Was That Craft Fair Actually Worth It? Do the After-Math.

You made $900 at a craft fair. Amazing, right?

Maybe. But sales are not profit. Before you book the same market next weekend, I'd like to know how much of that $900 you actually got to keep.

To calculate craft fair profit, start with your sales revenue and subtract the costs of the items sold, payment fees and the expenses of attending the event. Then look at the hours you spent preparing, setting up, selling and packing everything away. These are different questions, and you need answers to both.

Step 1: Start with your actual craft fair sales

Use your real total from the event, including cash and electronic payments. Don't mistake the number of transactions or the amount of cash in your box for the amount your business made.

In the example from my original craft-fair draft, the market brought in $900 in sales.

Step 2: Subtract what the products you sold actually cost

This isn't every item you made for the market. It's the cost attributable to what you actually sold, including relevant materials, labour and any applicable product-level overhead and equipment allowances. Keep your costing method consistent so you don't accidentally count the same expense twice.

For this example, assume the cost of products sold is $462. That's money already spoken for, even if the sales table looked fabulous.

Step 3: Subtract transaction and event expenses

Your booth fee isn't the only possible event expense. Think about the actual costs of attending: travel, parking, display rental, extra supplies, and other event-specific spending. Only subtract expenses that apply to your business and this event.

In our worked example, electronic payment fees total $18, and event expenses total $150.

This is the amount remaining after those listed costs. If anything relevant was omitted, including additional labour or event expenses, it isn't the final business profit. Don't give the number a promotion it hasn't earned.

Step 4: Account for the time the market took

Say you spent ten hours on the event itself. Your $270 remaining works out to $27 per event hour.

That's useful as a comparison, but it is not automatically your hourly wage. If labour is already included in your product costs, that has been accounted for in a separate bucket. If those ten event hours were not paid or costed yet, subtract an appropriate event labour amount before calling the remainder profit.

And don't forget preparation time. Packing inventory, pricing items, hauling displays, driving and tearing down don't cease to exist because customers weren't watching.

Why gross sales can make an average market look amazing

It's incredibly easy to come home and say, “I made $900 today.” Your sales report may even agree.

But in this example, $630 of that revenue is already consumed by the listed product costs, payment fees and event expenses. Only $270 remains before any further uncounted expenses. That's a much more useful number when you're deciding whether to do it again.

And if the booth fee was steep, traffic was poor or your average product margin was tiny, that $900 sales number might hide a whole lot of work for very little return.

What about exposure and getting your name out there?

Exposure can have value. Maybe you collected genuine customer leads or received later orders you can reasonably connect to that market. Great. Record those outcomes separately so you know whether they're actually happening.

But “getting my name out there” shouldn't automatically turn a market that doesn't cover its costs into a success. Social media, donating, and volunteering can also introduce people to your business. At least be clear about what you're paying in money and time for the exposure.

Should you do the same craft fair again?

Compare the event against your own goals. How much did you earn after costs? How many hours did it take? Did you sell the products that are worth making? Did you gain measurable repeat buyers or orders? Was there another way to earn a better return on that weekend?

Sometimes the answer is absolutely yes. Sometimes the answer is a fairly enthusiastic no.

If a particular market cannot support the prices your business needs to charge, it's worth questioning why you're paying for a booth, preparing inventory and giving up a weekend to be there.

Run the numbers before you book another booth

For product costing, start with the Ultimate Handmade Pricing Calculator. To understand the difference between materials, labour, overhead and profit, see the Handmade Pricing Guide and why markup alone isn't enough.

A successful market isn't the one with the prettiest sales total. It's the one that makes sense for your business after you've done the math.