free pattern by Sweet Softies here!

Are you ready to host an army of squishy octopuses in your booth?

Well, ready or not, here they are!

Those eight cute little tentacles might intimidate you, but don’t discount this pattern just yet! It’s a no-sew pattern and the tentacles are made using a combination of chains and slip stitches.

Additionally, the creator has also included a handy video tutorial!

8. Amigurumi Donuts

This squad of donuts is just irresistible! A pig donut, a frog donut, a unicorn donut—what more can spice up your stand?

The pattern calls for a chunky yarn, which makes this project super fast to finish! Both written instructions and video tutorials are provided for the basic donut and each modification.

9. Amigurumi Fluffy Ghost

Free pattern by Rose & Lily here!

Boo!

You may want to save this pattern for Halloween … or not! Who says ghosts are only cool around that time of the year?

How much does it cost to start selling crochet at craft fairs?

It costs around $500 for a beginner to develop an attractive craft fair booth set up, including a canopy for outdoor shows. There is also a small cost for getting a business license, insurance for a booth, and booth fees at shows — all not including the inventory meant to be sold.

There are numerous costs associated with getting started on a crochet business. However, these can be mitigated and decreased if you choose to dabble at first just to see whether you like it.

1. Set up decor, stands, and racks: ~$500

In an ideal world where you want to get started on your business immediately and have some extra funds to do so, getting a great set up is key.

Generally, if your table or booth just looks like a table with some product thrown on top of it and looks like a yard sale, customers will expect yard sale prices.

Although this can be difficult to hear when we spend so much time on our crochet creations, it’s important to signal to customers that your products are valuable and true works of art.

The best way to do this is to create a set up with an attention to detail that matches that of your products, as well as getting your product off the table so that it’s at eye level.

The best way to build up and off the table is by using stands, racks, hangers, and boxes to create layers in your product so that your booth is arranged vertically from the table upwards instead of horizontally on top of the table.

You should also get a nice tablecloth, some lights to brighten up the space, and a price list (if you’re not using price tags).

If you’re selling outside at a farmer’s market or street fair, you’ll probably also have to bring your own canopy.

There are many types of canopies, but make sure you get one that you can put up with one push and doesn’t need multiple people to set up (also called an easy up canopy).

Eagle Peak Canopy and ABC Canopy are both good brands that are easily accessible and often used by craft fair vendors.

If you want some inspiration and tips from other craft fair vendors, this Facebook group is an excellent resource! (You’ll need a Facebook account to join).

These set up items can all add up to a couple hundred dollars. Of course, if you’re just getting started and aren’t 100% sure you will want to continue doing this, it’s totally okay to just get a tablecloth to start.

However, keep in mind that this kind of set up won’t attract the best customers, and always remember that there’s room to grow.

Photo credit: @exquisiteknots. A beautiful set up for a juried show!

2. Business License: ~$100

This should not be construed as legal advice. Little World of Whimsy is not responsible for any action taken from these opinions.

Getting a business license is something that you’ll want to do as you continue your crochet business journey.

Strictly speaking, you should get a business license before you work your first show, but often many vendors at high school craft fairs might not have one — use your own judgment as to when in the process you want to get official, but if you’re serious about pursuing this long term, you should look into getting a business license for your state.

Also, you should collect sales tax on any purchases that are made, and having a business license enables you to do so.

3. Point of Sale software: 2% processing fee

Many customers don’t carry cash these days and prefer to pay with a card. If you want to take orders digitally, getting a point of sale software like Square or Clover makes it easy to accept credit card orders.

These two point of sale softwares are the most popular with small business vendors and often take a 2% fee on all purchases you make, but they also automatically collect sales tax for you.

Usually they will provide the card swipe hardware for a phone or iPad for free, and Square will allow you to purchase a contactless (NFC) payment gadget for $40 which can be useful for customers who want to use Google Pay or Apple Pay.

4. Craft Fair Insurance: ~$20/show

If you start vending at larger shows like farmers markets and street festivals, you might be required to purchase some sort of craft fair insurance to cover third party liability within your booth.

This is general liability insurance, which means that if someone falls inside your booth and hurts themselves, you’ll be able to use your insurance to cover their accident.

If you don’t have insurance, often craft fairs will allow you to purchase a one-day policy to cover you for their fair for a low fee of $10-20.

If you want to get your own insurance, you can choose to buy insurance on a pro-rated day to day basis for specific dates and fairs, or you can get insurance for a year for a discount (~$250).

Insurance usually only covers you for one state, so keep in mind that if you travel out of state to vend then you’ll need to get ad hoc coverage for that.

How do you price a crochet product?

Generally, crochet items should be priced at $20 an hour for maximum profitability. Beginners should start out at about $10 an hour. All crochet vendors should aim for small, fast projects like amigurumi, and cut out products that do not sell at this rate.

If you’ve read this far, then you probably know that pricing is dependent on a huge amount of factors and it’s extremely difficult to give a hard and fast rule for what you should price your items.

However, you should follow the general guidelines below to help inform your decision.

