6 Ways to Politely Decline Trades at Craft Shows

When selling at craft shows, you’ll discover many amazing handmade products. And no doubt, other vendors will love your products too.

You may get asked if you want to make a trade.

A trade is when you give another vendor one of your products in exchange for one (or more) of theirs.

Instead of accepting money for your product(s), you accept another vendor’s product(s).

I’ve scored some amazing products at craft shows thanks to trades. So if you’re interested in another vendor’s products, you can of course, make the trade.

However, I’ve also been put in situations where I said yes to a trade when it wasn’t a fit because:

I didn’t feel it was a fair trade – a trade may seem fair/equal based on price tags (e.g. I give them my $50 for two of their $25 items), but in some cases, you may be undervaluing/underpricing your products and they may be overpricing theirs.
I wanted money – as I started getting more serious about my business, I started setting revenue goals for each craft show. Accepting a trade meant that “sale” wouldn’t contribute to my revenue. And I wanted as much profit as possible to put back into my business.
I wasn’t interested in their products – sometimes I didn’t need the item the other vendor was selling or their style just wasn’t a fit for me.

Of course, you can always simply say “no” to a trade; you don’t have to explain why you don’t want to make one.

However, I never wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings, and I didn’t want declining a trade to feel awkward.

When I wasn’t prepared with ways to politely decline a trade, I felt put on the spot, agreed to it, and then resented the decision later.

So I found it helpful to have these phrases in my back pocket so I felt good about my decision (to trade or not to trade) and knew my fellow vendor felt good too (whether I agreed to a trade or not).

1 – “I’m a bit limited on stock”

You can let your fellow vendor know that you love their work, but you’ve been short on time lately and haven’t been able to make as much stock as you’d like (for the craft show and perhaps to keep your online store stocked too). So you want to hang onto as many products as possible to be sure you feel stocked throughout the event and can offer shoppers options.

2 – “I’m focused on covering costs”

This may be ideal if you’re selling at a higher-priced craft show. Simply explain that you’re focusing on sales today to be sure your revenue covers all your costs. So you’re not going to make any trades in an attempt to optimize sales.

3 – “I’m saving up”

You likely have goals for your business and lots of ideas for what you’d like to spend your profits on. Let the vendor know you love their work but you’re not doing trades today because you’re trying to save money. If you feel comfortable, share your goal with your fellow vendor; you may bond with them over the item you’re saving for.

4 – “I don’t make trades”

You can have a little fun with this one and tell them you had to make a rule for yourself to not make any more trades at craft shows because you were trading away all your merchandise and weren’t making any money. Making it a “rule” or “policy” not to make trades keeps things clear and simple.

5 – “Maybe after the event”

If you do like the other vendor’s products but want to make sales/accept cash first, you can ask if they’d be interested in touching base after shopping hours are over to see if you both still have items the other is interested in trading.

6 – “I don’t do trades but I do offer discounts”

If your profit margins allow, you may consider giving fellow vendors a small discount on your products. That way, they can still get the item they love and feel like they’re getting a deal.

I hope these suggestions are helpful!