The tough part about craft fairs is being face to face with your customer and sticking to your prices. So how can you get your craft fair pricing right and avoid discounting out of guilt or fear of losing the sale?
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When I would go to craft fairs with my crochet, I always dreaded the moment when a customer would ask me what the price was.
I did everything I could to avoid that question. I put price tags on everything, I had little blackboards with the prices written on, but inevitably that question would always get asked.
No matter how much I justified my prices in my head, there was always part of me that felt guilty about pricing like I did. A sort of shame that I was daring to price like a professional (even though I was) and that I had no right to call myself a real business (even though it was), so I shouldn’t be charging the prices for my crochet that I was.
All of this was just nonsense inside my head of course, but it made it so hard to stick to my prices when a customer challenged them.
They didn’t have to say anything either. Sometimes they just grimaced and put the item back and walked away. Sometimes it was just a quick “Oh, I didn’t expect it to cost that much” and then they walked away.
But sometimes you get that customer who is determined to get a discount, and that determination usually comes with the phrase “You’ll never sell it for that price” and then they’ll offer you half the value on the price tag.
Dealing with this in the moment isn’t easy, but being prepared for it with what you can say and do when this happens is going to help you get past these moments and stand your ground on your pricing. I’ve got some tips to help you further on in this article.
Why Craft Fair Pricing Feels So Much Harder Face to Face
This face-to-face issue is why it’s so much easier to sell crochet online when it comes to pricing. People see the price and choose to buy or click away. You never have to see that grimace or hear the “It’s not worth that much” comments.
You don’t get to hear people’s opinions on your prices – which can be a blessing or a curse depending on how you look at it. But it does mean that you never feel the same type of pressure in the moment to drop your prices or accept a low offer like you do when selling face to face.
If you tend to be a people pleaser, your automatic response may be to offer a discount. If you’re feeling the financial pinch at the moment, then any sale feels better than no sale, so you take the low offer. You just don’t get the time to think and carefully consider your options like you do when selling online.
The automatic reaction of taking a lower amount for your crochet is a very real issue when selling at in-person events.
This reaction doesn’t make you a bad salesperson, it doesn’t mean that you’re no good at selling at craft fairs. It just means that you haven’t had the practice at selling in person and haven’t armed yourself with some tactics and premade responses for when these moments arrive. And that is very fixable.
The Real Cost of Saying Yes to a Discount
On the face of it, agreeing to give a discount on one of your items just means that you make less of a profit than you would have otherwise. Or does it?
Do you know how much that item cost to make and what the profit margin is?
It’s not just the cost of the yarn you used that needs to be taken into account. When you go to a craft fair you have a whole bunch of other costs that suddenly need to be accounted for within your profit margins:
- The table fee
- Transportation costs
- Printing business cards or price tags
- The table covering
- Display stands
- Anything else you paid for to attend that event
All of that needs to be paid for through your profits. So does your time. This is the thing that so many crochet sellers forget to include when working out their prices – how much are you paying yourself for each item? Because your time is a cost too.
If you have a $50 item, but give a 20% discount, that means you take $40. The yarn cost you $12 and you need to add $4 for that item’s share of the craft fair costs. You spent 6 hours making the item and you’ve decided to pay yourself $5 an hour. That means that item cost you $46 to make. You just made a loss of $6 with that discount.
Knowing what each of your items costs you to make and how much profit you’ll make from each is essential for knowing how much leeway you have for discounts. You can work that out with my Crochet Profit Tracker, which you can download here.
So if you discount that crochet item too much, you’re not going to make any profit at all and may end up making a loss.
What’s the point of making the sale if you lose money on it?
This is why it’s so important to be disciplined when it comes to sticking to your prices. There is no point going to a craft fair if you don’t make back what it cost you to attend because you gave too many discounts.
You Don’t Owe Anyone an Explanation for Your Prices
We fear being judged for our prices and being seen as greedy or not worth the price tag we put on our own skills. But that is another person’s opinion. And the thing about opinions is that they change from person to person depending on what they happen to value.
You owe no one an explanation for your pricing and no one is entitled to a discount because they don’t value your skill or their budget won’t stretch. My budget will never stretch to affording a Porsche, but I would never dream of waltzing into a dealership and demanding a discount just because I felt entitled to one and my bank account said no.
It’s OK to say no to a discount. After all, you are there to make a profit and there is no point going if you are going to lose money.
It’s far better to lose a sale and go home with stock than lose money and end up being out of pocket.
