If you love crocheting as much as I do, you might eventually wonder how to start selling crochet at craft fairs. Today, I am going to tell you about my journey and hopefully you will feel some weight lifted off your shoulders because I know it is very overwhelming when you start considering it.
As told by a regular person!
Now I know what you are thinking, another crochet influencer trying to sell me something. Let me stop you there. First, I may have a blog (did you know anyone can have a blog? All you need is to be passionate about something), but I am nowhere near an influencer. I think my blog might have earned $18 last month.
Second, I don’t crochet for a living. I actually work a full-time job and a part-time work-from-home job, attempt to create this amazing blog, and LASTLY, I am trying to start my crochet business. I have my 6th event coming up in 2 weeks, so I am not a professional, I am someone here to tell you how to start selling at craft fairs using a real world example.
Like you, I didn’t know where to begin. What I have been doing may or may not work for you, but it should at least give you some ideas.
How to Get Started
Let’s dive right into how to start selling crochet at craft fairs. The first thing you have to do is decide once and for all that you are going to do it. Just getting started is a journey in and of itself!
Once you are committed, then you decide what you will start out selling. Pick a few items that you enjoy crocheting and that fit your area and make several. There is no perfect number of items you will need. Just go with your gut and timeframe.
Next you need to START LOOKING for events. This doesn’t mean you necessarily have to sign up YET but start making a list of events for next year. Yes, it will take that long for you to BUILD UP YOUR BUSINESS, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do events.
You will second guess yourself and be ready to give up…. DON’T. Keep crocheting.
I made a list of events with the dates and the booth cost. I sorted them by month so that I could prepare seasonally. What got me started was my local farmers market. It only costs $10 to setup on Saturday and they usually provide the tables under a pavilion so I didn’t even need a tent! There was however a waiting list, which I promptly got on. By the time they called me I had forgot about it, but I hadn’t stopped crocheting so I had some items I could set up with.
What Will I Need?
Obviously, you will need lots of yarn. I was able to find someone on Facebook who was selling off their entire yarn stash a couple hours away from me. It was $150 and I am set for a while.
You might also need a canopy and tables. Believe it or not, you can get both of these on Temu.com. They are cheaper, but of decent quality. Remember, we are just getting started!
Tablecloths. You will want nice looking tablecloths that reach the floor/ground. This makes your set up look nice and you can’t see your tote boxes that you will naturally store under the table.
Tote boxes. You have to get your stuff from your vehicle to your booth somehow. I have found all of mine at dollar stores or Lowe’s! $10 or less. Again, this doesn’t have to start out as a huge monetary investment!
Displays. Displays really depend on what you are selling. Check yard sales, marketplace, anywhere you might find something you can use. Again, Temu has some low-cost options. I actually bought a metal cake plate stand from Facebook for $2 and use it to sit a round metal basket on for height. Got the metal basket from Facebook too. I think I paid $2.00 for it as well.
Price Tags. So many options for price tags. You can get chalkboard signs at the dollar tree and group like items instead of pricing individually. Or you can get package of tags and the dollar tree and price each item. This really boils down to personal preference.
What crochet items sell best at craft fairs?
There is no real answer to what crochet items sell best at craft fairs. What sells great for me may not sell great for you. I live in a hot climate, and no one wants hats and scarves. You may live in a cold climate where those sell really well. Try out a few different items and see what works best for you and where you are selling.
You may notice in one of the photos above, I had some crochet tops on my table. This was at the farmer’s market. The likelihood that I would sell a crochet top at the farmers market was slim to none, but I put it out anyway. At an actual craft fair, I might have sold 10. It all comes down to trial and error in your event.
Most profitable things to sell at fairs
Again, the most profitable things to sell at fairs is going to have a lot to do with location and skills. Your location may allow you many choices on fancy name brand yarn. I may live in a rural area where I can only buy online. My costs would automatically be higher than your just on yarn, thus less profitable for me.
Then there is the issue of skill. If you are a seasoned crocheter you may crochet really fast whereas someone just starting out may be much slower. This would affect how profitable it is for you to charge for your time.
