festival - how much product?

[JI]

A large church festival - outdoors with rides etc has now accepted vendors. This is their main revenue generator and it runs for 2 days in Oct on weekend. For first time they will have 25 vendors with fall crafts etc. I am only candle person. They tell me fest attracts 50 thousand for weekend. Its been goi g on for years. I think 50k sounds excessive and overly optimistic. I have only done small fests like 500-750. Am hoping to pick up wholesale accounts. The number one question is how much product should I bring? Cost to me is $50 for two days which I didn't think was bad. One case holds 12 candles. How many cases? Thanks.

[Alpha1477]

$50 is great. Do you have to provide a tent? Tables? Electric (if you need it?)?

I would bring LOTS of business cards and 20 cases. I would have more at home if you need it for the second day... but that's just me.

[jackbenimble]

I've read that 1-2% of attendees will actually buy your product. So roughly 50-100 people could purchase candles from your booth. I would take plenty. Not only can you keep your booth looking full but you just never know if folks will be buying or not. I am wary of festivals with rides because most of the attendees are parents with kids and by the time they get to you they've spent their money on tickets for rides. This is just my experience. I'm wasn't trying to be a downer. I hope you sell lots. Good luck!!

[JI]

Yes. Apparently parishioners have been wanting vendors for a while...worst case i could still pour like mad sat night. Maybe bring 10 cases and have a few at home. I have tent, nice vinyl sign, display stuff tables etc. Like I said I've only done the small ones in fall. Itncould either be great or so so but for $50 for 2 days...why not? I like that 1-2% formula. Hopefully they have us in a central location and not tucked away behind some rides hidden from view.

[SliverOfWax]

It's impossible to know. It would be impossible for someone who has done the show for 10 years to know.

Church festivals were very good for me back when I was doing shows. However, shows with entertainment and events, not so much, sorry to say.

The booth fee is reasonable. One thing for sure: you won't sell a single thing if you aren't there. Every show, imo, is worth trying, just for the visibility, if nothing else. Take as much product as you can carry. If it's not there, it won't sell. It's better to have too much than miss sales because you have nothing to sell.

[Guest OldGlory]

Let's see what pearls of wisdom I can share here...

$50 is awesome for a 2 day show.

I used to do shows but tired quickly of being over prepared with no specific plan to sell off the excess. How much to take is always in question. If you have a sure way to sell off most of your excess take lots!

I pared it down to 10-12 fragrances, 2 sizes for candles. I made 10 candles per fragrance, 8 small size (generally an 8 oz jar type size) and 2 large (generally a 16 oz jar size). One year I made a few pillars in 3 different fragrances - sold none. One year I made 26 oz apothecary candles in 3 layers - sold none.

My experience was that people at shows did not want to place orders but I was always prepared just in case.

If you are a really good salesperson you can sell to about 1 out of 10 people who stop at your booth.

Even if you don't sell much, the experience will teach you a lot about your business.