I just glanced through the replies, but I didn't see a lot of postings that addressed your issue of having the sale in the spring. We've considered it, too. However, when we did a little checking we discovered that spring sales aren't nearly as well attended than those in the fall. People are gearing up for the holidays in November and December. Spring doesn't have a holiday that calls for gift buying, unless, of course, you include Easter, which is more of a candy event than a gift event. I wonder, though, if you bundled it with a plant sale or something "springy" if you could drive traffic that way. Just a thought. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hello Everyone!
Thanks for mentioning my site. www.CraftLister.com We allow promoters to advertise shows for free! Shows that list with us usually get most of their crafters from us!
Here is something I wrote not long ago that may answer some questions:


Arts and Craft Show Promotion Basics delete edit

Arts and Craft Show Promotion Basics
by Louis Marquette, CraftLister.com - July 2004

With over 700 shows under by belt since I started selling at them with my parents at a young age, Arts and Craft Shows have always been a part of my life. In the last few years I have promoted a few of my own shows and talked to hundreds of promoters about their shows when they called me at CraftLister. During all this, I have seen many promoters making the same common mistakes and have heard them asking the same questions. This article will provide answers to the most common of these questions and contains information that I think all show promoters should have.

Local Licenses – An increasing number of local municipalities require a license or permit to hold a show. A small number even require each vendor to obtain a special permit or license. Contact the area’s town hall for details.
State Licenses – Most states require show promoters to be licensed, some with only a sales tax license, others require notification of each show you hold as well as a list of your vendors or more. Your vendors will require sales tax licenses from the state. Contact the state’s department of revenue for details.
Show Date Selection – Before committing to a date, learn what other events might conflict. Saturday shows usually draw a larger crowd and more sales, but there are also more of them to conflict with yours. Many traveling vendors prefer 2 day shows to make the most of their trip. Shows over 3-4 days long are very tiring for older vendors, especially if the hours are long.
Your Vendor Application – Your application packet should contain all the info a vendor needs to decide to do your show. This includes: jury requirements, spot sizes and prices, product restrictions, rules and regulations, show hours and location, attendance, admission, etc. Your application’s fields should allow for all their contact information, comments, spot requests, craft category, and signature to a basic release and disclaimer.
Finding Artists and Crafters – Registering your event with several printed and online directories is easy, inexpensive, and will usually generate sufficient results. You can also solicit for vendors at other shows by distributing applications or by collecting business cards. You will want to get your show’s application into the hands of prior vendors and a healthy number of new prospects. CraftLister.com sells customized mailing lists and printed mailing labels for this purpose.
Jurying – Requiring potential artists and crafters to submit several photos of their work and one of their workshop along with a description of their work is a great way to increase the quality of your show. For this, many promoters charge a $5 to $20 jury fee. Mailing confirmation packets – Mail at least a month before the show, include a ‘Thank You’ letter, show details, their spot #, show floor plan, area map, local hotel phone #’s, and several free admission tickets to hand out.
Advertise – Failure to adequately advertise is the #1 reason why shows fail.
Advertise early and advertise intelligently. You most likely attendee is a prior attendee! As soon as possible, you should send each accepted vendor some flyers or postcards about your show. They will hand them out at other shows with each sale and place them on their table for people to take. Ask how many they can distribute, as the number will vary greatly. Many artists and crafters even maintain their own mailing list and may send your show announcement. You should also send emails or postcards to prior year show attendees if you collected addresses. If not, start collecting addresses and email addresses this year! Advertisements in all local papers should start at least a month prior to the show, even earlier sporadically. Posters may be an option depending on show location and budget. Many TV and radio stations have upcoming event calendars, but they require advance notice and do not accept all events. Paying to advertise on TV or radio should be considered carefully for small shows, it is very costly and often fails to work as well as other methods. Once you have exhausted the other methods though, do a small test!
Road Signs! – Don’t neglect these if your local municipality allows them! Signs along local roads will help divers locate your show and will help publicize your event if placed up early. Use wood for weather resistance! 1/8th’’ plywood on 1’’x4’’ stakes with spray-painted, stenciled, high-contrast, LARGE lettering works best. Buy supplies in bulk and make many! Simply put: “Arts & Crafts Show – at St. Paul School – Sat Sep 5th 10-3 – Turn Here ->”
Location Preparation – This should be done the day before if possible. Make copies of your floor plan for all staff. Spots should be clearly marked with boundaries and an identification number. Numbers should be large enough to be read 30 feet away. Poles, the length of your spot sides, can be used to quickly measure spots off. Chalk will work for most hard surfaces, but temporary spray, available in cans, is easier and also works on grass and dirt. If space is not at a premium, leave a foot or two between spots as comfort zones.
Vendor Arrival – Vendors should be taken to and shown their spot. Be sure they understand where the boundaries are and which direction is the front. You would be surprised how often vendors set up in the wrong spot or go way over their marked area. Make an arrival packet for each vendor containing show rules and details, menus or food passes, name tags, parking tags, show comment form, etc.
Vendor Setup – Most vendors can setup in less than 2 hours but it would be wise to allow for 3. Usually higher quality the artists mean more complicated displays and longer setup and packup times. Some early shows have optional night before setups opportunities that are usually taken advantage of.
Vendor Parking – Some vendors will be very stubborn about moving their vehicles. Most simply want it to be already nearby for packup time. Requiring vendors to have numbered tags on their vehicle mirror or dash will allow you track down car owners and determine which vehicles are not located in your vendor parking area. Make car #’s match spot #’s.
Food – If you are not serving food, and there is nothing convenient to the show location, invite food vendors! Many have vehicles or mobile stands that they cook in and sell from. You’ll appreciate the extra revenue, and your vendors and customers will not go hungry. It is not uncommon to have a food vendor fee that is a few times more than crafter spot fee or that also incorporates commission.
Vendor Packup – Asking vendors to not bring their vehicles closer until they have packed everything up will help with congestion. Allow early packup: If it has been an off day, you might get a few early packups, but not many, and it will not harm your show. However, if the majority of vendors want to leave, they will all follow suit. If it comes to be this bad, you have failed them as the show promoter

