How to Price Your Products at Craft Fairs: A Complete Guide for 2026
Pricing is the single biggest struggle craft fair vendors face. Price too high, and shoppers walk away. Price too low, and you're working for pennies — or worse, losing money. Getting it right means the difference between a profitable craft fair season and one that leaves you burned out and broke.
This guide walks you through a proven pricing framework that works for handmade goods, whether you sell candles, jewelry, pottery, soap, woodwork, or anything in between.
Why Pricing Matters More at Craft Fairs
Online, shoppers can comparison-shop with a click. At a craft fair, your booth IS the store. You have maybe 5–10 seconds of a customer's attention before they move on. Your prices need to:
- Feel fair at a glance
- Reflect the quality they can see and touch
- Leave you profitable after booth fees, materials, and your time
Let's build that pricing structure from the ground up.
Step 1: Calculate Your True Costs
Most vendors undercount their costs. Don't be one of them. Your cost per item includes:
Materials Cost
Every raw material that goes into the product. Wax, wicks, fragrance oil. Beads, wire, clasps. Clay, glaze, kiln electricity. Be precise — measure what you actually use per unit, not rough estimates.
Labor Cost
Your time has value. If you wouldn't do the work for free at a factory, don't do it for free in your workshop. Pick a fair hourly rate — $20–30/hour is reasonable for skilled handcraft — and track how long each item takes.
Example: A hand-poured soy candle takes 15 minutes of active labor. At $25/hour, that's $6.25 in labor per candle.
Overhead
These are the costs that exist whether you make one item or a thousand:
- Workshop rent or dedicated space costs
- Tools and equipment (amortized over their lifetime)
- Website and selling platform fees
- Insurance
- Packaging materials (bags, boxes, labels, tissue paper)
- Business licenses
Divide your monthly overhead by the number of items you produce to get a per-item overhead cost.
Craft Fair Costs
This is the one vendors forget most often. Every fair has costs:
- Booth fee — typically $50–300 for a day, $100–600+ for multi-day events
- Travel — gas, tolls, parking
- Lodging — if it's not a day trip
- Food — you're there all day
- Display equipment — tent, tables, tablecloths, stands, signage
- Helper costs — if you pay someone to help
Add these up for a typical fair and divide by the number of items you expect to sell. If your booth fee is $150 and you typically sell 50 items, that's $3 per item just for the booth.
The Full Cost Formula
Total Cost Per Item = Materials + Labor + Overhead + (Fair Costs ÷ Expected Sales)
Step 2: Apply a Markup
Your selling price isn't your cost — it's your cost plus profit. The standard markup for handmade goods is 2x to 3x your total cost.
| Markup | Best For |
|---|---|
| 2x cost | Competitive markets, lower-priced items, high volume |
| 2.5x cost | Most handmade goods — the sweet spot |
| 3x+ cost | Unique/artistic items, luxury positioning, low volume |
Example: If your candle costs $8 to make (materials + labor + overhead + fair costs), price it at $20–24.
If 2.5x feels too high, your costs might be too high — or you might be undervaluing your work. Both are solvable problems.
Step 3: Use Psychological Pricing
Small tweaks to your price tags can significantly impact sales:
Round Numbers Win at Craft Fairs
Unlike retail stores (where $19.99 works), craft fairs do better with round numbers. Customers pay cash, and making change slows you down. Price at $20, $25, $15 — not $19.99.
Use Price Anchoring
Place your highest-priced item at the front of your display. When a $65 item is the first thing someone sees, your $25 items feel like great deals.
Bundle for Higher Average Sales
- "3 for $30" (when individual price is $12)
- "Gift set: $45" (when items separately cost $55)
- "Buy 2, get 1 half off"
Bundles increase your average transaction size and help move inventory.
The $20 Threshold
Most craft fair shoppers bring $40–100 in cash. Items under $20 are impulse-buy territory. If your main product is $35+, have a few $10–15 items (stickers, samples, small accessories) to capture browsers who love your brand but aren't ready for the big purchase.
Step 4: Research Your Market
Before finalizing prices, do your homework:
Visit Other Craft Fairs
Go as a shopper. Note prices for items similar to yours. Take photos of displays and price tags (discreetly). Pay attention to what's selling vs. what's sitting.