What crochet item sells the best at craft fairs? This is another question I see asked often. Again, it too will vary. My first event I had 4 small Mabel chickens. I sold them all. So, I decided for my next event I would make 8. Same event on a different day and I didn’t sell a single one!
Free crochet patterns for craft fairs
I have one word for you on this: PINTEREST
Do I need a business license to sell my crochet?
I had to have a business license to sell at the farmer’s market. It cost me $87 for a one-year license and now I have it, so I don’t have to worry about it anymore. That being said, wait until you have an event or actually have to have a business license before you stress too much about it. You can easily call your city hall and find out what you do or don’t need.
Having a business license does not commit you to anything. It just means if you decide to do something in your business you have the license.
Do I have to pay taxes if it is just a hobby?
So many people want to know, “do I have to pay taxes if it is just a hobby?” Every city and state are different on the matter of taxes. Consult your local offices. Federal taxes however are really quite simple. If you earned a dollar, you must pay taxes on it. Yes, I did taxes for years and I do my own taxes every year. It is really cut and dried. If you received money for goods, you have to pay taxes. End of story.
That being said, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Did you spend $5 on the supplies to earn that $1? Then your business didn’t earn any money, you lost $4. No taxes owed. However, you must still file a tax return for your business showing the loss rather than the income.
Now I know you’re thinking, “I will just show a loss every year and not have to pay taxes.” Negative. Can’t do that. After so many years of losses (I don’t know the exact number) the IRS will decide your “business” is not a business at all, it’s a hobby you spend money on, and you will no longer have a business.
The easiest way to handle all of this is also quite simple. Honesty. Write down every penny you spend related to your business. This includes office supplies and gas to and from every event. Food or drink purchased during event, etc. Then also record every dollar earned. Report it all to the IRS and pay whatever taxes you may owe. It doesn’t have to be complicated I promise.
The photo below shows you my brand-new simple spreadsheet that I have created for you… for FREE! Simply enter your email below the photo and get one step closer to your crochet business!
How much money can you make selling crochet items
How much money you can make selling crochet items is directly related to the effort you put into the business. You won’t get rich the first couple of years, remember we are BUILDING the business first.
I started building my crochet business this year. For the year 2024 I have spent $898.15 on my crochet business. To date I have earned $570.34. Currently I have a loss of $327.81, but that includes all my big purchases such as tables, banners, canopy, and let’s not forget the $150 I spent on yarn. I will have none of those expenses next year unless my business were to grow and need more yarn or tables. So, while I am losing this year, next year I should do ok!
The picture below was my last setup. In fact, if you look at the photos on this post from top to bottom, you see how my setup has progressed. I took monies earned and reinvested in my booth as I went.
Now my tablecloth is a little out of whack here, I will still setting up and we had a storm blowing in. This was at a monthly event at a local flea market/antique mall. It usually draws a good crowd of vendors, but this day was a bust due to the weather. I paid $25 for the spot and made that back plus a little more. As an added bonus, though we were all given free spots for next month due to the weather so overall it wasn’t terrible.
I am definitely looking forward to next month to see if I want to keep doing this event monthly. This is what I mean by start small. Try out an event that doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg. It doesn’t matter what it is, what matters is getting your feet wet. I am actually a VERY introverted person, so I have had to work on talking to people and learn how to create a persona just for this business.
Do I need a website for my craft fair business?
While a website for your craft fair business isn’t necessary, it also isn’t expensive if you want to give it a go. I only pay $7 a month for this website! This website is built through WordPress and it is hosted by shared hosting through BigScoots.
If this is something you are interested in, please click here. This is the course I used to learn how to set up this entire website. After about a year and a half, this website officially pays for itself most months!
Keep in mind that if you do start a website, you will have to drive traffic to it somehow. What would someone search to come across your website? You will need to learn about SEO and how Google works. Like I said I have been at this for over a year, perhaps closer to 2 years and I am just now getting enough traffic to cover my $7 spent per month. (Notice there are no ads, I don’t use those, yet).
Creating a website is not very hard, the difficult part is knowing how to make it come up in search results. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it does take some work!
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