It’s officially summer which means it’s super busy market season! Many of you vendors are in that busy but fun preparation mode–creating, building inventory, organizing, and crossing off lists. And you shoppers–well, it’s time to start cleaning out the old to make some room for all the cool things you’ll gather up at the Summer Horseshoe!
Below is a helpful business post from Amy Kalinchuk from Craft e-Revolution/Old Crone’s Bewitching Bath Soap with great tips about outdoor vending at fairs and markets. As you prepare your booth, use the checklist below to make sure all of your ducks are in a row.
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It’s time to get ready for outdoor fairs! If you’ve never done one before, fear not. Below is my personal checklist for when I vend outdoors. If you have something to add to the list, please leave a comment—we are here to learn, right? I’m certain my checklist isn’t comprehensive, but it works for me. Feel free to steal it and adapt it for yourself, this craft fair season.
• 10X10 tent (with or without walls). Find them at Home Depot, Walmart, Lowes, etc. You can buy very high quality tents at Flourish and display walls at Armstrong Products.
• Tables and tablecloths
• Chair
• Signs and Banners
• Tent décor, such as bunting
• Bungee cords (for signs and weights)
• Weights for the tent (You must have these so your tent doesn’t fly away or hit someone! Super important for Colorado weather. Buy them with your tent, or make them easily and cheaply–find out how here)
• Table display items (boxes, shelves, etc.)
• Products to sell (!)
• Bags for merchandise
• Money box w/$100 in change
• Credit card acceptance tool (whatever that is—I use a Square)
• Credit card acceptance sign
• Clipboard with inventory sheet
-Notes should include total retail sales tax collected and any percentage fee paid
-Tally marks next to inventory list
• Business cards
• Notebook and pen for collecting email addresses for your newsletter list
• Pens and pencils, Sharpie markers, for yourself
• Duct tape & scissors (Just in case you need it)
• Hand sanitizer
• Toilet paper (Just in case! Portable toilets are, by their very nature, unpredictable)
• Tissues
• Cell phone
• Cooler w/snacks or lunch, and water
• Clean hair, face, teeth, and clothes
Amy Kalinchuk writes about crafting and business, and publishes others at Craft e-Revolution. Feel free to contact her through her website about your ideas for a photographed craft tutorial ebook.
