Is a craft fair stall worth it? A 5-minute break-even check

A stall fee looks small until you add everything else. Before you book, work out how many sales you need just to cover the day.

Step 1: Add up the cost of the day

Stall fee

Travel and parking

Bags, tissue and other packaging you will hand out

Your hours: setting up, selling and packing down, at the hourly rate you want to earn

Step 2: Find the profit on an average sale

Take a typical sale and subtract what it cost you: materials, packaging and any card-reader fee. What is left is your profit per sale.

Step 3: Divide

Sales needed to break even = cost of the day ÷ profit per sale

A worked example (made-up numbers)

Stall fee 60, travel 15, bags 10

8 hours at 12 an hour = 96

Cost of the day: 60 + 15 + 10 + 96 = 181

Average sale 20, with a profit of 9 on each

181 ÷ 9 = 20.1, so you need 21 sales before the day makes any money

If you have never sold 21 items at a fair, the stall is a gamble. Try a cheaper fair, share a stall, or raise the profit per sale first.

Two quick ways to improve the numbers

1. Raise the average sale. A small bundle or a "2 for" offer adds profit without needing more customers.

2. Cut the fixed costs. Share a stall and split the fee, or skip fairs that are far from home.

Free tools

[Craft fair break-even calculator](https://khairzada-craft-tools.pages.dev/craft-fair-break-even-calculator.html)

[Craft fair stock calculator](https://khairzada-craft-tools.pages.dev/craft-fair-stock-calculator.html): how many of each item to bring

[Craft fair packing checklist (free PDF)](https://khairzada-craft-tools.pages.dev/free/Craft_Fair_Packing_Checklist.pdf)

The full planner

The [Craft Fair Planner](https://www.getly.store/product/craft-fair-planner-break-even-stock-plan-and-packing-list) puts all of this on paper: a go / no-go page, a stock plan, a timeline, a sales log and a review page for after the fair.

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