It's almost the end of the year and before I start fresh in 2019, I wanted share one aspect of my creative business that I am proud of this year: craft shows.
Selling my maps at craft shows during the holiday season is a chance for me to not only make some income for my business, but most importantly, gage what customers like and get instant feedback through the face-to-face interactions. Over the past four years, I've been participating in my local holiday craft fairs and I've learned that the work load doesn't get less each year, it's always a lot of work and sleepless nights leading up to the shows, but it does get easier. In this post, I will share some juicy numbers, what worked/didn't work this year and tips/lessons learned. As markets and craft fairs are becoming a main source of income for many small creative businesses, I hope this helps!
I participated in two shows this year. SF Etsy's Holiday Emporium 2018 and SJ Made's Holiday Craft Fair 2018. For four years in a row, I have participated in SF Etsy's Holiday Emporium. It's a craft show with around 230 vendors located in San Francisco near Pier 39. It's like Etsy in-real-life. I love the SF Etsy team because they offer previous vendors a guaranteed spot before they open applications to the public. Most shows require you to completely apply again and it doesn't guarantee that you would get in the second time. The second show is SJ Made's Holiday Craft Fair, this was my first time at this market and I was a bit nervous because I didn't have any idea of what the turnout would be like or what customers were going to walk through, but having done a few of their summer markets, I had a feeling it could be really good. Both shows being really big shows with 200+ vendors and both falling close to major holiday dates, I had to be prepare for two great shows in terms of booth display, inventory, and logistics.
The first thing I think about is always the booth design (I could talk about my sketches, my thought process and designs in another blog post if anyone is interested) and the last thing I think about is the results: income and how to implement the ideas and requests received from customers for next year.
This post is hugely inspired by Seniman Calligraphy's blog post, she recently shared her numbers and experience and I thought that was so inspiring and insightful to those who are curious about numbers (since we don't talk about it too much) and to those who are seriously thinking about selling their craft at a show in 2019.
T H E R E S U L T S :
SF Etsy: 6th Annual Indie Holiday Emporium When: Thanksgiving weekend, Sat & Sun Nov. 24 & 25, 2018 Where: Pier 35, San Francisco
Info: 200+ vendors, music, food, free entrance
Booth Fee (10x10): $395
Expenses:
Booth Display Materials: $142.84
Inventory: $982.49
Parking: $20
Food: $52.69
Total Expenses: $1593.02
Gross Sales from Square November 24, 2018: $1058 | 33 sales
Gross Sales from Square November 24, 2018: $1117 | 36 sales
What sold?
Maps
San Francisco 11
Lake Tahoe 9
Oakland 7
San Jose 3
London 3
Brooklyn 2
Edinburgh 2
Paris 2
Reno 2
Toronto 1
Stockholm 1
Stationery
Kit 5
Uncategorized
Framed Maps, Canvas Maps, Postcards 28
When: December 15th and 16th, 2018
Where: San Jose Craft Holiday Fair - South Hall
435 South Market Street, San Jose, California 95113
Info: 250+ vendors, DIY workshops, Food, Music, free entrance
Booth Fee: $459
Expenses:
Booth Setup: $142.84
Inventory: $982.49
Food: $91.64 (Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and paid food for my helpers)
Gas: $67.44
Parking: $30.75
Transportation: $11.39
Total Expenses: $1755.55
Gross Sales from Square December 15: $1580 | 40 sales
Gross Sales from Square December 16: $1430 | 39 sales
What Sold?
Maps
San Jose 45
San Francisco 8
Lake Tahoe 9
Brooklyn 3
Oakland 3