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| Setting Up a Craft Booth |
| Friday, December 08, 2006 |
You have decided to sell your crafts at a Craft Show. Now how do you do this to make your items sell. The first thing that you need to do is to see how much space you will need and how do you display the items.
Keep in mind that most spaces a Craft Shows vary from 8'x5' to 10'x10' for single spaces. What you now need to do is find an area where you can mark off 8'x5'. You can use something as simple as cans for the corners of your space, but don't trip on them or move them around. You can also use masking tape on your floor or carpet.
Now do you want to display everything on a table or do you want to get some height. Keep in mind that the customers eyes will wonder so you will need to think of this with your items.
First, try a table (one you plan to take with you or the size of one that you might rent) and see how you might want to display your items that way. If your items are small enough a table is all that you will need. Usually, people have 6' tables that they take with them or maybe a couple of card tables. This really depends on your crafts.
Now you may want to think of some height. You can buy plastic take apart shelves that will look good and be easy to carry. This will give you some heights and if your items will work on a shelf that will be great. If you need a back on the shelf you can get a piece of plywood cut to fit and then connect it to the shelf so that it will not fall. If the items that you might want to lean on the backing are light weight you can use a piece of fabric cut to fit and place under the bottom to make it tight. Another way to acquire height is to have a small peg board made to fit on the ends of the table, screens in frames, mesh wire in frames or metal grids. What ever you use you will want to make it safe so that it will not fall over onto your customer. There are so many ways to make heights and it really depends on your crafts as to what you want and how you want to display these items. You can even go to the boxes that you carry your items in and place them on the table to make a riser and then you will want to cover this with fabric.
There is one very important thing to remember here. Most Craft Shows will want you to look professional and cover your table to the floor all the way around. You can buy professional covers made for your table or you can get very reasonable fabric to cover your table with. You will have to make sure that you do not have anything on the floor to trip your customer. If you choose a plain color of fabric you will not have problems with your items showing up. Some people even use plain white sheets with the ends folded is so that the sides also look professional.
Now that you have a table set up see if this is how you want your I
tems to show. You will play around with this at several shows before you are really happy with your set up and even then you will keep changing as your craft changes. Always keep in mind that you can always change the way that you display your items. You may find ways that others use to show off their items that might work for you also and choose to do something similar.
If you try a set up at home first you will have an idea of how much space you will need and how to set it up when you arrive at the show location. Practice at home with your set up and then after you have your space set up the way that you think you want it, leave the room and rest awhile from it. Now come back into the area with a fresh view and think of yourself as the customer. How does your space look to you now? Are you happy with your idea or is it lacking something? You usually do not have the time to do al of the playing around when you arrive to set up.
There are several large items that you need to set on the floor. Now what do you do? Move your table around (on the side or back of the area) and place the items where you want them on the floor. This is the fun part, while you are at home and under no pressure to hurry and set up. With practice at home you will be more relaxed when you arrive at the location of the craft show.
There are so many different ways to set up your booth that working it out at home first is really a must. Remember, that you can always change things around and your set up is not set is stone. If you find a crafter close that you become friends with you can also ask for suggestions. Most of the crafters will be more that happy to help each other, all you have to do is ask. If you have a slow period during the craft show you can recheck your set up.
You need to remember that everything will need to fit into your vehicle and that is another place that you may want to practice.
Now that you have your area set up, did you remember that you will want to sit down and have room for a money box or something to keep your money in? To start with you can buy small cash boxes. You will not want to be fumbling around in a shoe box or cigar box like you may have done at a garage sale. Later you may want to buy a small cash register. If you use a money box you will want to keep it away from hands so you may want to get a box fixed to hide your money box in.
Don't forget that you will need to have bags on hand for your items. Your customers can not carry everything around and if they do not have bags you will not be albe to tell if they bought the items or not. If your item is too large for a bag you may want to place a bright sticker on the sold items so that you know that it was purchased.
There are many times that a person will get discouraged, but keep in mind that you need to do more than one or two shows to really know if craft show selling is for you or not. Spring shows are a good place to start as they are slower than the fall shows, but this is where you can get discouraged since the sales are lower. Remember, at this point you are practicing. Summer shows are mostly outdoors. And then you have one day shows to four day mall shows. Do only what you feel that you can do and do not extend yourself too far. I myself have been doing craft shows for over 30 years and love meeting the people and hearing the comments about my crafts even if they do not buy right then. Many times they will come back later if they truly like your items.
You have now practiced and found out how much space you need to get at the craft show and you have ideas of how to set up your booth.
Happy selling! |
posted by I Am A WAHM @ 2:48 AM  |
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