Portable Canopies Buying Guide

This comprehensive information about portable canopies will help you compare craft tents and choose the best option for your booth.

There is a lot to consider when comparing craft tents.

There is not one single best canopy that I would recommend to everyone, because different tents meet different needs.

There are several reliable models that are popular and used frequently at shows, and the information here will help you choose the brand and model of tent that is best for your needs and budget.

Popular Brands

The tents below are brands that are commonly used by professional craft artists at shows.

Caravan Canopy	EZ UP Tents	Quik Shade Instant Canopy

EZ Up Tent Review
The EZ Up tent is one of the most popular canopy tents used at craft shows. Here are some things to consider when you're buying an EZ Up shelter.

Caravan Canopy Review
The Caravan Canopy is the brand of tent that I own, and it has served me well through many shows. Here are a few things to consider if you're thinking about buying a Caravan Canopy.

Quik Shade Instant Canopy
The Quik Shade Instant Canopy is available in several styles. The commercial style is suitable for use at shows. It is a white 10 x 10 canopy with straight, not splayed, legs. The commercial Quik Shade Canopy can be put up alone and has a vented apex which helps it to stand up to winds.

King Canopy
The King Canopy tent is priced higher than the Ez Up tent, but lower than the Trimline Canopy. The King Canopy is a strong commercial canopy that is well liked by many professional craft artists.

Trimline Canopy
The Trimline Canopy, available from flourish.com, is a pricier canopy. Prices for this portable canopy start at approximately $850; however, this canopy is well loved by many professional craft artists, particularly those who have a well established business and do many outdoor shows each year and, therefore, require a canopy that stands up to a lot of use.

Light Dome Tent
Light Dome tents are also pricier tents. The prices start at just over $800 for the frame, canopy and 4 side walls. Craft artists who use the Light Dome tent say this is a sturdy tent and a good investment in your business. Like the Trimline Canopy, the Light Dome canopy is typically used by established craft artists who do several outdoor shows each year.

White Umbrella
If you are selling at an outdoor booth that has an irregular shape, you may want to consider using a white umbrella. Here are several things to consider and look for when buying a white market umbrella for your booth.

5x10 Portable Canopies
A 5x10 canopy is another alternative for shade if you have an outdoor irregular booth. They are not easy to find, but they do exist. Here's one company that offers white 5x10 outdoor canopies.

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Display Booth Tips

Learn how to create a winning craft show display booth with these tips...

Display Booth Tips Plenty of tips for designing your displays	Booth Designs 4 ways to set up your booth	Display Booth Design Make a great impression with your display booth

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Ensure Your Craft Tent Meets Your Needs

Cost

Portable canopies can be purchased at every price range from about $50 to $1000 and more. Of course, the quality of the tent will vary with the price of the tent. The type of tent that will best serve your needs depends on several factors:

1. Will you be participating in several outdoor shows on a regular basis?

   If you will be participating in many outdoor shows, it makes sense to invest a little more in your portable canopy.

   If you are doing a couple of outdoor shows, but you are not completely certain whether you will commit to selling at outdoor craft shows for the long term, then you may want to look at a more inexpensive tent until you determine whether selling at outdoor shows is the best direction for your business.

2. Based on the location of the shows you will participate in, will you likely encounter weather issues (particularly wind and rain)?

   Almost all craft artists who sell at outdoor shows face weather issues at some point. However, some locations are more prone to inclement weather than others.

   If you will be attending shows in an area that is known for rainy, windy or other weather related issues, you may want to put extra thought into considering how well your tent will stand up to the elements.

3. How much can you afford to invest in a portable canopy?

   Portable canopies fall into a huge range of prices. They span price points from being quite easily affordable for many people to being a major investment in your business.

   The primary features you need to look for in a canopy (in my opinion) are a white, 10 x 10 canopy with straight, not splayed legs, and those basic features can be found whether you are able to spend $100 or $1000 on your portable canopy.

Don't feel you have to buy a top of the line canopy when you are first starting to sell at craft shows, particularly if doing so would break your budget. Look at starting with a mid-level tent, one that is professional looking, meets your needs, but still fits within your budget.

