Are craft fairs worth it? How to work it out
Updated
A craft fair pays when your sales cover the day's costs and leave something for your time. Work it out before you book, and check it again after.
How many pieces do you need to sell?
In the holiday craft fair example, the booth, travel and other costs come to $200.00. Each $28.00 piece costs $6.00 to make and $0.88 in card fees, so it leaves $21.12. That means selling at least 10 pieces just to cover the day.
What a craft fair really costs
- The booth fee, and any application or jury fee.
- Travel and parking, and a hotel if it's far away.
- Anything else for the day: a tent, display, table cover, food.
- Card reader fees on each sale paid by card.
- What each piece you sell cost you to make.
- Your time: setup, selling and pack-up.
Welding permanent jewelry at a pop-up? The permanent jewelry pricing calculator adds a host's share and the event fee to each piece.
Paying yourself for the day
Covering costs isn't the same as earning. In the example, 8 hours at $20 an hour is $160.00. To cover that too, you'd need to sell 18 pieces.
After the fair: did it pay?
Enter how many pieces you sold. Selling 20 pieces in the example brings in $560.00 and leaves you $222.44, or $27.81 an hour.
The booth fee rule of thumb
You'll see advice to sell three or seven times your booth fee. Your own number depends on your prices and costs. In the example, breaking even takes 1.9 times the booth fee.
Common questions
- Are craft fairs worth it?
- A fair is worth it when your sales cover the booth fee, travel, card fees and the cost of your pieces, and leave enough for your time. Enter a fair's numbers above to see.
- How much can you make at a craft fair?
- It depends on your prices, what your pieces cost and how many you sell. Enter how many you expect to sell, and the calculator shows what's left after costs, and what that pays you an hour.
- What does it cost to sell at a craft fair?
- The booth fee, travel and parking, anything else the day needs (a display, food, a hotel), the card fees on each sale, and what the pieces you sell cost you to make.
- How many pieces do I need to sell to cover the booth fee?
- Add up the day's costs, and divide by what each sale leaves after the piece's cost and card fees. Round up. The calculator does this for you.
- Is the 3x or 7x booth fee rule right?
- Rules like these guess at your costs. Your own number depends on your prices and what your pieces cost. The calculator shows your break-even as a number of times the booth fee.
- Should my craft fair prices match my online prices?
- You can keep one price everywhere. Card reader fees are lower than Etsy's, so a price set to cover Etsy fees covers a market too.
- What do card readers cost at a market?
- Square charges 2.6% + $0.15 an order for tapped or dipped cards (checked Sep 2026). The calculator adds it to each sale paid by card.
- Is the sales tax I collect counted?
- No. Sales tax you collect belongs to your state, so it isn't counted as yours. This isn't tax advice.
The examples are made-up days to show how the math works, not what fairs cost where you live. This isn't tax advice.