Craft Home Parties are Best

by Emily
(Bakersfield, CA)

I have participated in at craft home parties as well as craft shows and fine art shows. I have found that the at home parties work the best. Here are some of my reasons for why at home parties work better than shows:

1. People who come to a home party know that they are coming to buy something most of the time. So the people coming come prepared to buy because they know the nature of the party. People who go to a show don’t often go to buy as much as to look. Sometimes they will buy from one or two people.

2. The people invited to a home party know the hostess or the person selling the product personally or have been invited by someone who knows that person. Therefore there is a greater desire to buy because you want to support a friend.

3. Home parties are much easier to put on than a show. At a show you have to bring all sorts of displays and tents to set up. You have to make sure things don’t fly away if it’s windy… Home shows don’t have those set up challenges.

4. Home parties are more cost effective. If you enter a show you have to pay an entry fee and sometimes a percentage of whatever you sell. At times, when I have done shows I have lost more money than I earned.

I am a fan of home parties. The hardest thing about them however is the fact that you need to be a good networker. You need to know a lot of people. Shows are good because they get your work out there for anybody and there is a bigger group of people that can see them. I would recommend shows if you don’t know very many people. If you have a large social base, throw home parties and see what happens! Good luck!