31 Days - Day 14: Quantities

Is there a magic number for how many items to make?  Probably not, but some common sense may help when you sit down to plan.  Of course, I think the most important thing to do is to plan for your craft show and not just "wing" it.  When my daughter and I sat down to list out the items we thought we should make for our craft show, we also put a goal of how many of each item we would like to have made.

I think the middle and lower priced items should have the most quantities, because those are the items that will most likely sell the most of.  In other words, anything $40 and under are probably going to be your highest quantity items.  Not that you shouldn't have those higher priced on hand, just that larger amounts on the lower end.  Let's face it, I think most people are willing to buy something they like in the under $30 items on a whim.  An item that costs $100, may take a person a little more thought and decision making.

I've seen craft booths that have so many high end things and nothing for the average person to walk in and purchase.  You may disagree with me on this theory, but I really think that you should have items for all budget ranges.

So, most of my items, for a beginning quantity, I started with 5 items each, with my cheaper and less labor intensive items needing at least 10 of them.  These are just beginning goals for me.  I wanted them to be attainable, so I wasn't overwhelmed.  I also didn't want to give up on my quantities before I got them done.  I tend to get bored doing the same items over and over, so will make one of each item.  I have to focus on having multiples of items.

Remember that it's ok to make more than you can display.  You can always refill your display as it sells.  You want it to look more full than empty, in my opinion.  I find it awkward to go over to a booth and realize that it only has one or two different items that are out of my price range.  Then you have to back out of the booth and politely not buy anything.  You want to make your customer as comfortable as possible.  By having a variety of items in different price ranges, your customers will have more to choose from.  If you only carry two different items that are $100+ each, I think you may be losing customers.

Be sure to check out the rest of the series to get ready for your craft shows: 31 Days Until a Craft Show.   Tomorrow, I'll be talking about making a schedule to make all those items.  I look forward to hearing from everyone on your craft show quantities.

For a complete list of the 31 Day Until A Craft Show series and links to each post go Here to Day 31.