Craft Show Goodies Part 4...

I'm not going to touch base too much on the pictures today, but I do want to address some inquiries I've had on pricing my items etc. Just to clarify, this too is also my first time to do a craft fair, most orders I do are custom and from the comforts of my own home. I think when it comes to pricing, you really need to NOT undersell your products and be confident in your work. Trust me, it took me a VERY long time to learn this. When I first started selling my items, I was practically giving them away...which is not always a bad thing, a friend will tell a friend will tell etc. These are just a few tips I've learned over the years and I will be glad to share them!

1. In general pricing- take the cost of your supplies, double it, then add a little extra for labor. More elaborate projects will require more labor, therefore adding more to the cost of your items.

2. Look at the market you are selling to. Do you live in a large city vs. small town? Do you sell your items to a mom and pop shop vs. boutique? Higher priced areas= a higher price for your goods! I don't sell any items as "sets", I've never tried, but individual cards sell great! If you do sets, you will need to include an insert if all the cards in the set are different...otherwise I would think people would want to open the packages to see what all the cards looked like?

3. If you are selling out of state or far enough that your items will require shipping...CHARGE for shipping! Now there are always exceptions to the rule! I do occasionally offer free shipping if it is a frequent customer, or if they have ordered over a certain amount. It's a nice way to thank them for their business and keeps them coming back. I also try to include a free gift from time to time. The free gift can include a card, post-it pad etc. Whatever I have on hand!

4. Brand yourself- this is as simple as signing or stamping the back of your items. I have a small 1x1 circle stamp and I use it on just about everything I create (the link is from the store I received mine from-Stamp It Out-on Etsy). The stamp contains my full name and blog address. This is a great way to advertise yourself because you never know who will receive your card, and for me, it has turned out to be return business...almost like free advertising!

I hope this has helped those of you have asked, and maybe those of you who didn't, but were curious. While I'm putting up the craft show posts, I will go back and add to the previous ones, what I will be selling those items for. Whatever I don't sell I will most likely sell here on the blog. You will see I still have my Etsy shop up, but there are not items in there currently. I'm not anti-Etsy, but I had a really hard time overcharging on there just to make up for all the extra fees they charge. I'm not saying I won't use it again, but I much rather prefer selling my items straight to the customer vs. having to incur extra charges when I can save the customer!

Tags, tags, and MORE tags! I added this pic of the fruit stand in my previous post but forgot to mention it. I picked this stand up at Target in the kitchen section. Although a little pricey at 16.00, I justified it by telling myself I could actually use it for other things then just craft show items. There was another stand I had initially decided on, but the "plates" inside were round and I much rather prefer that the plates on this one are flat. I also picked up some matching baskets at Wal-mart for only 3 bucks! I will share those at a later date! Tags that are more elaborate will sell for 1.00, those less elaborate will be 2 for 1. I'm not SET in the pricing of all my tags just yet, so this could change...I've still got 2 weeks to decide!