Opinions on small shows with multiple soap vendors

[jcatblum]

We have MANY small shows around here. Every rural school seems to use a craft show as a fundraiser. They charge $25 booth fee & do a pancake breakfast or chili lunch to draw a crowd. It really is a good fundraiser for them, and I have done well at several shows when I was the only soap maker.
I know there are HUGE differences in soap styles & product offerings. But I always hesitate to do a show that may draw a crowd of 100-200 when there is another soap vender, scentsy, pink zebra, candles & what ever other smelly things you can imagine! I feel customers go into scent over load & get tired of sniffing products. 1 out of 5 booths are something to sniff is too much IMO.
Any other thoughts???

 

[Obsidian]

From a buyers point of view, I like smelly booths. I hunt out things to smell first then go back around and check out the other crafts. We have little shows around here like yours, small venues with low booth fees and there are always at least 2-3 soapers plus all the lotions and candles.
One thing I have noticed with the soap booths are most have very similar looking and smelling soap. Most are natural colored with common scents like lavender, lemongrass, cedarwood, etc... I try to find soaps that are different if I want to purchase something.
I'm planning to start selling next year so I am going on recon to a craft fair this weekend. I want to see what niche hasn't been filled by other local soapers.

 

[shunt2011]

I only do handcrafted shows. I dislike when they have vendor shows for Scentsy etc....did two and hated it. I've been a smaller shows where I was 1 of 2 or 3 soapmakers and still did fairly well. It just depend on what your goals are I suppose. I enjoy going and meeting new people and getting my product and name out there, even if I'm not making a load of money. I always make my table plus 3-4 times that on small shows.

 

[jcatblum]

Obsidian I prefer the natural soaps, but I have 2 teen girls & we do mostly BBW & VS type dupes. I would say our target market is 30 & below. It is hard to know what will attract customers & what won't. I made a 3 lb loaf of beer soap for fall shows. Never sold a single bar. I have heard others say it is their best seller.

Shunt - there is a lack of handmade markets locally. I am scheduled to attend one in the spring. It is 2 days & booth is only $60. They already have a person that makes "lye soap" I was told. As far as attendance they told me less than 1000. There are 999 numbers that come before 1000 so who knows! I figure the price is right so we will try it out.

 

[paillo]

I just had an interesting experience at my first really big show. 200 vendors including 6 soapers, juried and all hand-crafted. I did my best day ever on Saturday, but bailed on Sunday due to snow and ice and having to be at work at 5:30a today. The booth fee was -gasp- $300. But I would do it again.

I tried to get around to meet all the other soapers, and that was interesting for sure. One woman had absolutely gorgeous CP and lotions, and I went over to introduce myself and admire her products. She launched into an absolute tirade about too many soapers, and how she was so angry and calling show organizers and even her local governments to get them to set limits on the competition. She wasn't about to let me admire her products, and just kept shouting until I backed away. Yeeeeshhhh. All the others I talked with were super nice. One spent years perfecting a soap for dogs and horses, and it's going into Tractor Supply stores nationwide. How cool! There was even a fellow soaper from this forum, and we had a nice time chatting.

I was really surprised what sold out of my stock. The shampoo bars, dog soap, pine tar and most of my salt soaps sold out within a few hours. Ditto with Spa Ritual kits, and I sold a lot of Tigger balm, alpaca felted soaps, and bath salts. My pretty CP bars that normally sell really fast didn't. So at least for this show I wish I had brought more of the unusual soaps and less of the typical best-sellers. Makes me think I'd really like to set up a niche market for the more unusual stuff, which I enjoy making more anyway. There is SO much competition on Etsy and in markets and shows, so really considering the idea of specializing.

 

[jcatblum]

So jealous! I would be thrilled if I had a dog & horse soap also wanted to do some saddle soap. perfected. Doing a horse show in January & February. However, I need a yr+ to get it worked out. And you can't test washing horses when it is below freezing outside!

People remember you, seek you & spread the word about your niche item. If you can do something they have never seen before they come back for that 1 thing & buy other things while they are there.

 

[shunt2011]

Certainly, 60.00 for two days is a good deal. I do 3 that are 85.00 for two days but are 3 hours away but I do so very well at them that it's worth it. Some of the smaller shows I don't do as well but still worth the time. My farmers market during the summer I'm certainly not going to get rich but I have a good time and have made some great return customers.

Paillo, that is fantastic. I've not ventured into the pricier venues but thinking about trying it. Unfortunately some fo them around my area start at 350-750 and that just seems so steep.

 

[Lin]

I'm wanting to do a dog soap, horse soap, and leather soap. I've been working on the perfect leather conditioner for a while. I make and sell leather items such as leashes and collars so I've been working on those to sell alongside. I do use CP soap on all my leather and my own conditioners on it.

 

[Robyn08]

I just dif my first show. It was at a small school. 50 vendor. One other soaper, but their was MP and mine is CP, so they looked pretty different. There were other smelly things....scentsy, party lite, and some other candle and lotions. I did pretty well I thought. The entry was $40 for 6 hours and I sold $270 worth if product. It was close to my house and the people who bought were all local, so I'm hoping for repeat customers. I'd definitely do it again. It was fun to talk to people about my products, which I'm very passionate about.

 

[houseofwool]

$60 for two days with only 1000 people through the doors seems steep to me.

