The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Craft Markets

You’re a maker selling handmade wares, and your craft has officially become something you think you might make a little money from. Etsy and Shopify seem intimidating, your follower count is a little low, and consignment feels complicated, but you’ve heard of one sure-fire way to meet customers face-to-face: a craft market.

Consider this craft market 101. With my business, I’ve done over 50 craft markets in the PNW, making as much as $11,000 from a single event. I used to be the sole employee of a company that relied on the same six craft shows for 90% of their yearly income. With this experience, I’m here to help you avoid beginner mistakes and set appropriate expectations.

This is a giant blog post! If you want to jump to a specific section, I've broken them down for you here:

1. How do I know if a craft show is right for my business?
2. How do I choose a market?
3. What are red flags to avoid with markets?
4. How do I get into a market that requires applications?
5. What items do I need to get started doing craft markets?
6. What market etiquette should I know?

How do I know if a craft show is right for my business?

If you meet any of the following criteria, you will probably do well at craft shows:

• You sell unique handmade or originally designed items
• Your products have a wide range of prices, from $5 up to $250
• You have the ability to set up a temporary storefront in under two hours and be mostly on your feet for 10+ hours per day (or know someone who can help)
• You like direct interactions with your customers, with the chance to make connections and be friendly

I emphasize unique because baby, we are all on the same internet. If you are using the same mold, resin formula, and design as a viral TikTok artist, so is everybody else–and this might cause challenges for you getting into craft markets that curate their vendors, or getting sales over a more experienced vendor with similar products. Craft markets are for artists and craftspeople.

Many customers come to markets to buy lots of smaller items, little gifts, and impulse purchases, so if all of your items are heavy or expensive, you might simply be paying for exposure. Since markets that drive high traffic usually cost $400 or more just to participate in–not to mention hours of labor–I would never do a market only for the exposure. I would put that money instead toward advertising or growing my following.

If you meet any of the following criteria, you might not do well at a craft market:

• Your lowest priced item is $75 or more
• You resell wholesale goods you did not design or create yourself 
• You dislike interacting with people, answering the same questions about your work multiple times, or explaining your process
• You sell large, heavy items that you or a customer might struggle to carry back and forth

How do I choose a market?

When I’m picking a market, I ask myself the following:

1. How easy will it be to get to the market?
2. Does the market seem like it will make me at least 5-10x the booth fee in sales?
3. Will the working conditions of the market be physically tolerable?
4. Will I have enough inventory for the market?
5. Does the market happen during a time of year when my target customer shops?
6. Does the market cater to my target customer?

Make sure that you know before you get started who your target customer is, what time of year your product sells best, and what barriers there might be in terms of conditions you can sell in. 

About my business and decision making process:

I live in Portland, Oregon, so if I’m looking at a market in Chicago, I will have to figure out a way to fly with 150 pounds of ceramics plus display materials and market goodies. That’s not super practical, especially since no craft market can guarantee sales or a crowd. Because my medium is heavy and breakable, I stick to markets in my area. If you sell something lightweight like jewelry or illustrations this might not be a barrier.

Since I sell ceramic gifts and goofy stickers, the events where I make 60% of my yearly income all happen during the winter holiday season. I won’t spend $700 to be at a market in May because I know I won’t get a solid return on my investment. If I sold wedding photography packages or custom bouquets that might be a different story.

I make work that mostly caters to bisexual women in their 30s and nonbinary tattoo artists. That means I probably wouldn’t make a lot of money if I set up a booth in the gym of a rural high school (which I did do once, and the comments I received from customers will crack me up forever). If a market has a social media presence or a website, I’m going to look at what kind of customer they’re trying to attract and see if our goals align.

Thoughts to consider for your business:

Some markets are themed or only accept vendors from specific demographics. That's why researching a market before you go matters! If you're applying to a renaissance faire, they will want period-accurate costumes, booths, and products. My People's Market is an amazing event designed for vendors from underrepresented communities, Spectrum Art Market is for LGBTQ2SIA+ vendors, and Legendary Maker's Market is specifically for AAPI vendors. Know your audience and yourself and you'll find opportunities tailored to you.

