# Craft/trade shows



## RusticElements (Mar 14, 2008)

So, where do y'all go to peddle your wares? Shows, I mean. Does anybody do shows in the south east NY, south west CT area?


----------



## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

Too bad you didn't live near East Texas. There's a FIRST MONDAY TRADE DAYS that draws about 250,000
people for 3 days every month.


----------



## ShannonRogers (Jan 11, 2008)

I was wondering this as well. I did one show last December that was a part of the school where my wife teaches and a percentage of my sales went back to the student council. I had great success and this was my first "professional" experience where I actually sold some of my work. I would love to hear where other people are selling their stuff as well as the ins and outs of how to get into the shows and possible pitfalls.


----------



## biff_kpv (Oct 28, 2007)

I have items on consignment in some posh stores. I also use my scraps to make some crafts and do craft shows. I am selling at a Home Decor Show in a couple of weeks.


----------



## Al_Killian (Feb 15, 2008)

I have a store near me that is setup where there are several(15) vendors that rent space on a 3 month basis and take turns sitting at the store. Hopefully this works out, but it will not be open till april. Depenging on what you have will depend where to go to sell it.


----------



## timhicks (Mar 29, 2008)

We started selling our items and local markets as well as festivals. When we do this we try to hit the high end/posh towns. SInce we live in Colorado we usually do our shows in the ski tows which does quite well for us. We also have a Saturday market that we do throughout the summer. THe downside to shows and festivals is the cost of getting there and staying there and even though it is fun it can be tiring. The upside, welll my husband usually does not do the shows, he stays home with the kids. But it is a great "out" for me. We live in a very very small town plus we are in the shop all day. So going to the shows is great, I have met so many people and all of them have been wonderful. It gives me a chance to get my gab on, talk and share our stories, plus learn a lot oabout our customers and where they come from. We usually do pretty well at the shows and quite a few times we have sold out at the shows. IT is also a great way to get your name out there, make sure you have plenty of business cards, brochures and a notebook to keep track of potential customers. We try to keep all of ours on an email list, when we make new projects and add them to our website we notify everyone of our new creations. We are hoping on scaling back with the shows, between the price of fuel and the time it takes it can be draining. OUr plan is to do 2 major shows a years and a couple of the Saturday markets. Our website is taking off and we are getting more custom orders so our plan is to work mainly off our website and word of mouth. SO far this year is it working. ANother place to sell your items is on www.esty.com, we have had great luck with this website.. speaking of i have outdate and sold items still placed on there, guess I had better do some updateing…. Good luck!!!


----------



## ATWilliams (Mar 4, 2008)

Try these to sites,, I'm in PA, but the better shows are in the north,

goto: www.paradisecityarts.com
goto: www.craftproducers.com

they are both based out of VT nad MA …

Paradise was rated #1 in craft/art shows in the country by Sunshine Artist Mag this year.


----------

