$80 for a table at a church craft fair?

[butterflijoy]

This seems a little high to me. this will be my very first show in October and I thought it would be good practice before I do my big one in December (that is FREE by the way! because it's new...) SIGH
So... is it worth it? I have to do this show to gage what my market is like and how well people like things etc...
Is this a normal price? I was thinking more like $25 a booth for a church fair.

[Mommy2Ava]

Every chruch fair that I've done has ranged from $60-$100.

[danielle06]

My church had a craft fair and it was $25 for a 8' table - not 8' space, they gave you an 8' table and that was it. The local private catholic hs in the area has a craft show and it's $125 for a 10x10 space. It depends on how long they've been doing the show, what they are raising money for, how popular it is, juried/not juried, etc.

[geboraco@sbcglobal.net]

IMO, around my area, church ones are hit and miss. There are a couple that really bring in people, but others are SOOO slow. If they are charging $80, then it might be worth it, because they would not get that kind of money if they don't get the business.

You need to ask them:
1. How many vendors?
2. What type of advertising are they doing - if they aren't advertising much, don't pay that much. Throwing it in the church bulletin is not sufficient. They need ads in all the local papers for several weeks before the event, signs up, etc. too.
3. Attendence in the past 2 years?
4. Typical crafters - is it all crochet stuff, food, etc. You want to make sure not just old people are going to come, like at most of the church ones around my area. You will want to throw something by the end of the day if you hear, "Your stuff is so cute, but my daughters are 40 now..." !!

[jakey1028]

A church craft show I went to was $50 for 1 8ft table. They provided the table and 2 chairs. There were just rows of tables. I got lucky and go a corner spot, and made a L shape set up with a rack I had taken with me.

They had all types, avon, mary kay, littl old ladies selling crochet stuff, old men selling some handmade christmas trees, and they even had someone selling knock off purses. I was not too pleased with them, I had my purse with me (DB) and they were asking me where I got my cheap knock off and that thiers are so much better. My purse is real thankyouverymuch and I just walked away. DO NOT do that, you will drive customers away, and believe me, I told everyone about it too because I was pissed off.

[Claire]

If it's a church fair then they're probably doing it as a fundraiser too. With the way energy costs are now, cooling and lighting a big space for many hours costs them a lot and $25 a table may not offset that enough plus make them money as well.

[Bowlady101]

Originally Posted by geboraco@sbcglobal.net

IMO, around my area, church ones are hit and miss. There are a couple that really bring in people, but others are SOOO slow. If they are charging $80, then it might be worth it, because they would not get that kind of money if they don't get the business.

You need to ask them:
1. How many vendors?
2. What type of advertising are they doing - if they aren't advertising much, don't pay that much. Throwing it in the church bulletin is not sufficient. They need ads in all the local papers for several weeks before the event, signs up, etc. too.
3. Attendence in the past 2 years?
4. Typical crafters - is it all crochet stuff, food, etc. You want to make sure not just old people are going to come, like at most of the church ones around my area. You will want to throw something by the end of the day if you hear, "Your stuff is so cute, but my daughters are 40 now..." !!

GREAT QUESTIONS!!!!

[tayjeanmom]

Ditto what everyone else said - see if you can get some more information. It isn't outrageous, but for $80 I'd want to be sure their will be a lot of customers.

Also, do you know if the table fee is tax deductible? I recently did I Relay for Life event that cost $50 a space but the entire fee is tax deductible. Good thing, since I made less than $20 all day...

[creativesidebows]

I've always liked doing Church events. I only agree to do the ones I know are in affluent areas. After all, these are the areas that will bring the shoppers and not the just the Grandmas coming to chat about their grown kids. A big consideration is the length of the show-meaning how many years have they been having the festival? I think it's a great idea to do the newer smaller shows when you are first starting out cause you get to experiment with your display and get a feel for what will sell. You wouldn't want to pay $300-$400 your first time doing a show and not have some experience what you are doing. $80 for a church show is fair. If nothing else like you said it's trial for your December show. Good luck!!

[fragglerock]

Originally Posted by creativesidebows

I've always liked doing Church events. I only agree to do the ones I know are in affluent areas. After all, these are the areas that will bring the shoppers and not the just the Grandmas coming to chat about their grown kids. A big consideration is the length of the show-meaning how many years have they been having the festival? I think it's a great idea to do the newer smaller shows when you are first starting out cause you get to experiment with your display and get a feel for what will sell. You wouldn't want to pay $300-$400 your first time doing a show and not have some experience what you are doing. $80 for a church show is fair. If nothing else like you said it's trial for your December show. Good luck!!

I couldn't agree more, I've only done three craft fairs thus far and two of them were at churches in affluent areas. Also, and this is big, they both had very popular MDO programs. If the church has a good MDO program, you're going to get all the mothers with the little girls whom they like to dress up and that's where all the money is.