Check Online Marketplaces
Search Etsy, Amazon Handmade, and Instagram shops for comparable products. Your craft fair prices can be slightly higher than online (customers pay for the in-person experience, no shipping), but shouldn't be dramatically different.
Know Your Fair's Market
A juried art festival in a wealthy suburb commands higher prices than a flea market. Adjust your product mix and pricing to match:
- High-end juried fairs: Premium pricing, focus on your best/most unique pieces
- Community festivals: Mid-range pricing, broader product mix
- Flea markets/swap meets: Value pricing, volume focus
Use TheCraftMap's fair listings to research events and find the right fit for your price point. Filter by juried fairs or browse by state to find events that match your brand.
Step 5: Create a Clear Price Display
How you display prices matters as much as the prices themselves:
Every Item Needs a Visible Price
Never make customers ask "how much is this?" Many won't — they'll just walk away. Use:
- Clear price tags or stickers
- A menu board or price list
- Signs for each product category
Group by Price Point
Organize your booth so similar-priced items are together. This makes browsing easy and helps customers self-select into their budget range.
Show Value, Not Just Price
A sign that says "Hand-poured soy candle — 50hr burn time — $24" sells better than just "$24." Help customers understand what makes your product worth the price.
Common Pricing Mistakes to Avoid
1. Pricing Based on What YOU Would Pay
You're not your customer. You know exactly what goes into your product and might think "I'd never pay $30 for a candle." But your customer isn't making candles at home — they're looking for a gift, a treat, or something beautiful. Price for your customer, not yourself.
2. Matching Big-Box Store Prices
You're not competing with Target. You're selling handmade, small-batch products with a story. Customers at craft fairs expect to pay more — and they're happy to when the quality and experience justify it.
3. Not Accounting for Your Time
"But the materials only cost $3!" Great — now add your 45 minutes of skilled labor, your overhead, your booth fee, and your profit margin. Suddenly $3 becomes $20, and that's the RIGHT price.
4. Lowering Prices When Sales Are Slow
If you're not selling, the problem usually isn't price — it's product-market fit, display, or the event itself. Dropping prices trains customers to expect discounts and erodes your brand.
5. Different Prices at Different Fairs
Customers talk. They follow you on Instagram. If you charge $25 at one fair and $20 at another, you'll lose trust. Keep prices consistent across events.
Quick Pricing Worksheet
Here's a simple template you can use for each product:
- Materials cost per item: $___
- Labor (hours × hourly rate): $___
- Overhead per item: $___
- Fair costs per item: $___
- Total cost: $___ (add lines 1-4)
- Selling price (cost × 2.5): $___
- Rounded price: $___
Run this for every product before your next fair. You might be surprised at what you find.
Track and Adjust
Pricing isn't set-and-forget. After each fair:
- Track what sold and what didn't — Use TheCraftMap's vendor dashboard to log your fair results
- Note customer reactions — Did people wince at prices? Or buy without hesitation?
- Calculate your actual hourly rate — Total profit ÷ total hours (including setup, travel, teardown)
- Adjust gradually — Raise prices $1-2 at a time, not $10 overnight
When to Raise Your Prices
You should probably raise your prices if:
- You're selling out before the fair ends
- Customers never hesitate or ask for discounts
- Your materials costs have gone up
- You've improved your product quality or packaging
- You're exhausted from making too many low-priced items
A 10-15% price increase rarely loses customers, especially when paired with a small improvement (better packaging, a new scent, a bonus sample).
The Bottom Line
Good pricing comes down to three things:
- Know your costs — every penny
- Value your time — you're a skilled craftsperson, not a hobby factory
- Price for profit — revenue minus ALL costs should leave you money you're happy with
Your craft fair season should be profitable AND enjoyable. If you're stressed about money at every event, your prices probably need to go up. For product-specific cost tracking, check out WickSuite for candle makers or Soaply for soap makers — both help you calculate exact costs per unit.
Planning your 2026 craft fair season? Browse upcoming craft fairs on TheCraftMap, or find events near you. Use our comparison tool to evaluate booth fees and find the best value events for your business.