Lyndsay Goodfellow | Love, Montreal Jewelry
With my jewelry brand – Love, Montreal Jewelry –, I’ve been participating in markets all over Canada for the past 20 years.
Montreal has always had a vibrant artistic community. In recent years, local artists and small businesses have been gaining even more traction. During the pandemic, it seemed like a million side-hustle businesses opened and the artisan scene was suddenly bursting at the seams. This is a GREAT thing! A booming maker community breeds both creativity and collaboration, not to mention it’s good for our local economy.
But with small businesses on the rise, we’ve been seeing an oversaturation of the craft market scene with so many events cropping up all the time. It’s great that all these new businesses have a place to sell their products, but the downside is that customers are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of markets competing for their attention and – let’s be honest –for their budget, especially during financially stressful times.
It’s important to remember that not all craft shows are created equal. Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned vendor, a lot goes into preparing for shows, and you’ll want to focus on the ones that are a good fit for your brand.
There’s nothing worse than wasting your time and money on craft markets that don’t work for you. Here are 6 questions to consider when choosing a craft fair for your business.
1. Is the event legitimate and reputable?
This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many times we’ve heard about fake events in our community groups where the organizer basically ran off with makers’ hard-earned cash. When you stumble on a vendor call or if you’re approached by an organizer, the first thing to do is to make sure the event is legitimate and that you’re corresponding with the actual event organizer. You can ask other artisans for advice on whether it’s a reputable market.
Do your research to check that an organizer is good at what they do. Ask around to get a sense of whether the organizer is, well…organized! Do they work with a carefully thought-out floor plan that balances product category? Do they have plans for logistics like food, parking, setup? How do they communicate with their vendors? I’ve seen a lot of organizers just have no idea how the day is going to go and that can spell disaster.
2. Is the show well advertised?
Although craft fair organizers are not responsible for how well you do in terms of customer conversion and sales, they are responsible for advertising and attendance.
Check the organizers’ socials. Unless it’s a well-known organization or city-run event, no socials or low social media engagement is usually a bad sign. City-run events tend to have larger budgets and better resources to attract media attention. Content marketing is a MUST these days so check to see how they’re doing it. Are they only using one type of social media? This is not ideal as it only attracts a small portion of the population. They should have a healthy following on Facebook, Insta and Tik Tok.
Ask the organizers and other vendors about estimated traffic. Is this event known for being well attended? Have you seen a lot of media buzz about this event in the past? New organizers might not have big followings on social media yet, so be sure to ask how they’ll be driving attendance. Using social media posts alone is a red flag unless they have a huge budget for it. Although vendors should absolutely be doing their own posting and promotion of the event on different platforms (social media, website, newsletters), it's a red flag if organizers only rely on vendors to drive traffic to their show. Attendance depends on a ton of factors – season, holidays, competing events, weather – but solid advertising efforts are a non-negotiable expectation you should have of any market organizer.
That said, remember that even if an event has low traffic for whatever reason, it could still be a good opportunity for you if YOU have a large social media following. If you have a limited following, maybe a new market isn’t for you at this time. However, it can be a great way to get some market experience under your belt and a chance to connect with fellow vendors.
3. Is it the right market for your product?
What kind of crowd will the event attract? Seniors? Families? Young people? A healthy mix? Not every market is for every vendor depending on the demographic and blend of vendors.
A good way to get an idea of the expected clientele is to check what kinds of vendors will be at the show. Is it a very niche market? Is it all handmade or are they allowing any type of business, like resellers or vintage? (Mixing handmade with resellers doesn’t always mix well, in my experience). Does the area of town fit your target demographic? Is the event advertised as a mega sale, but you sell high-end products?
Any of these factors could impact your sales. Knowing your brand and ideal customer is key. If you’re just starting out, markets can also be a good way to learn more about who your people are!
Also be sure to ask the organizer if they will be limiting product categories. There’s nothing worse than showing up to an event to find out you’re one of 10 jewellers out of just 20 vendors. Shoppers hate that even more! Diversity is key to a successful craft market.
4. Is the location accessible?
If you can, check out the venue in advance. Is the location accessible with public transport? Is there convenient parking? Will people who don’t know about the event be able to stumble upon it when passing by? Will there be enough space for everyone to move around comfortably? Crowded shows are a mess and make people not want to buy! Make sure the organizer has a plan to create a comfortable space and pleasant shopping experience.
City-run, school and charity events tend to be safe bets (if advertised properly!) in terms of traffic and accessibility because they usually have ample space, bathrooms and lots of parking.
5. How much does registration cost?
How much is the registration fee and what is included (table, booth, electricity)? Is the registration fee in your budget? Don’t pay more than you can currently afford to lose, in case it doesn’t work out. That said, a market is also an advertising opportunity, so even if you don’t cover your registration fee in immediate sales, especially if you’re new to this particular show, you’re likely to make it back over time with sales generated from your participation.
6. When is the craft show?
Time of year is an important factor to consider. Spring and summer shows can be really slow unless they’re held in conjunction with a festival or street fair. Be prepared to treat slower seasons as an opportunity to launch and test new products, retire old collections, revamp your product display, or broaden your reach to new demographics. Use your social media or newsletter to reach out to your client base since they probably haven’t seen you since the holiday season.
November and December are increasingly saturated with markets of all themes and sizes. Is your event happening too early or too late in the holiday season? Are there similar markets happening nearby on the same dates? Is the same organizer hosting several markets in a row? This may water down the crowds.
That said, if you have your own following, doing multiple markets in a row (or even at the same time, if you have helpers) allows your clients to shop from you regularly and is way cheaper than renting a retail space. That’s a win-win in my books!
When you first start a business, you might feel like you should just say YES to every selling opportunity, but it’s important to be smart and choose to spend your budget wisely.
I hope these tips will help guide you to pick the craft markets that are a great fit for you and your business. And remember: even if sales are not what you’d hoped (for whatever reason), don’t waste the opportunity to network and get feedback on your product or display. Keep up your professional attitude and cheer, because you never know who you’ll meet at a craft show. Maybe your next big business connection will be there.
Happy marketing!
Love, Montreal has been locally owned and operated for the past 18 years with the simple purpose of creating fun, unique and affordable handmade jewelry. Although I’ve dabbled in a few different art forms, like clothing design and pottery, jewelry will always be my first love. I love designing and creating wearable art and I’m constantly learning new techniques to expand my knowledge. I’m extremely fortunate to be able to make my business my full-time job and I love to help others succeed as well. That’s why I created the Facebook community group: The Makers of Montreal – Les Fabricants de Montreal. It’s a place where we can share tips, market information and generally just support one another.
Aside from jewelry my other passion is dog training. My rescue dog, Daisy, and I train and compete in several different disciplines including agility, scent detection, rally, obedience, rat sports and sprinter. In agility Daisy has been ranked 2nd in the province and 3rd in the country in her height category for AAC agility and has been ranked 6th in the country across all categories in CKC agility. She’s nothing short of amazing and it’s nice to have something to take my mind off the maker world sometimes.