 

[jcatblum]

$60 for two days with only 1000 people through the doors seems steep to me.

Most of the small school shows are $25 & they have 100-200 people few handmade vendors. The 1000 people that come to the handmade show are there to buy handmade products not stuff from catalogs or $5 jewelry made in China.

 

[paillo]

I think $60 for two days is a bargain! An I think you did really well in terms of sales Congrats!

 

[hellogorgeous]

$60 for 2 days is amazing! Most shows here are $75/day and have maybe 200-400 ppl through the door at most.

 

[MKRainville]

Nice to finally meet another SMF person!

There was even a fellow soaper from this forum, and we had a nice time chatting.

.

It was a pleasure to meet another SMF soaper. And I must tell you, your products are very nice. I absolutely LOVE the salt bar I purchased. The lemongrass is so refreshing.

Thank you again for taking time to introduce yourself to me. You had a wonderful display.

I also went over to talk to all the other soapers and she did leave a bad taste in my mouth. I thought the main idea behind all this (as a vendor) was to lift each other up as well...? One ocean can lift many boats... Not every soaper soaps the same. I love talking to vendors. It is not about stealing ideas, its about learning. Anyways dear, I got the same impression from that woman, and it kinda upset me until I ran into the two men with the dog/horse soap. They were pretty awesome. I got a Patchouli bar from them.. and it is AMAZING!

This was my very first craft show - ever. I thought I did ok. I broke even... you know buying supplies for a first show can be expensive - I found a lot of my stuff at goodwill and dav stores. I will post photos on a new thread.

OH my hubby loves the salt bar too.. the kaolin clay has done really nice for his face... he has shaved with it since Sunday morning!

 

[jcatblum]

Todays show was one with a small crowd & there was another soap vendor. When I go to shows where people spend more shea is always my biggest seller. Small spenders it is always lipbalm. Today lipbalm was the big seller. Booth fee was $25 sold $120. Not amazing, but considering it was a small show & there was another soap vender & we were placed in the overflow section, I am happy with the way things turned out.

 

[maya]

I just got done with a three day show. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. About five hours per day. 70 dollar both fee. I can only tell how I did from how much product I brought home, the organizers send a check in about a week, but I think I did really well.

I am the only apothecary there (I sell tinctures and glycerites, herbal medicine, too) there is another woman who sells baking extracts and cordials, medicinal vinegars and such. In totally there were probably a thousand people through the door. Most of the vendors thought it was really successful.

 

[DeeAnna]

Oooh, I am leery of shows where the organizers control the money. I was tempted some years ago to go to a show where the organizers charged a booth fee AND took a % of sales. Before I signed up, I heard through the grapevine that the organizers were getting greedy. Some sales were just magically disappearing rather than being properly credited to the vendor. The vendors were unhappy, but couldn't really prove what they thought was going on. And there were always a new crop of vendors who didn't know the score to replace the ones who didn't come back. I didn't go, needless to say. :-(

 

[Spicey477]

I have an interesting show tomorrow (Wed). My husband works for the Defense Health Agency and their building is having a holiday mart. It was scheduled for last week (and booked) but it was snowed out so they contacted me Monday that they had a spot! Luckily I have a wonderful mother and sister who worked their fingers to the bone with me all day today concocting, weighing, printing, labeling (I sell scrubs). I have 100 jars for tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect except that 3000 people work in the secured building and they all make very good money. So...this really could be interesting or a bust. Either way, not too much skin off of my back as there was no fee and they give you a table and tablecloth too!

 

[pamielynn]

It was a pleasure to meet another SMF soaper. And I must tell you, your products are very nice. I absolutely LOVE the salt bar I purchased. The lemongrass is so refreshing.

Thank you again for taking time to introduce yourself to me. You had a wonderful display.

I also went over to talk to all the other soapers and she did leave a bad taste in my mouth. I thought the main idea behind all this (as a vendor) was to lift each other up as well...? One ocean can lift many boats... Not every soaper soaps the same. I love talking to vendors. It is not about stealing ideas, its about learning. Anyways dear, I got the same impression from that woman, and it kinda upset me until I ran into the two men with the dog/horse soap. They were pretty awesome. I got a Patchouli bar from them.. and it is AMAZING!

This was my very first craft show - ever. I thought I did ok. I broke even... you know buying supplies for a first show can be expensive - I found a lot of my stuff at goodwill and dav stores. I will post photos on a new thread.

OH my hubby loves the salt bar too.. the kaolin clay has done really nice for his face... he has shaved with it since Sunday morning!

I love it when I can chat with another soaper, maybe even swap bars - unless, like last weekend when I ran into two other soapers and one is selling rancid-smelling soap and the other has only been making soap for three months and is putting misleading information out there to the public (and spying on me every half hour). Then it's hard, because I'm not the kind of person to say "Hey. Your soap smells bad". I'm not that brave.

 

[paillo]

MK, I was so happy to meet you too, you're a lovely person and your booth and products looked really inviting. I'm also so glad you broke even. It was an expensive show, and I think breaking even, with most of one day canceled for bad weather, is a phenomenal start to your market adventure. So glad you liked the salt soap too, I never thought of it for shaving soap, but now want to make some with zeolite, rhassoul and/or bentonite clay.

Me too, I love chatting with other soapers!