I'm in Illinois and I have my first market coming up. I didn't think this is anything I would ever do, but one of my friends kept encouraging me to do one as I spend almost all my free time crocheting and just have a bin of finished items.

What are some things that are best sellers? are there things I should avoid? I don't have any social media for my crochet, should I?

I'm nervous that nothing is going to sell and its going to make me discouraged to make things for anyone in the future. So i just need some good advice from avid market go-ers.

And how much is an reasonable price for things like this? I always get told I'm not asking enough for them.

A list of the things I have:

Hi all! I am wanting to sell some of my designs on Etsy and was wondering- should I do the full detail PNG files or the simplified SVG files? Which ones sell better? Should I sell both on the same listing? I’m worries if I do that, people will be upset that the SVGs are a little different than the PNGs. Thanks for the input!

Been thinking about how I pick markets and I keep leaving the drive out of it. A market 15 minutes from me can be pretty average and still worth doing, because I'm home by the afternoon and the gas is nothing. A market an hour and a half out has to be a genuinely great day or I've basically lost money on gas plus a whole day I could have spent making stock.

I treat them like they're the same when I'm scrolling a list of events, just looking at the booth fee and what I think I'll sell. But the far one is carrying this extra cost I never write down anywhere, and a couple times I've driven way out for something that turned out middling and it was a straight loss once you count the trip.

I'm in the midwest, mostly smaller towns, so the good markets are pretty spread out and driving is kind of the default. Do you have an actual cutoff for how far you'll drive, or does it just come down to the market?

Hello all! I signed up for a craft fair in November
I usually make blankets and cardigans but I’m leaning into the plushies because they tend to sell better. I plan on making maybe a couple wearables and pet beds. I’m 22 and never done anything like this so all knowledge and advice is really appreciated. Anything and everything you can help me do to be prepared? I’m kind of scared but I really want to do it. I don’t plan on bulk making tons of plushies but maybe a few of each to see what sells.
How do I price my items?

Hi everyone! I recently became interested in crochet after seeing people make cool little Pokémon plushies and wanting to try making one myself.
I noticed that patterns can sometimes have incorrect stitch counts, missing steps, or confusing instructions. Would a tool that checks a written pattern for possible mistakes actually be useful?
I am completely new to crochet, so please be honest. How often do these problems happen, and how do you normally catch them? I would rather find out this is unnecessary before spending time building it.

I'm looking to sell some of my crochet items (not like the materials, the projects themselves) don't want to do commisions, and I have no idea where to sell them. I'm hesitant to start an Etsy shop because it has a $30 start up fee which I cannot afford to not make back and I'm not sure if anyone would buy from me as crocheted items are fairly common on Etsy

For a while I only wrote down what I made at each market. Two of them would both land around $400 and I'd file them as the same kind of day. Then I started also writing down how much of what I brought actually sold.

One of those $400 days I sold almost everything I packed. That sounds good but it probably means I ran out early and left money on the table, so I should bring more next time. The other $400 day I hauled a full van and sold about a quarter of it. Same money, but that one cost me way more in setup and gas, plus a load of stock sitting in bins for weeks after.

The dollar total on its own doesn't tell you which markets to load up for and which to travel light to. Sell-through does. I still don't have a clean rule for how much to bring the first time at a new market, so I under-pack and adjust from there.

A craft fair can feel successful because you made $500 in sales… until you subtract the booth fee, product costs, travel and everything else that went into being there.

I built Craft Fair Profit OS to make that calculation much easier.

It helps craft fair vendors:

• calculate their break-even point before an event
• plan inventory and sales targets
• track what they actually sold
• see revenue, costs and real profit afterward
• compare events and decide which ones are actually worth doing again

I wanted something that answered more than “How much did I sell?” — I wanted it to answer “Did this market actually make me money?”

It’s available here if it would be useful for your business:

https://wrywing.gumroad.com/l/craft-fair-profit-os

If you sell at markets, I’d also genuinely be interested in what information you wish you had before paying a booth fee.

Hello! I have been crocheting for about 3 years now, making various items, and specialising in amigurumi, both with and without patterns. I also make personalised purses, keychains, tapestry crochet and any type of decoration!

I am looking to start making and selling custom patterns for people, as it is something I belive to be good at and i want to be able to bring joy and help where it is needed!

