craft shows not paying off.

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DRDJR

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Joined
Jul 23, 2025
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51
Location
Cantonment Fl.
I live in Northwest Florida. and the last few craft shows have been a bust. people look at my pens tell me how beautiful they are. look at the prices and make a few comments about being to high then lay them down and walk off. I have a price on my slimlines of $21 and people arent willing to pay that. I have a business and base my hourley rate at $25 an hour which i consider cheap laber. I have a Bolt Action pen/Pencil set with matching camo acrylic. that was priced at $80 for the set. and people would look at the set gasp at the price and walk off. I did have one guy offer me $40 for the set and i had to bite my tongue. So is it the area or is the economy that bad.
I have a sign that I had on the wall of a previous business that says ( Prices subject to change according to customers attitude) I am tempted to display that on my table!
I always check the pens befor the shows and make sure they work and write. and had to reolace the refill on about half.
I will get off my soapbox now.
 
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$80 is cheap as I saw bolt action pens at $95 each several years ago. This was in an arts & crafts store. FWIW, I considered shows but crossed them off the list. One charged $360 for a 10x10 space. Considering that price, motel room, meals for the three days. I would have to sell a trainload of pens, etc. just to break even...if I got lucky.
I have a sign at the antique and craft venue where I display my pens. It states that the price reflects the finish of the pen, cost of the blank, and time to complete the pen.
I sent several custom pens to a lady who must have thought custom pens sold for cheap prices. Wound up getting them to a friend and at a brother-in-law price. Same with donating to a charity for auction. When I told them the price for a set value, they said they missed it. Hmm.
 
The one and only craft fair I setup for this past summer was basically a bust also. I priced slimlines at $25, some ball points and cigar pens at $30 and bolt actions at $50. Lots of lookers but no interest in buying. I had a some knives with leather sheaths, duck calls and some misc other turnings. Sold one knife sheath and one duck call. Won't waste my time with that anymore. A few vendors of other stuff had basically same results. Our area is small rural towns all within 10 miles of each other. The best venue for making money seemed to be mostly food vendors. Lol
 
A fellow sold about 500 pens a year- online and craft shows. He said one must be aware of the market. He could get $60 for a pen one place and only get $40 in another.
 
So much goes into choosing a show, pricing for a show, weighing the cost to enter, needing to look at the traffic coming to show, is it a pay to enter show, is it a hand made only type show. Do not lump one show in with all shows. Now there are books on this subject out there Do some homework if you want to really up your intake. The one advise I will give you you have, to have, have to sell more than pens. Please do not rely on pens as a answer to doing well at a show. That one or two people looking for a pen may not come to your show. Believe me there are not many pen buyers. Remeber this is not a specific product type show. It is a general craft show. So audience will be more broad minded.Never be afraid to put a high dollar value on your work providing it is up to that class. You can not be the judge of that. You need some people who look beyond the friendship and will be honest. You need people to tell you what they would buy as far as styles and maybe themes. As I said I can write a book but they are out there already. Do not take my word alone . other thing I will tell you is web platforms will get more eys on your product as long as you do the work and promote it and sell it. Not an easy sell either way especially in this market today. Beside what the guy in the office says, economy is not great.
 
I see craft shows and fairs as more of a marketing/sales vehicle than for direct sales. For myself, as a visitor, I don't usually go to buy anything unless I have a specific item in mind, or if I know a specific vendor will be there. I've never been as a vendor; but if I were to, I think I'd be expecting more just make connections, get my name out there among the locals, and to learn exactly what people might be looking for and spending money on. As such, I'd need to first have some kind of an online presence, and business cards and/or flyers with web address and phone number. Take that for what it's worth from someone who's never tried to sell anything they've made. Yet.

You have to remember, most people see pens as nothing more than common tools - buy a pack of Bic's for a few bucks and be done. If you want to sell your wares, as I hope I'll be able to do at some point, we're playing to a very niche audience, even in the best of economic times.
 
I live in central Illinois and we do around 6 shows a year. Most are local schools craft shows. I sell mostly pens and some kitchen stuff, grinders scoops, like that. We have slimlines for the giveaway price of $10, we've sold two this year. Bolt action are $55 or $60 depending on the blanks. A lot are $30 to $45.
I guess we lucky to average $400 a show. Our most expensive entry fee is $150 and most are under $75
 
Just to extend a little on Johns post. You are selling your craftsmanship. Some question their pricing. Discounts only bring in cheap customers and can lower your standards as a craftsman. There are still people out there that recognize quality. I have sold a few things over the years, and I price my stuff where I am content with what I've put into it and still feel it is a fair price to a customer. If they don't want to pay for your talent and hard work, there's a Dollar General in every town.
 
I sold pens through a gallery or two and a bookstore. The bookstore was my best location.
Sold one here because a member liked what he saw and commissioned a pen.
Last year, a family friend ordered pens as speaker gifts for their monthly meetings.

I'm convinced selling at a juried art show or a craft fair (they're very different venues) requires a lot of inventory. Just look at Mr. Mayo's booth images to get an idea of a successful setup.
 
Outstanding display of products. However, mmayo has a ton of $$$$ tied up in unsold inventory. I'm not in a position to invest that much. Craft shows around here have several vendors with cutting boards. One show at the local mall had at least three. Not my thing.
 
Woodchipper said:
Outstanding display of products. However, mmayo has a ton of $$$$ tied up in unsold inventory. I'm not in a position to invest that much. Craft shows around here have several vendors with cutting boards. One show at the local mall had at least three. Not my thing.
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This is why you need to seperate yourself from others. Just like pen making. Do something different and chances of selling are much higher. These bolt action pens, everyone is doing that. This is why I have gotten into segmenting and casting watch parts and things like that. Casting colored blanks is another avenue that has been overplayed in my opinion. When I started out doing craft shows some 35 years ago, they were the big thing and everyone was starting to hold them. But along came the Walmarts and Amazons of the world and that took the sting out of the hand made products. But doing your homework there still avenuse to follow that can be profitable. But one thing I learned early on is you need to get your name out there and people see your work. They will be the judge weather you are any good or not. I chose scrollsawing because it is a hobby that takes alot of patients and time. Doing projects that touch every aspect of life helps because your audience is so much larger. The same is with pens, add other things to the inventory when doing shows and opens more eyes.

As far as inventory and tying up $$$. I suggest get out of the business and do it quickly because that is a by product of selling your wares in no matter what you do unless you work on commission only. Then you better be damn good. As I said there are videos and books on this subject and getting into selling is a job. Yes it is a job if you want to be seious. Do a few church or school shows to keep $$ flowing to keep supporting hobby is not selling. Good luck to all if stepping into that areana. Maybe I will see you out there if I ever make it into that scene again. On-line selling is the quickest way to get product out there today. Everyone shops on line. But again it takes work and there are pitfalls. but there are many platforms better than own web sites today.
 
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