Teach Soap

Hi:

I have an opportunity to take my soaps (and other hand-made products) to a large juried craft show in November. I know that several of you have been to large craft shows such as this and I wanted to get your opinions and advice.

The show is for 4 days (9am to 9pm or so each day) and is Thursday through Sunday. The booth space is 8' x 11' and they will limit the amount of soapers who will be allowed to sell (first come - first served type of thing). The booth rental fee is $600.

The show is well advertised and well attended. I have talked to vendors who have attended the show in the past and they said that it is PACKED with potential customers.

If I decide to attend, how much product would you recommend that I make up. I have, to this point, only attended 1-day shows and I don't have any idea how much product to bring!!

Any other tips??

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HEAVENLY SCENT SOAPS

I would bring as much as you can, unless you live close by and can bring more.
What products would you bring?

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

So, you think like HUNDREDS of bars of soap? I believe that they only want hand-made products, so I would also bring things like lip balm and body butter. I also sell cream and diffusers, but those are not hand-made from scratch.

It isn't until November, but it makes me feel like a CRAZED MONKEY just thinking about it!!

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HEAVENLY SCENT SOAPS

I would bring enough so your table is nicely filled without overcrowding, with a couple of product crates underneath if you need more.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I dunno....see what the attendance was from past years and plan on each person buying a bar?

Crazed Monkey is RIGHT!!!

Worst comes to worse, you're ahead of the game for Christmas. Or, you could be sold out and have to do the Crazed Monkey Dance to get things cured in time for Christmas!!

I figure youd have to sell 500 bars of soap to make it worth your time. I will stear clear of those kind of shows. The juried shows I've been to have people doing alot of looking and little buying. So if you go be loaded for bear. And good luck....................

As a rough guide I figure about 4X the booth fee for your sales. I would take no less than 6X in material, 8X is better yet. My worst craft show did 2X, my best did 11X. I did a large show this spring and it did 3.5X. Good luck with your show and lets see pictures in Nov. of your setup.

Bruce

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www.homebrewsoaps.etsy.com

There's alot of those type of events that time of year that also do very well, for a lot less money in booth fees. That event must be the 'mother ship' event in your area.. Wow, that's a hefty booth fee!

Can you share the fee and the table with another vendor?

BigMoose, That's a useful, helpful answer. Thanks for sharing your experience.

There's also another way to estimate - by the amount of expected foot traffic. If you follow the 1% to 3% rule (1% to 3% of the total attendance will buy a product at your booth), simply do the math, and figure it out.

I did a big article on craft shows - finding them, what to bring, strategy etc... here:

http://teachsoap.com/craftshows.html

I hope it's helpful for you.

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Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

Thanks, everyone! Good advice from all. And, I agree, the worst case scenario is that I will be ahead of the game for Christmas sales. I'm still not sure we're going for this one. My hubby is reluctant because it is quite a bit bigger than anything we've done before. We may just do local shows throughout the spring, summer, and fall and then gear up for this one next year.

But, even with local shows, we'll do the Crazed Monkey, thing!

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HEAVENLY SCENT SOAPS

Im so glad you decided not to do that show. It screemed snob to me.$600.00???Are you kidding? Did you figure out how much soap you'd have to sell just to break even? 48 hours of time there over 4 days. Could you stand up and smile that long?What is your time worth? How about the weather?
I was to a show last year where they put 2 soapers side by side and one of the ladys had a shop right behind her so all the locals knew her.
Sorry for ranting I've been stewing about this one since it ewas posted..

Linda:

My hubby will be thanking you for your comment! I don't think that he is keen on wanting to go. The show is near downtown Chicago (IL) and that is why it commands such a high booth fee. But, we'll probably pass this year, get more experience with local shows and then re-consider it next year.

Thanks, again, everyone for all the feedback and tips!

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HEAVENLY SCENT SOAPS

SUPER DUMB QUESTION??

What's a juried event?

Thanks,
Malia

thats not a dumb question at all. Juried means that all the artists ( or crafters)are in a guild, (a club) Members have to pay a fee to join every year. Normaly their stuff sells for alot of money. So 600.00 wouldn't seem like alot if your doing say 5,00.00 or 10,000 dollars worth of busness. But to sell soap at 4 or 5 dollars each,and pay 600.00 to get in , makes me crazy.

Hi Malia:

The meaning of "juried" - at least for the shows I've attended here in Wisconsin and Illinois - doesn't involve the artist/crafter being part of a group or membership, but it does require that each artist/crafter be approved, or juried, by a panel. Normally, the folks putting on juried shows want to prevent people bringing "junk" from garage sales and such.

I do think that the Chicago show is eventually "do-able" for us, but maybe not this year. The folks who are putting it on are actually very down to earth - it's just a HUGE event.

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HEAVENLY SCENT SOAPS