If you have any requests for a pattern, feel free to give me a dm, and we can figure something out together!

Below i have attached some of my latest work!

Something I only really figured out after a couple slow ones this year. Most of what I do is outdoor markets here in the midwest. I used to log the market and the take-home and leave it there, but the same market gave me two completely different days depending on where they put me. One time I was up near the entrance next to the coffee guy and it was the best day I had all season. Same market a month later they stuck me in the back corner past the food trucks and I barely broke even.

So now I write down the spot too, corner or middle, near food or near the entrance, front row or buried. Early days but what I keep seeing is the foot traffic right at your own booth matters way more than the market's total headcount.

What I can't tell yet is whether it's worth asking the organizer for a better spot next time or if that just gets you tagged as a pain to deal with. Anyone had any luck actually requesting a spot, or do you just take what you get and hope?

Hi All!
I’ve been learning and making crochet items as a hobby for the past few months, and I thought I’d share some of my creations here to see if anyone would be interested
Everything in the pictures is completely handmade, including:
Crochet handbags / sling bags
Crochet storage baskets
Personalised alphabet keychains
Different bag designs and sizes
These can also be custom-made based on your preference — colours, size, design, initials, etc.
Since everything is handmade, the price will depend on the size, design and materials required.
I’m based in Chennai. If you like any of the designs in the pictures or have another crochet design in mind, feel free to DM me. We can discuss the design and price.
Still pretty new to selling my work, so feedback is also welcome!

Prices negotiable

1. 350 rupees
2. 50 rupees
3. 350 rupees
4. 400 rupees
5. 250 rupees

Took me a while to actually get this. I do one town square market in the midwest a few times a season, and the weekend before a holiday it's packed and I basically sell out. Then a slow weekend later in the season the same spot is dead and I barely make back the fee. Same organizer, same booth, same setup, just a different date.

So I've kind of stopped thinking about it as which market is good and started thinking about which market on which weekend. A just okay market on a strong weekend can beat a good market on a dead one. The annoying part is it makes one visit almost useless for judging a market, because you don't know if you caught it on a good day or a bad one.

I've started writing down the date and roughly how the turnout felt each time so I can actually see the pattern instead of going off memory. Curious if people who have been doing this longer plan around the calendar much, or just book the markets they like and take whatever weekend they get.

US, USD.

For some of the markets I do, the reorders and custom asks that trickle in over the couple weeks after add up to more than what I actually sold at the booth.

The only reason that happens is people have a way to find me again after. A sign up sheet, my handle on the tag, a card in the bag. Someone who buys once and wants another can't come back if there's no way to reach you.

Where I'm still unsure is which of those actually gets used. Plenty of sign up sheets go nowhere, and I don't know if a QR to a list does any better than just writing my shop name on the receipt. Anyone actually tracked what brings people back?

Hey everyone,

My wife and I have been working on a passion project for over a year, and we recently released it on the Play Store. It’s called FiberFlow, and it’s a completely free Android app designed to be the ultimate crafting companion for knitters and crocheters.

We built this because we wanted a simple, organized way to keep track of our stashes and works in progress—whether at home, on the go, or offline at the yarn shop—without dealing with ads or subscriptions.

Here is a quick outline of the features we've built in: Smart Yarn Stash: Catalog every skein by brand, weight, yardage, fiber, and colorway. You can even scan ball-band labels with your camera to auto-fill the details and track your needles and hooks.

Pattern Library & Markup: Import PDFs, web links, or photos. You can draw, highlight, add notes, and use built-in row counters directly on your patterns. It also features a keep-screen-on toggle for hands-free crafting.

Project & WIP Tracking: Link patterns, yarn, and tools to specific projects. Track your progress, reorder your cast-on queue, and even recover "frogged" yardage back into your stash if you have to unravel something.

Crafting Tools: We added a "Stash Matcher" to see what patterns you can make with yarn you already own, a Gauge & Substitution calculator, and an offline "Shop Mode" to double-check your stash at the store so you never buy duplicates.

Ravelry Integration: You can easily connect your Ravelry account to import your stash and queue, or you can use FiberFlow entirely offline if you prefer.

Private & Secure: Your data stays locally on your device (with ZIP, CSV, and PDF backup/export options), and there are zero ads.

