Craft Fair Inventory Management: How Much Product to Bring and How to Track Sales

One of the biggest challenges craft fair vendors face isn't making products or designing displays — it's figuring out how much inventory to bring. Bring too little, and you leave money on the table. Bring too much, and you're hauling unsold stock home (and questioning your life choices on the drive back).

Good inventory management separates vendors who survive craft fair season from those who thrive. Here's everything you need to know.

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How Much Inventory Should You Bring to a Craft Fair?

There's no magic formula that works for every vendor, but there are proven guidelines based on your sales goals and event size.

The 3x Rule

Most experienced vendors follow the 3x rule: bring three times your sales goal in inventory value.

If you want to sell $1,000 at a show, bring $3,000 worth of product (at retail prices). This accounts for:

• Customer preferences — Not everyone wants the same thing
• Display fullness — A well-stocked booth sells better than a sparse one
• Variety coverage — You need enough sizes, colors, and styles to appeal to different tastes

Adjust for Event Type

Event Type	Inventory Multiplier	Why
First-time event	3x-4x	You don't know what to expect
Proven, high-traffic fair	2.5x-3x	You have historical data
Small/local market	2x	Lower foot traffic
Multi-day festival	4x+	More selling hours
Holiday/Christmas fair	3x-4x	Peak spending season

The SKU Pyramid

Think of your inventory like a pyramid:

1. Top (10-15% of items): Your hero products — bestsellers that reliably move. Bring deep stock of these.
2. Middle (30-40%): Strong performers — proven sellers with moderate depth.
3. Base (45-60%): Variety items — one-offs, new designs, experiments. Bring 1-3 of each.

This structure ensures you never run out of your money-makers while still offering the variety that draws customers in.

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Setting Up a Simple Inventory Tracking System

You don't need expensive software to track inventory. Start simple and upgrade as you grow.

Method 1: The Tally Sheet

Create a one-page sheet for each event:

Event: Spring Arts Festival — March 15, 2026
Booth Fee: $150

Product          | Brought | Sold | Left | Revenue
-----------------|---------|------|------|--------
Large Candles    |    30   |  18  |  12  | $450
Small Candles    |    50   |  32  |  18  | $480
Wax Melts (3pk)  |    40   |  25  |  15  | $250
Gift Sets        |    15   |   8  |   7  | $320
                 |         |      |      |
TOTALS           |   135   |  83  |  52  | $1,500

Count everything before you load the car and after you get home. The difference is what you sold (plus any freebies or damaged stock).

Method 2: Spreadsheet Tracker

Set up a Google Sheet or Excel file with tabs for each event. Track:

• Product name and SKU
• Quantity brought
• Quantity sold
• Sale price
• Revenue per item
• Cost of goods (COGS)
• Profit per item

Over multiple events, this data becomes gold. You'll see exactly which products perform and which ones sit.

Method 3: POS System Tracking

If you use Square, Shopify POS, or another point-of-sale system, your sales tracking is automatic. Benefits:

• Real-time inventory counts
• Sales reports by product, time of day, and payment method
• Historical comparison across events
• Tax reporting made easy

The investment in a POS system pays for itself within a few events through better data and faster checkouts.

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What to Track After Every Event

Sales numbers alone don't tell the full story. After each craft fair, record:

1. Sell-Through Rate

Sell-through rate = (Items Sold ÷ Items Brought) × 100

• Below 40%: You brought too much, or this event wasn't a good fit
• 40-60%: Healthy range for most events
• 60-80%: Great performance — consider bringing more next time
• Above 80%: You probably could have sold more — increase stock

2. Revenue Per Hour

Divide total revenue by hours worked (including setup and teardown). This tells you if the event is worth your time compared to alternatives like selling on Etsy or other sales channels.

3. Best and Worst Sellers

Note your top 3 and bottom 3 products at every event. After 5-10 shows, patterns emerge that should drive your production decisions.

