np3

Good luck to you if you try it!

CoyoteQuilts

I have to agree with Charlee. Also, I had a friend help me with mine, but she didn't want to shut up! I tried getting her to talk to the people walking by, but she didn't get the hint. This year I am going by myself!

gigi4419

It's 100 here! Also expected to donate a door prize.

ckcowl

it really depends on...location, venue, and what you are planning to sell-
we have a couple pretty large craft shows around the holidays===that are quite costly to participate in---but the up side is they tend to have between 6000=10000 people go through- so chances are---you will make money-
i've seen others that only had a handful of people show up- and no one really made any money-
is it a show you have visited? could you possibly talk to a couple people who have done it in the past to find out if they get the customers & sales?
$50 is probably in the (going) price range- but how much will you have to sell in order to make any money?
before commiting you should really find out about the venue = try to find out how much traffic it gets- what kind of advertising do they do....and how many people are trying to sell the same things as you? sometimes if you are trying to compete with someone who has a following (they've done this show for a number of years and people go looking for them) you could find that you get passed by.
lots of research == but if you think it is worth it - go for it and give it a try- worst case scenerio is - your out $50 but you will learn alot.

susie-susie-susie

It's been a few years, but some are really profitable and some barely make your expenses. Make your tablecover white or a light color--not a print. Have something to display your items--a 10 foot table isn't very long, especially if your items are large. You don't want to have them so crowded that people can't see the items. Having someone to share the cost is a good idea, but that shrinks your space to 5 ft. We did a show once--Christmas--and they had 3 shows very close together. Admission was $$ or cans of food for a food bank. We thought it would be a very successful show. Barely made the cost of the table. You just never know. Good luck.
Sue

Katia

I think it totally depends on the show. I used to do about ten shows a year that were affiliated with a big Harvest Festival organization. We sold Christmas ornaments. We also did lots of local ones. The Harvest ones ran about 6-800 depending on the size and location. The locals we did were all well over 200. The more money you pay, the more advertizing they are supposed to do or more established, all that sort of thing.

When I first started we easily did a minimum of ten times the price of the booth. But that went down a lot over time. It got to the point where you were lucky to make booth fees and overhead. Which is why I am not doing them anymore.

I do want to start up again with other stuff besides ornaments. But the cost of business licenses and tax stuff is daunting.

ptquilts

This is good advice - it is much easier for a potential buyer to approach a single person behind the booth than to break into a conversation between 2 or more. Remember to smile and say Hi to everyone - just to get them to stop and look at your stuff can be half the battle.

jme

That sounds reasonable to me. There are a few in our area that charge upwards of $100 (and more). I agree with PTquilts it is a learning experience and you'll never know if you don't try. It might be fun.

gramajo

Re: soliciting for a show. Maybe your products are different enough that they'd give another dimension to the show--not the same old same old. Or the show is only a couple of years old and they're trying to expand it. It wouldn't hurt to get in on the ground floor.

DeeBooper

My mom and I tried selling at craft shows a few years ago. It was very hard work (mostly in the winter and freezing cold out waiting for the doors to open). The tables back then were up to $40.00 for a very small space. We quit selling because of the price of the tables and all the work. We are happier giving to charity. We think it is ridiculous for 40 to 50 dollars for a table. We now let other people have our table...LOL