Why Would Someone Decide to Become a Fair Vendor?

Ask any fair vendor why they decided to do that job and they will all give you different answers. Some do it full-time, some part-time only. Some are doing it only for the money, and some for the challenge and the experience of meeting people. If you decide to be a fair vendor, think very carefully about your reasons for doing so.

The best way to start out, and the way most people do it, is on a part-time basis in the summer months. This is because, obviously, there are far more fairs and festivals in the summer months than in winter. Most vendors start out selling something that they or their friends have made, or selling items that they know are popular at the time.

And, let's face it: most people at this stage are doing it to make a little extra money, whether for a special holiday, for the kids' school outings or for a special celebration. So they take their great idea and go along to all the local fairs every weekend during the summer. And if you have the right product, you can make good money.

Being a fair vendor is hard work, there is no doubt about it. At every fair you have to set up your stall, decorate it and display the goods – sometimes in the very early hours of the morning. Then, at the end of the day, you have to take it all down, and this could be late in the evening.

In between, you are on your feet a lot, chatting to customers, making small talk where necessary, and smiling all the time. There is usually a great camaraderie between the stallholders at these events, and you get to meet the same people over and over again and build relationships with them. It is the same with customers, as you see the same visitors at a lot of different fairs.

You can't be too shy when you are a vendor, but that doesn't mean that shy people can't do it. There are many people who are normally very shy, but once they get behind their stall selling their own goods, especially handmade ones, the very process of trying to make some money brings them out of their shells.

Even though being a fair vendor can be a tough life, it can also be very addictive. That is why when people discover how easy it can be to make money they start doing fairs or street markets on a more regular, full-time basis.

These are the people who prefer to be their own bosses and work on their own terms. It is similar to owning your own shop, without all the monthly overheads that this entails. You still have costs, of course, including fees for festivals and fairs, licenses, etc., but these costs are nowhere near as much as in an established shop.

You also get to travel a lot and work outdoors sometimes, with a regular change of scenery. Your stock turnaround is much quicker than in a shop and also much easier to control, as you are regularly handling it when setting up each time.