  • As stated previously, your goal in a successful, sustainable crochet business is to sell items at $20-25 an hour after you’ve been in business for several years and are consistently selling at juried craft fairs in a more affluent area
  • If you are unable to sell at juried craft fairs or there are none available, there is a lower cap on how high you can price your items and it means that you won’t be able to increase prices unless you start vending at more profitable craft fairs and/or go to a different location where those shows exist
  • Everyone starts out with extremely low prices, at $5-10 per crochet item. These items will sell, but keep in mind that your goal needs to be to increase your prices eventually since it’s very difficult to make a lot of profit this way without burning out
  • It’s often possible to sell small items like keychains for a little over the “hourly rate,” but you may also have to sell larger items for a little under your “hourly rate.” This can help balance out your products.
  • It’s extremely important to make small and fast projects, as well as be a fast crocheter, since otherwise your hourly rate will result in extremely expensive items. Ideally, you could make a small keychain in an hour or so and larger items in a few hours.
  • If your items don’t sell or customers say that they’re too expensive, keep in mind that the reason is often because you aren’t at the right craft fair. Generally, the better the craft fair, the higher you can raise your prices.
  • However, if there are some items that just take too much time (e.g. blankets and wearable), it’s worth just taking them off your inventory list in favor of faster and smaller items that are within the range of your customers.
  • Keep an eye on your average order value (AOV). This is the average amount that a customer spends at your booth. Since you can estimate how many customers you’ll get (~1% of total foot traffic), you can use this to estimate the amount of sales that you’ll make.
  • Most craft vendors consider a “good day” to be when they make 10x the booth fee, but beginners may only 2x or 3x the booth fee. Keep this in mind as a pulse check for how well you’re doing on profit and whether you may need to consider increasing prices.
Photo credit: @exquisiteknots

How do I start selling crochet items at craft fairs?

As a general rule, start selling crochet at craft fairs by trying out two to three shows at local high school craft fairs on the side. Charge around $5-10 apiece for these shows, but invest all your earnings into a nice set up and admissions fees for more profitable shows like farmers markets.

So, you’ve read this far and you want to know what the best strategy is for getting started.

As we’ve discussed earlier, the most “profitable” method is definitely not the easiest or the most beginner friendly. You won’t (and probably don’t want to) spend $300 on a booth fee at a juried craft fair right off the bat without any inventory or set up paraphernalia.

If I were starting a crochet business at craft fairs today, this is what I would do:

  1. Scout out the high school craft fairs in my area and apply for one or two just to see whether I like the experience. Bring about 50-100 small, quick products (~ twice as much as you expect to sell) like amigurumi or dishcloths, and buy a simple tablecloth as set up. Bring a lot of five dollar bills and one dollar bills as change.
  2. If I enjoy the experience, apply to more high school craft shows in the area. Invest all my profits into buying stands, racks, and hangers to make my display nicer and attract better customers. Get a point of sale software like Square to be able to accept credit card payments. Repeat at several other craft fairs over the course of a year. Spend all your time creating more inventory (make about 2x the amount that you expect to sell, empty booths are unattractive to customers).
  3. At this point if things seem to be going well and you’re making 3-5x the booth fee, try applying to a farmers market nearby and see if you can raise your prices. Slowly build a brand by getting a banner, basic social media account that announces your upcoming shows, and business cards. Take photos of your set up and get ready to apply for some juried shows.
  4. If this goes well, continue refining your booth and incrementally raising prices while scouting out juried shows in your area. If there are none, you may have to try a nearby city. Try a juried show to get a sense of the amount of competition and whether your booth set up is up to par. It may take several tries to get accepted at a juried show, and you may not get in every year even if accepted the first year.
  5. Once you are consistently vending at juried shows, raise your prices so that your hourly rate is ~$20-25. Continue refining your schedule, inventory, and pricing and introduce seasonal projects.

I tend to be a more risk averse person, so while you could go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a craft fair set up, I tend to want to make sure that I can make money doing something first before investing money into it.

Also, you might not enjoy interacting with customers at all at craft fairs, or hate churning out huge amounts of inventory. It’s really important to understand yourself and whether this type of business suits you.

Eventually, if you keep vending at the same shows year after year, you’ll build up a small audience of people who expect to see you there. It’ll also get easier to predict how many sales you’ll make as well as what factors influence sales.

Unfortunately, if you’re in an area that doesn’t have a lot of high quality craft shows or are unable to travel, this business model might have severe limitations for you.

Being able to raise your prices is imperative to making a profit, and if high quality street festivals, farmers markets, or juried shows are nonexistent in your area it can be almost impossible to raise your prices to a level where you’re actually making any money.

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What are the downsides to selling crochet at craft fairs?

Although selling crochet items at craft fairs can be a great business for a serious hobbyist or someone wanting to make some extra income, there are always downsides.

The main issue is that income can be very variable. As covered earlier in this article, there are many, many factors that influence your performance at a given craft fair, from your placement to the type of people who come to the weather that day.

You could spent $200 on admission to a craft fair but have it completely ruined by rain, or you could try out a new craft fair only to realize that it’s the wrong type of customer for your products.

The other main obstacle with selling handmade crochet products is that not everyone will treat your products with the same care and value that you treat them.

Often comments from customers like “I can make that” or “I know someone who can make that” are common, and many will claim that your prices are too high even when you’re not even making minimum wage on your time.

Essentially, boothing at a craft fair is just like selling retail at a mall — you get a lot of different customers and people might not see you as a person whose feelings can get hurt.

Mean comments like this can really affect you, and though over time you learn to develop a thicker skin and also seek friendlier craft fairs, it’s still something to keep in mind.

For this reason, many people choose to sell online or pursue a different business model like blogging (check out how I made $1,000/month from blogging here), even though it takes more time.

It’s all up to you and you never know until you try!

I hope this blog post was helpful to all of you who want to make some side income on your hobby — feel free to reach out with more questions or read more about making money from crochet below!

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Photo credit: @exquisiteknots