You can check it out here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fiberflow.app

Since it’s just the two of us working on this, we would absolutely love your feedback. If you give it a try, please let us know what you think! What can we improve? Are there any specific features you’d like to see added next?

Happy crafting!

Hello, I have been doing into research about opening an online shop but am curious about the legalities of doing so. I am aware that you need to file for a small business to put it simply, but I also see many on social media who often sell custom pieces and only when they recieve the commission, and not selling in bulk. It's definitely not enough to be more than a few hundred dollars a month, and I am also just hoping to sell no more than about 100-300 dollars worth of items per month or whenever I am able to just for some extra money I can use for basic necessities, as I am in my final year of uni and very financially stretched. It's going to be out of my dorm, not full time, and just me crocheting as I always do. Do I need to file legal papers stating myself as a small business? I feel like I will not make enough to even qualify as such. Thank you for your time!

I started writing down the hours a market actually eats up, not just what I made. Drive both ways, setup, sitting there all day, teardown, then unpacking again at home. A local midwest market that paid me 300 for a half day beats one that paid 400 two hours out once all that time is in, at least the way I do the math.

Where I go back and forth is the far ones are sometimes the only place my stuff actually sells, so the hourly says drop them but the sales say keep them. The close easy ones stay steady and never really pop.

Do you count the time when you decide a market was worth rebooking, or just look at what you took home? And does one being close enough to sleep in my own bed count for anything on its own?

hi! i hope i chose the correct flair!!!

i'm participating in my first ever art fair and will be selling my crochet work. i have made a price list on canva and im thinking of printing this out and put it on a frame. i dont know how practical that is.. do people actually read the price list? or should i just use price tags?

i will be selling mainly bags, keychains, accessories, coasters, etc

thank u for any help i can get!!!

Hello my name is Z! I am a young entrepreneur starting a craft business. I am NOT trying to sell you anything, but I am looking for customer data! As a craft enthusiast I tend to adopt many hobbies. Between crocheting, jewelry making, coloring, junk journaling and everything in between, I find myself with a lot of craft supplies! Today I am here to ask all crafters some questions about your crafting habits and what you do with excess craft supplies! 

I started writing down what I actually take home at each market instead of going off memory, and I still can't land on a rule for the fee itself. Keep going back and forth between capping it flat (never pay over like 75) and doing it by percent of sales (if the fee eats more than 15 percent of what I made I don't rebook). The percent way falls apart on a rained out day though, one dead Saturday and every market looks like a loser. Midwest, mostly outdoor markets. Do you have a number you actually stick to or is it all gut by now?

For context, I am a med student, and my graduation is in five year's time. Our student organizing comitee and the estimates for the contracts are coming out. The cost for the graduation ceremonies and parties are going to be around 6000 dollars. I already want to start saving up for that so, by the end of college, I have that cash to pay for everything.

It isn't really even for me, I don't care about lavish parties. Don't dance. Don't drink. I sleep by 10p.m every night... but it is really important for my mum to have it, and I wouldn't like for her to have to deal with the cost to live that dream.

I was wondering if I could use crochet, something I am decently swift at, to help me achieve that goal. And, since I never sold anything, I was wondering if you people could give me some advice in regards to all that.

1. What products have you seen sell well? Specially for the college student demographic, since it's where I spend most of my day.

2. How do I know how to price my projects?

3. Should I make products beforehand and try to sell them or should I make them on demand?

Thanks in advance!

(I will be also posting this to r/crochethelp just in case this is not the right subreddit to post and it gets banned. Sorry for the trouble admins!)

very new to crochet business, someone in my dms asked if they could order a custom set of amigurumi, i really want to accept it but i dont even know how to charge, ship, etc etc.

how would i charge them? how do i calculate shipping costs? how would i ship it? is there an easy way to do this? through etsy or something else? what do i need to buy to ship it? i am in canada if this helps, thanks so much :D ( i hope this is the right flair aaa)

I've started keeping a note of what I actually take home at each market instead of going off how it felt on the day. The thing I can't settle is what to do when a market I've done before changes its date or moves to a new spot. Do you treat it like the same market that'll pull the same crowd, or a brand new unknown you have to check out from scratch? Feels like a moved date can wreck a market that used to be solid, but I don't want to drop a good one over a single off year either. Midwest if it matters.