It’s festival season in New Hampshire, which means funnel cakes, fair rides and live music. It’s also an important time of year for craft vendors looking to set up a booth and sell their jewelry, paintings and carvings.
You might have wondered: “Do people actually make money at these things?”
We went to Concord’s 52nd annual Market Days Festival and asked some of the over 150 vendors there just that. Read on for their tips and strategies for making money with their crafts.
It’s all about the marketing
Joe Foster is the artist behind the Pangea Northeast Jade table in Eagle Square off Concord’s Main Street. He makes jewelry and art out of jade and other precious stones he sources. His workshop is right on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, and his prices can go all the way up to $1,000 per piece.
But Foster is more interested in building client relationships than making sales when he's tabling at festivals. People new to his work will take a business card, look him up online, go see his work in a gallery — and maybe think of him when they want to buy a special someone a gift.
“It's good to build a reputation,” Foster said. “Sales come later on.”
He makes about $50,000 with his business in a year, but he also works in filmmaking to supplement his income.
To break even, you’ve got to learn what sells
Kiaya Gable’s new pottery business is called Kez Cottage. The Concord resident has just started it, selling the mugs and small pots she loves to make in her spare time. Her husband supports their family financially, but she would like her business to help them pay bills.
But her goal for Market Days is just to get a sense of what customers will buy at events like these. She’s watching closely for what draws browsers' interest, and what they pass over. So far, it’s been her magnets with tiny pottery mugs on them that are getting attention.
“This weekend for me is about figuring out what people are asking for and looking for,” she said. “And then just kind of soaking that up and getting rid of inventory and making back the booth fee.”
Working the fair circuit pays off
Vendors have to pay a $125 vendor fee to secure a booth at Market Days. While some just want to break even, others have loftier goals.
“I like to make as much as I can,” Alex Patterson of Ride On Vintage said. “But really I'd like to make five times my fee [today].”
Patterson travels the country going to fairs and festivals to sell the clothes she’s sourced and marked up by 30%. She used to have a storefront in Lowell, Massachusetts, but the overhead was too high. Now she makes more money selling vintage clothes online and travelling the country to local festivals.
“It makes more sense for me to pay the vendor fees on weekends and do pop ups,” Patterson said. “I can find new clients in different spaces.”
Variety — in price and labor — sells
Erin Boyle is the artist behind My Darling Threads. From New Boston, Boyle makes about $40,000 with her hand embroidery business, although a lot of that goes back into buying supplies.
“My hats are the most popular, so usually that's my money maker,” Boyle said. But they are labor-intensive, so she tries to also push prints and stickers of her work.
“I don't have to hand make them so it's pretty exciting when those ones sell,” Boyle said.
Festivals like Market Days are usually where the more inexpensive stickers are most successful because the average attendee will likely scoff at her high prices. It’s at the curated arts markets where she’ll sell more of her pricier embroidery.
Every event is different
Ceara Hunt runs the Postage Stamp Soap Company in Northwood, and even though this was her fifth year at the festival, she honestly isn’t sure what will sell best at Market Days.
“Some years it's soap,” Hunt said. “Some years it's my sprays. I don't know, we'll find out.”
Hunt goes to fairs from spring to Christmas selling her skincare and body products, and she makes about $100,000 in sales. She’s a veteran who has advice for all the other newbies selling at festivals like Market Days.
“Don't bring all your backstock, because it's hard to lug in and hard to lug out,” Hunt said. “Make sure you have enough to cover your tables on day one and just slowly bring in your extra that you need for Friday and Saturday.”
Also, the event is held in June. In New Hampshire, that means some years it’s been chilly and pouring rain at Market Days, while other years it’s been so hot she stood in an ice bath all day. Either way, she said, it’s a good idea to bring a tent.