Doing a market is a lot like gambling. You can spend weeks on weeks preparing for a show and walk away with less money than you came with. It can be really hard to predict what will be good or bad, and you can expect to flop every once in a while. In the beginning, when you’re working with no information, set your bets low and go for accessible shows before throwing yourself into the big leagues.

To minimize financial risk, seek out people in your field who sell similar work to yours and have done the market you’re looking at before. Ask vendors similar to you if they’re willing in real dollars and cents to let you know the financial breakdown of their market experience. This can help you research and set the right expectations.

Remember when you ask for references that everyone’s idea of “good” is different. I know a polymer clay jeweler with a full time day job, and for her, a good market is one where she makes back the booth fee. She just likes making more room in her house to create more jewelry. I know a full time fine artist who won’t get out of bed for a market where you make less than $11,000. That’s why simply asking vendors if a market is good or bad isn’t going to give you the data you need.

For my business, a good market is one where the booth fee makes up 15% or less of what I spent to vend there. If the booth fee was $600, my base goal will be around $3,800, with a hope that I’ll make $6,000. That’s because I’m a full time artist, and that craft market will pay me for one to two months worth of labor and supplies. If this is a side hustle, you can set your sights lower. 

If a booth fee costs more than 40% of the total dollar amount you made at a market, you may have been better off doing consignment. Standard consignment split for most stores is 60 artist/40 storefront, and for consignment, all you have to do is drop off your work and head home. Remember if you keep doing markets and only making a little over the booth fee that you could be raking in the same amount of money doing a tenth of the work.

Some people feel uncomfortable talking about money or divulging what they make at a craft show. They can always decline, and when they do, it’s important to respect that. Many business owners however are more than willing to share their financials–including me! 

What are red flags to avoid with markets?

Whenever you can, go to a recurring market before you sell there. Knowing what it’s like as a customer is essential for succeeding as a vendor. This applies especially to larger shows with booth fees above $200.

Here are red flags you can spot at recurring markets that might mean trouble for your sales:

1. Vendors who sell SHEIN or Temu products (hello disco ball planters, those fake crochet cardigans, and those plastic collapsible crates). Google lens is your friend! You can use it to search using a photo of the product you're looking at.
2. Multiple vendors with almost identical niche products. At large markets (150+ vendors) this might be okay if the artists are spaced out from each other
3. Traffic dead zones, like aisles that are difficult to reach or suspiciously empty during peak hours
4. No food or beverage options, forcing customers to leave to eat/drink
5. Inaccessible venues for disabled customers (narrow aisles, lack of ramps/elevators, inaccessible bathrooms, etc.)
6. Markets where most of the vendors look upset/are frowning

If a market is reaching out to you directly to promote itself on social media, it’s probably new, sketchy, or in low demand. Newer/low demand markets are experimental and might not be able to provide a decent payout. Look at their account carefully before replying to see how long they’ve been doing markets for and what the scale of them looks like. If they’re brand new and charging over $100 in booth fees when they slide into my DMs, I will always politely decline. In my opinion, brand new, untested markets or experimental popups at venues like restaurants should never charge a fee larger than $50. Once they know they can host a successful market for their vendors, they can start charging $100 or more.

Weather is a very important indicator of a market’s potential success. Is it an unheated outdoor market in January? Is it a July market on blacktop asphalt? It might not be worth it, babes. Speaking from experience, heat exhaustion is no joke, nor is trying to pack up a bunch of pottery with numb hands and feet.

If a market accepts multi level marketing schemes (MLMs), I won’t do it. Cutco and Lularoe have absolutely no place at an art market. It really feels like this should go without saying, but you would be shocked at the number of markets I’ve attended with MLM vendors.