It is not too late to do a candy bar fundraiser for the fall and look into something for the spring. Some of the companies that offer fall funraisers do spring one as well. I also like doing a candle funraiser for spring and push it as things for Mother's Day. If you know a parent or staff member that sells Home Interior or something, they sell great in our school. We also make a ton off of our school carnival, which we hold in the spring because most schools hold them in the fall. Last year we got all the food and most of the games and prizes donated to us and made a profit. Goodluck, and as always, it's never too late to plan for next year!

As a crafter I do know that we are not required to have our own insurance but I have to have my business license posted. If I do not I can be told to leave.

Thanks for all you input. I am beginning to think that this may not be the best year to start a craft fair. We are a new PTO struggling to get help. I am thinking that we should wait for more hands and possibly do it next year.

We are in the process of reevaluating some of the decisions we have made for this year. And maybe changes that will be made next year. We have so many things to work out that adding to instead of working on what we already have would just be shooting ourselves in the foot.

How do you handle their insurance? I know that most venues require the vendors to carry their own insurance. How does this work and how does one check to make sure each vendor has insurance?

Craft Fairs are a HUGE amount of work, but certainly can bring in a lot of money.

I was the chair for the annual craft fair at my daughter's elementary school for 3 years. It is a well-established show, this year in its 9th year. When I was there, we had built it up to over 70 crafters from all over the northeast, with a large raffle table, a bake sale, and a full-menu snack bar, serving breakfast, snacks & lunch.

My last year there, we made over $4000. Pretty good profit for a one day show.

But it IS work, and once you get a show up and established, there are things that you are doing almost year-round. Crafters that are happy and successful at your show will want to come back year after year, and will tell their friends, too.