by Rebecca Lomis-Stephan
Preparing for a show can be a daunting task if you are not organized. Whether you are selling jewelry, cupcakes, garden decorations or even a home business i.e. Avon, Body by Vi, or Ameriplan, you MUST be organized to make the best of it. Here are some of my solutions to having a great show.
Pick a Location 
It is fairly easy for a crafter or a collector to come up with a place like Rummage-a-rama to sell. But wait, did you know that you can also be very successful selling Avon or a business opportunity? You bet! Location is huge as far as how many people will be at this event. In April, I chose Rummage-a-rama to sell my handcrafted jewelry. Why?
1) It is held at the State Fair grounds (huge).
2) It will be April. Spring!
3) It is advertised for me on TV, newspaper, and online.
If I chose to go to a smaller event (location) I may be disappointed with the outcome.
You can find events by:
1) Looking online for “Craft Fairs” or other fairs in your local area.
2) If you see a sign or a billboard make sure to right the information down.
3) Ask your family, friends, or church if they know of anything coming up or any place they have been in the past.
4) Have your OWN event! If you are not afraid to open your home to strangers then go for it! I did in December and even though mostly family came I still sold my jewelry!
Organize your items you will have up for sale
The first part to organizing is getting all of your items, pricing, putting together by collection or type, logging, etc. Price your items fairly! I have struggled with this for years. Make sure all costs are covered and add about $10 an hour for what you needed to do. Please make sure to add in your event cost to the price so that it gets paid for.
An example:
This is one of my new bracelets from my “Sunburst” collection. Great f or Summer! It is made with size 6/0 glass seed beads, medium memory wire, and size 8/0 green crackle beads.
Amount for material=
$6.00 for the seed beads ($3.99 each tube and I used 1 1/2 tubes)
$1.00 for the crackle beads (used 23 of them)
$ 1.50 – 5 layer medium Oval memory wire
Total for material is $8.50
I pay myself $10 an hour. It took me 30 minutes for the weaving part and 30 minutes to add it all to the memory wire and loop it off.
Total Labor $10.00
You MUST add in costs for your advertising, website (time & money), and packaging.
Take all of your numbers together and divide it by all of your products.
Website $14.99 per month and time spent per month is 40 hours at $10.00 an hour + packaging (zip-locks, bags, ribbons, boxes etc) $50.00 per month.
$100 for the event
Total cost is $568.00
If I were to make 40 of these bracelets the total cost would be $14.00 WHOLESALE.
Now you must add a retail price. You take this number x 2 and you have a RETAIL price.
The total for this bracelet would be $28.00 WHEW!
Do not question yourself!!!!!
If I were to sell this bracelet for wholesale only then we would never make any money.
Make sure to do an excel sheet and print it off! This will help you keep track of what you sell. Just highlight or check off each item you sell. Have a number for each item on the tag and on your sheet.
Organize before you go!
Make sure everything has tags on it and it is numbered like stated above. Also make sure that all of your products are in containers and sorted before you get there. This will make setting up much easier!
Make sure to have some sort of display. It can be as easy as setting tables up with table covers (include this in your price) to having someone make you a floor display for hanging things (also include in your price). Add flowers, gems, light a candle, use colors that attract, add seasonal splash etc! You want to make sure everyone comes to your table! Balloons are great to!
If you just sit there they may not come!
You have everything above done but you wonder why no one is buying anything or coming to your table. Keep these things in mind:
1) Be personable. I have seen some grouchy people at shows and I do not want to be by them so surely I will not buy from them. Smile before they come to your table. Keep that smile on all day!
2) Talk! “Hi, how are you?” or ” Looks like you like the color red, let me show you these items!”. Do not say “Can I help you with something?” At craft shows they are “Just Looking”. Now, if you were a store that would be different!
3) Have you ever went to Sam’s or Cosco’s and tried some food that they were displaying? Well, if you are like me then you know if you like it you will probably buy some. Why do you think they do this? For that reason alone!
Try offering something to your audience for free! If it is cupcakes then offer free tasting, if it is Avon offer free lotion, if it is jewelry offer the children a free stretch ring or bracelet, or offer free candy etc. Everyone likes free and will stick around and most likely buy something.
It is free to them but not to you so add it to your write offs (taxes).
Lastly, please have fun! Also, do not forget to have enough change for the day or the weekend. My show is for Sat & Sun so I will need enough change for Sunday too (banks closed). Keep all your prices at dollar amounts and this will help you not have to worry about quarters or dimes. I know, $14.99 sounds better then $15.00. Pick your battle 🙂
Have a great day!
Rebecca Lomis-Stephan
Owner/Artist
Oli'Aby Mompreneuers 