4. Customer Feedback

What did people ask for that you didn't have? What got the most compliments but didn't sell? (Price point issue?) What did people pick up, look at, and put down? (Display or packaging issue?)

5. Event Quality Notes

Rate each event on:

• Foot traffic (1-5)
• Customer quality/buying intent (1-5)
• Organization/logistics (1-5)
• Would you do it again? (Yes/No/Maybe)

These notes are invaluable when choosing which craft fairs to apply to next season.

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How to Avoid the Two Biggest Inventory Mistakes

Mistake 1: Overproduction

Signs you're overproducing:

• Your garage/spare room is full of unsold stock
• You're bringing the same items to show after show
• Your sell-through rate is consistently below 40%
• You're discounting heavily just to move inventory

Fix it:

• Use your sell-through data to right-size production
• Create a "make to order" option for slow-moving items
• Focus production on your top 5-10 bestsellers
• Test new products with small batches (3-5 units) before scaling

Mistake 2: Underselling Your Winners

Signs you're leaving money on the table:

• Your bestseller sells out by noon
• Customers ask for items you've already sold
• You have a 80%+ sell-through on your top products

Fix it:

• Double or triple stock on proven bestsellers
• Create variations (sizes, colors, scents) of what sells
• Batch-produce your winners during off-season
• Consider raising prices on items that fly off the table

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Seasonal Inventory Planning

Smart vendors plan their inventory calendar around craft fair season patterns:

January-February: Production Season

• Review last year's sales data
• Identify bestsellers to scale up
• Plan new product launches for spring
• Build up core inventory

March-May: Spring Season Ramp-Up

• Start with conservative inventory for early spring shows
• Use first 2-3 events to test new products
• Adjust production based on early results

June-August: Summer Steady State

• Maintain consistent stock levels
• Introduce seasonal/summer items
• Mid-year inventory audit: what's working, what's not?

September-November: Holiday Push

• Scale production to 150-200% of normal levels
• Focus on gift-ready items and bundles
• Stock up on packaging and supplies
• Build holiday-specific inventory (ornaments, gifts, stocking stuffers)

December: Final Push and Review

• Holiday markets and last-minute fairs
• End-of-year clearance for slow movers
• Full inventory count and year-end analysis
• Plan next year based on this year's data

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Tools That Help

Free Options

• Google Sheets — Custom templates, accessible anywhere
• TheCraftMap — Track your events, plan your schedule, and compare fairs to optimize which shows you attend
• Square Dashboard — If you use Square POS, inventory tracking is built in

Paid Options

• Craftybase (~$19/mo) — Built specifically for handmade sellers, tracks materials to finished goods
• Shopify POS — If you have a Shopify store, the POS syncs online and offline inventory
• inFlow — Small business inventory management with craft-friendly features

DIY Spreadsheet Template

At minimum, your tracking spreadsheet needs these tabs:

1. Product Master List — Every SKU with cost, price, and current stock
2. Event Log — Every fair with items brought, sold, and revenue
3. Production Log — What you made and when
4. Expense Tracker — Booth fees, supplies, gas, food (important for taxes)
5. Analysis — Formulas for sell-through rate, revenue per event, ROI

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Building Your Inventory Intuition

After 10-15 events with good tracking, you'll develop an intuition for:

• Exactly how much to bring for different event sizes
• Which new products are likely to hit
• When to increase prices
• Which events are worth repeating

This intuition isn't magic — it's data accumulated over time. The vendors who track everything outperform those who guess by 30-50% in revenue.

Start tracking today. Even if it's just a simple tally sheet in a notebook. Future you will thank present you when you're making confident inventory decisions instead of stressful guesses.

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Ready to Find Your Next Craft Fair?

Browse thousands of craft fairs on TheCraftMap. Filter by state, date, booth fees, and more to find the perfect events for your handmade business. Start exploring →

You can also check out our guides on how much money you can make at craft fairs, pricing your handmade products, and choosing the right craft fair for your business.