8 Things to Sell at Craft Shows You Don’t Have to Make

Running a handmade business and selling at craft shows can be exhausting.

Every dollar you earn is tied to your time: designing, making, packaging, loading your car, setting up, selling, and packing it all up again. 

That’s why many craft show vendors hit a wall.

One way to ease the pressure, increase profits, and make better use of busy craft show traffic is to add a small number of products you don’t have to make yourself.

These items should never replace your handmade work. Instead, they support it, improve the shopping experience, and help you make more money without adding more hours to your workload.

Below are ideas you can adapt to many different types of handmade businesses.

 

1. Packaging That Becomes a Product

Many shoppers buy gifts at craft shows, and good packaging adds value.

Think of packaging you can offer as an upsell.

For example:

• Reusable shopping bags

• Fabric gift bags

• Gift boxes

• Branded drawstring bags

• Refillable containers (e.g. glass soap bottles that can be refilled with a soap maker’s liquid soap)
• Jewelry pouches or boxes
• For an artist “packaging” may be frames or hanging kits

Instead of giving packaging away for free, offer it as a small add-on. Shoppers appreciate the convenience, and you increase your average sale without making anything new.

 

2. Care and Maintenance Items

These work especially well because they help the customer take care of the item they just purchased. 

For example:

• Jewelry cleaning cloths or solution

• Leather conditioner

• Soap dishes or soap savers

• Wick trimmer or candle snuffer

Position these as “recommended care” rather than an upsell. It feels helpful, not salesy.

 

3. Travel or Storage Accessories

Many handmade items need a safe way to be stored or transported.

For example:

• Jewelry travel cases

• Makeup or toiletry bags 

• Storage boxes

• Display cases (e.g. if an item is more decorative, such as a piece of pottery, figurine, or collection of items)

• Protective packaging (packaging that will protect an item when transporting, storing, or shipping)

These items solve a problem shoppers may not realize they have until you point it out.

 

*These next two do require a bit of making on your end, but should require less work and be more profitable than your handmade products.

4. Printed Instructions or Guides

If you often hear, “I could make that,” this is an opportunity to have something to sell to those people.

Create printed booklets that shoppers can buy to make the item themselves.

For example:

• Printed sewing or knitting patterns

• Ingredient, material, and/or tool lists with step-by-step instructions to make your own soap/candles/jewelry/etc.

• Guides to starting a _____ (candle-making) business

These take time to create once, but can be sold repeatedly with very little effort.

 

5. DIY Kits

You can take the last idea and expand on it by buying the supplies needed to create your item (at wholesale prices), packaging them in a kit, and including your step-by-step instructions and pattern. Price the kit so you’re profiting.

For example:

• Jewelry-making kits

• Candle or soap kits

• Cross-stitching kits

• Etc.

Although you’re making the kits, there is much less labour involved. These will appeal to crafty shoppers and gift buyers.

 

6. Small Complementary Wholesale Items

Items like these may allow you to incorporate elements of your work or your brand.

For example:

• An artist may have their work printed on mugs, magnets, or calendars

• If you have an attractive logo, you may have it printed on keychains, magnets, tote bags, etc.

• Stickers or notebooks with artwork that matches your brand

Keep these items limited and well-curated, so your table doesn’t feel cluttered, disjointed, or mass-produced. 

 

7. Gift Add-Ons

These will help shoppers view your items as a good gift, and make it easy for them to get their purchase ready to give.

For example:

• Greeting cards

• Gift tags

• Gift boxes
• Gift wrapping

These are especially powerful during busy seasons when shoppers are buying for multiple people.

 

8. Consignment or Affiliate Products From Other Makers

Partnering with another maker can be lower risk than buying wholesale inventory. You can work with another local vendor and offer to display a few of their items on your craft show table, and if they sell, you get a commission.

For example:

• A ceramic artist selling a soap maker’s soap to go with their soap trays/dishes

• A jewelry maker selling another artist’s ring dish or necklace stand

• A vendor selling knitted scarves and hats partnering with someone who makes pins and brooches (that could be worn on their scarves and hats)

You earn a percentage without paying upfront, and both brands benefit.

 

Adding products you don’t have to make helps you:

• Increase average order value

• Reduce physical production demands

• Offer solutions instead of just products

• Make better use of high-traffic events

Just be sure you’re marking prices to ensure you’re profiting.

Hopefully one (or more) of these ideas works for your handmade business!