Market coordinators should not be accepting several artists with the exact same style of work or product. I once did a large craft show that had over 10 vendors all selling speckled clay body mugs dipped in a single color of matte glaze, and all of those vendors were livid. If they want to prioritize a positive vendor experience they will allow you to stand out uniquely from your fellow sellers. This is also a sign as a vendor that you need to diversify your work–it’s not only on the market. Selling the exact same product as 15 people isn’t a coincidence, so shake it up and stand out.

Your product does better at specific times of the year, so if a market doesn’t fall within that time frame, don’t pay a super high fee to be there. One notable large craft show that does work in multiple states charges $600 for a small booth in the spring–the same as in the holiday season. At their spring show two years back-to-back I only made $2,000, compared to over $4,000 in the winter season. I won’t do their spring show again.

Markets make money off of you whether people shop with you or not. They can’t guarantee crowds because they can’t control people or the weather, and in almost all cases (excepting sponsored markets or ones with tickets), they make the bulk of their money off of vendor booth fees. If a market is promising a large crowd or a higher caliber of customer, be careful, because those are elements they cannot necessarily control.

Location matters. Raise your hand if you've been personally victimized by the Urbanite parking lot (please note that I am raising my hand). If parking is expensive or scarce or organic foot traffic isn't possible, a market will need strong advertising. It helps a lot if a venue has other services to offer that aren't shopping, like food, beverages, or entertainment. Portland Night Market, Crafty Wonderland, and Renegade can get away with being in larger venues with more limited organic accessibility because they advertise like crazy, bring in lots of vendors, and have years under their belts in the industry. 

There’s a trend in Portland right now with lots of small businesses hosting markets because they know the vendor fees will be lucrative for them and they want to draw in business. You’re allowed to be picky and only choose markets you know will work well for you, because the markets benefit from your presence–it’s a two-way relationship. I will only do these pop-ups if I have a strong relationship with the business owner and we have shared values (or if I really like hanging out there and will have a good time).

A good market coordinator will care about your experience as a vendor. Watch out for market coordinators who frequently bad mouth their vendors, try to offer you special favors, or make you feel pressured to participate in a market. 

Under no circumstances should a market coordinator ever yell at you, verbally abuse you, refuse to refund you within their cancellation policy, disparage you on social media, or blame you for a lack of foot traffic. 

I’ve seen my fair share of crappy markets, but on the whole, lots of them have been amazing. I adore many market coordinators and markets make up the bulk of my income every year. It’s a shame that there are bad actors in the industry, but all markets are different, and many coordinators are truly lovely.

Based on my personal experience vending in the Pacific Northwest, I can comfortably recommend Crafty Wonderland's winter market and Renegade Craft Seattle as consistently good markets for my business. I make this rating based on how organized and accommodating they are, the financial payout for being there, the caliber of vendor they accept, and the working conditions at their shows.

How do I get into a market that requires applications?

Some shows will take any vendor regardless of skill level. Most advertising for these markets will come from all of the vendors who participate there. These markets are usually done by beginner vendors with a small reach, so you can expect to see much smaller crowds at the shows. Small shows with no barriers for entry are excellent beginner markets! Even if you can’t expect to make a large amount of money there, they’re still helpful in the beginning for learning the ropes.

Bigger markets have an application process to get in, and some of them get hundreds of applicants for every market. You need to stand out in order to make sure you can get into one of these larger shows. If you want to start vending at large markets, I've put together some tips to help you get started.

Here are my tips for getting your application accepted to a market:

1. Thoroughly read the instructions for the application. Some markets get such a huge volume of applications that they have very specific requirements for them (looking at you, Crafty Wonderland). You will not get in if you don’t follow the rules, so read them carefully
2. Sell your business by speaking about it with confidence, and have the ability to describe exactly what you do in three sentences or less
3. Make sure you have high quality photos of your products. The Maker’s Playbook has great tips on how to take them
4. Make sure everything on your application is free from grammatical errors
5. Have a social media account or basic website with photos of your work and more information about you so they can look you up to learn more

If you’re still not getting in after following these tips, your field may be oversaturated, or your work too similar to other artists. Emphasize what about your business makes you unique. It’s normal to be rejected many times from larger markets before getting in, so don’t give up. You can also request a smaller booth size when choosing options since these are less in demand.