There will always be people who will try their luck to save themselves some cash, but you need your crochet to make money for you, not help someone else’s wallet. For all you know, the next customer that comes along will want that same item and will be prepared to pay full price for it with a smile on their face, gushing about how lucky they are to find such a wonderful thing.
Set Your Discount Rules Before You Go
To help you stick to your prices, set some rules for yourself before you go to the event.
- Know how much of a discount you can afford to give for each item you’re selling – make yourself a cheat sheet if need be and list everything with what it cost to make.
- Decide if you’re willing to give discounts on single items at all or whether that’s something you will only offer to someone buying more than one item.
- Create a bundle offer of your own – several items that go well together and feature the price and the saving in dollars for buying them all.
There is nothing wrong with offering discounts, but they shouldn’t be available on everything and you need to be in control of when and who they get offered to.
Some of these rules are what I used myself, some of them I wish I’d done – hindsight is a wonderful thing! But I never gave more than a 10% discount and I never discounted single items. Those two rules served me well and they made sure I never made a loss on any of my crochet.
What to Say When Someone Asks for a Discount
So what do you say when someone asks you for a lower price? It helps to have some replies ready in your head for when you are put on the spot.
- “Sorry, I don’t give discounts on single items, but I can give you a 10% discount if you buy 2 or more.”
- “No, my prices are set. I can’t drop them.”
- “I can’t drop the price on that, but I have some bundle offers over here.”
Keep those lines in your head and it will help you to stick to your prices so that you come back from the craft fair with a nice profit.
These will work for the majority of discount requests, but what they can’t do is protect your feelings when you get that nasty comment of “You’ll never sell it for that price” and let’s face it, that’s the comment you’re dreading the most.
But look at it another way. It’s a manipulation tactic. The person is breaking you down so that they can make you feel bad, bring you low and get you to hand over your hard work for a price that suits them. Do you want them to get away with that?!
A firm “no thank you” to their offer with a smile and nothing else will help to shut them down. Keep the smile, don’t engage and they’ll walk away once they realise they’re not getting the reaction they hoped for. Keep telling yourself no sale is better than losing money. It won’t stop the sting of the words, but the person saying them won’t get any satisfaction.
Remember Why You’re There
The best weapon you have for finding the willpower to stick to your prices is your reason for selling your crochet.
Keep remembering why this is so important for you and what those profits are for.
It doesn’t matter if it’s to go towards a family holiday, to make up the shortfall to pay this month’s bills or to pay for a nice meal out with your parents. The hard work is yours and you deserve to get paid a fair amount for it. Any discount that you give eats into those profits and makes your goal harder to achieve.
Keep your reason in mind, make your rules and stick to them, and you’re far more likely to have a profitable day at the craft fair.
Craft Fair Pricing FAQs
Do I have to give a discount if a customer asks at a craft fair?
No, you never have to give a discount if you don’t want to. You are in control of your pricing and only you can decide when or even if a discount will happen and no is a reasonable answer to any request.
How much discount should I offer at a craft fair?
Personally, I would never discount more than 10%, but the amount you choose is up to you. Always know how much of a discount you can give before you start making a loss. Discounts should only be given with the knowledge of what it’s going to cost you.
Is it okay to price my crochet higher than other stalls?
Your prices are your choice. There will always be other crocheters who price lower, but you should never try to compete. You need to make what you need to make and another person’s prices don’t change that. Keep your prices as high as you want them to be.
Should I put price tags on everything at a craft fair?
You don’t need to put price tags on everything, but you should have your prices clearly displayed, whether that’s on mini boards on your table, price tags or a price list. Having prices clearly displayed reduces the number of “How much is this?” conversations.
“Yes, I Will”
Once you know how to handle hagglers, your day at the craft fair will be much less stressful and you will end up with more cash in your pocket. If I could go back in time and deal with that haggler who told me that I’d never sell my crochet at that price, I’d tell her, “Yes, I will.” Then I’d keep smiling and watch her walk away disgruntled that her plan didn’t work out.
For more tips on how you can sell more of your crochet at craft fairs, I have 9 more free tips for every stage of the event, from choosing the right craft fair, to getting prepped and ready for the day, to what you can do on the day to make more sales, beyond setting prices and giving discounts.
Get your 9 free craft fair tips
I’m Kelly Thomas, crochet business owner, pattern writer, blogger and coach. I started my crochet business selling what I make and made all the mistakes along the way. Let me show you what I learned so you don’t make the same errors.
You can listen to the podcast episode that goes with this article here. It is a bit different to what you’ve just read, but the message is the same.
You can check out the rest of my podcast here to discover more about how to turn your crochet into a successful business.