What items do I need to get started doing craft markets?

You might feel tempted right out the gate to make a big investment in nice folding tables, collapsible display shelves, custom signage, and other bells and whistles that will make your space look more elevated. I implore you to resist this temptation. Start where you’re at, with what you have. In the beginning of doing markets with Bus 20, we sourced our supplies from Facebook Marketplace, buy nothing groups, thrift stores, and borrowed items from our houses. 

Above is a picture from our very first market through Fall in Love with Lents in February 2021. The wind was so intense that we couldn't put up our display shelving. Even with this silly little setup we made over $1,000, because we promoted our first show heavily with friends, family, and peers.

This photo is from our last market of 2024 at Crafty Wonderland--always a favorite! One of the most organized markets we've ever done.

I have a "Markets" highlight on the Bus 20 Ceramics Instagram account that you can look at to see our previous market setups! This also helps potential markets see what our setup typically looks like.

The only way to make money off of craft markets is to keep your costs low. You can do a lot of magic to make a space look more elevated on a smaller dollar amount. Let your booth evolve over time to something looking elaborate and expensive. You’ll see people setting up beautiful mini storefronts at markets that take a team and power tools to assemble. Remember that they’ve almost certainly been doing this a long time.

Here’s what I recommend having for craft markets:

1. One to two 6-foot folding tables
2. Items that create height on the table, like shelves or display racks
3. 2 nice tablecloths
4. Lighting and a portable power source (I’ve used teeny tiny LED lights and a portable phone charger before with great success)
5. Bags to place customer purchases in
6. A debit/credit card reader
7. Business cards and a QR code linking to your socials
8. A 10’x10’ waterproof tent with walls for outdoor markets (borrow from a friend if you don’t want to break the bank)
9. A chair to sit in
10. A sign with the name of your business
11. Survival kit with scissors, tape, clips, string, sharpee, price stickers, pen, snacks, phone charger, etc.
12. Cash to make change
13. A dolly or cart that can hold your supplies and items
14. Insurance in case of theft or damages

Here’s my in-depth breakdown of these items:

The most common booth sizes for craft markets are 10’x10’, 8’x8’, or 10’x5’. Your booth setup has to make room for you to get in and out of your booth to use the bathroom, get food, or straighten up your table (I recommend 2’ for this). I prepare for every market by making a drawing on grid paper of what my booth will look like. This helps me decide what size of display materials to purchase and what items to bring with me to each show.

Everything you buy should be lightweight–bonus points if it’s collapsible or can be broken down. You have to pack in and pack out for shows, and hauling big, heavy wooden furniture back and forth is a nightmare. I recommend folding tables with a plastic top, and bought mine from a big-box retailer. I’ve used them for over 50 shows, loaned them out to friends, and used them for at-home events, and they’ve stood the test of time. Having a dolly or cart is essential, since you sometimes have to walk major distances between vehicle and venue.

Googling display shelving and looking at all the options of where to shop can be overwhelming and costly. I like to go to craft shows and local small businesses to look at how they’re displaying their items and get ideas, or check out craft market booths on Pinterest. We used $1.99 brass chafing dishes from goodwill and black rice from the Winco bulk bins to display mini pots and croc charms. We painted a piece of scrap wood pink and placed it on top of cut insulation tubing from the hardware store to make our largest tabletop shelf, for a total of $17. Get creative and don’t overthink it–there’s no need to shell out $150-$1,200 for elaborate or custom displays.

Customers love diverse payment options. Digital payment options like Venmo or PayPal can be great for beginners, but if your market has poor cell service or if customers don’t have these payment platforms, they can become a barrier quickly. Card is the preferred payment method of most customers and can help you make larger sales. You only need a basic tap and chip reader to get the job done, and they cost $25-$49 to get started.

Make sure your customers have the option to pay cash. At the end of a market, usually 10% of our sales are made up from cash, which doesn’t come with a processing fee, saving us a lot in the long run. We get $100 in small bills out to make change for customers before a show. 

Never rule out renting or borrowing. Markets are usually no more than 3 days long, and if your friend isn’t using their tent or tables, you can always bring them back in the same condition you found them in. You can also see if the venue has rentals available, which makes load in and load out significantly easier for heavier items. We've even disassembled shelves from our homes and brought them for a market in a pinch!

I got into my first market. Hooray! How do I make sure I’m prepared?

Here are my sure-fire tips for making sure you’re prepared for a market:

1. Create a detailed pack list and check off items as you go so you don’t forget anything
   
   
2. Always read the market load in instructions, load out instructions, and rules very carefully. You can and will get banned for violating rules at markets–they are serious business.
   
   
3. Set up your booth at least once before you go, taping off a square the same size that your booth will be and seeing how everything fits
   
   
4. Shamelessly promote yourself, by posting multiple times on social media, texting your friends and family, adding an “events” tab to your website, and tagging the name of the event in your stories
   
   
5. Invite a friend to help or hang out. Slow periods of the show, wacky customer moments, or bathroom emergencies are always easier to tackle with a person you can tag in to help
   
   

What market etiquette should I know?

Every market has its own rules and standards, which you should follow extremely carefully. Rule breakers can be banned from shows or risk their application getting rejected in the future. Whether they’re part of the rules or not, here are my market don’ts:

1. Never, ever, ever pack up early. I’m talking even one minute early. It makes customers think the market is over, and can shut down your neighbors’ opportunities to get last minute sales. My last sale of the day once happened in the final minute of the market for $250.
   
   
2. Don’t take up another vendor’s booth making small talk–step off to the side. Your fellow vendors are there to make sales, not just conversation, and you might be blocking a potential customer from coming in and shopping.
   
   
3. Don’t call over customers from your neighbor’s booth into yours. Stealing customers means bad market luck!
   
   
4. Handing out samples aggressively in the aisle, forming a long line that blocks other booths, or talking into a loud microphone headset can all deter your fellow vendors from making sales and detract from the vibe of the market for customers.
   
   
5. Don’t take up your neighbor’s booth space. They spent just as much money as you did to be here, and they deserve to get to use it. This also means you shouldn’t count on using your neighbor’s booth as an exit. It’s rude to constantly move through their booth to go to the bathroom or get lunch
   
   
6. Don’t be afraid to say no to trades. You will get asked and it’s okay to say no (and to say yes! Some of my favorite items came from trades)
   
   

As for market do’s:

1. Spend a little bit of your market money on something you like from another booth. It’s good luck and just plain polite
   
   
2. Offer to watch your friend’s or neighbor’s booth if they need to shop or go to the bathroom
   
   
3. Promote your neighbors or friends at the market on your social media account
   
   
4. Introduce yourself to market coordinators
   
   
5. Offer your neighbors snacks, an extra chair, or the chance to charge their phone
   
   
6. Follow the vendors you bond with on social media
   
   
7. Hold fast to your prices, remember your value, and remember that every market is different, so if this one didn’t work out, it doesn’t have to mean anything about the next one
   
   

Final thoughts:

If you made it this far, I hope you're feeling super prepared for getting started with craft markets. Feel free to get in the comments, email me from my contact page, or DM me on social media to ask additional questions. 

If you found this guide helpful, please consider sending me a tip on Venmo @Frankie-Denight to help me out with medical expenses while my business changes to cope with a new disability. Thank you so much!

Have fun out there, and happy vending!

xoxo Frankie