Once your business becomes more established, if you feel you need a more high end tent, start to look around for deals on those tents. You will have more contacts once you do several shows, and one of those contacts may be able to help you find a high end tent for a good price.

General Considerations With Display Tents

1. Consider whether you will be setting up your outdoor shade canopy alone most of time.

Some tents are known for being quite easy to set up alone; others require a little more effort to set up. Those who do craft shows alone need to look for a tent that can be easily set up by one person.

That being said, any time my husband or I have seen someone struggling to put up a craft tent on their own, we have always helped out. At any of the shows I have attended, although people have been focused on their own booths, they were always friendly, and there always seemed to be a helping hand available if someone really needed one.

2. Practice setting up your new tent in your backyard before you go to a show.

If you are going to be at the show alone, practice setting up the tent alone; if you will have a helper, practice with your helper.

Popular tents like the EZ UP Tent and the Caravan Canopy are generally simple to put up, but if your tent is new, it helps to practice setting it up a couple of times before your first show. That way you will know exactly how to put up your tent, and you will avoid any surprises on the day of your first show with your new tent.

3. Consider the portability of your portable canopy.

Before you decide to buy a specific brand of canopy, find out the dimensions of the tent when it is folded, and ensure it will fit in your vehicle. Also, consider the weight of your craft tent; there is a balance to be found between durability (heavier tents) and portability (lighter tents).

4. Renting a craft tent is often surprisingly expensive.

Some people consider renting a 10 x 10 canopy instead of buying one. However, the cost of renting a 10 x 10 white canopy is often close to the cost of buying your own canopy. Do check your local party planning or rental center if you're not certain that you want to commit to buying a tent, but don't be surprised if the cost to rent a craft tent is quite high compared with the cost to buy one.

5. When to Buy Craft Tents

Determine when to buy a tent. A good canopy can represent a fairly large business expense. These tips on when to buy a craft tent will help you make that decision.

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Comparing Different Brands of Portable Canopies

As you compare different brands of 10 x 10 canopies, consider the following features to determine how each tent meets your needs:

Side Walls

• Side walls are extremely useful for keeping out rain and sun at outdoor shows.

Caravan Canopy Sidewall Kit
• They are also useful for blocking any unattractive views, near your booth and creating a focused space to display your items.
• Sidewalls are useful to have when photographing your booth for submissions to juried art shows. The side walls help to focus attention on your booth and away from any outside distractions.
• Not all portable canopies come with side walls. Read the description carefully to determine whether your tent comes with side walls or if you will have to buy them separately.
• Some tents, and some sets of side walls come with three side walls, and others come with four side walls.

  Three side walls are all you need during a craft show. You will be able to close off the back and sides of your tent, leaving the front open for customers to enter.

  Four side walls are very useful if you intend to do multi-day outdoor shows. If you have four side walls you will be able to completely close up your tent to leave it up overnight.


Swiss Gear Smart Shade
• It is not necessary to have your side walls up for the entire day. Some people attach their side walls at the top of the tent. They then roll up the walls, leaving the tent sides open, but they have the option to simply roll down a side wall or two throughout the day as the sun moves through the sky and in the booth.
• Side walls come in zippered and velcro styles, and some side walls attach with both zipper and velcro. Zippered side walls fit more snugly to the tent, but velcro side walls can be easier to put up.
• Although side walls are extremely useful, they can also cause problems in even very light wind. Side walls catch the wind and can make your tent more apt to blow away in the wind if you do not properly weight your tent, so do be sure to choose some type of tents weights to use with your portable canopy.

White Canopy

• A white canopy tent normally works best for shows. Some juried art shows specify that your canopy must be white. Colored canopies can make your booth area hot and dark and can affect the perceived color of your items.

Size, Height and Leg Style

• A 10 x 10 canopy is best for most people because the majority of booth spaces are 10x10.
• Outdoor canopy tents with splayed legs are not ideal for use at shows. These tents do not always fit well inside a standard 10 x 10 space. They are typically 10 feet square at the base and 8 feet square at the top, which means you do not get to make full use of your allotted booth space.

  Also, you can't usually fully enclose your tent with side walls if you use a tent with splayed legs, so you will miss out on all of the benefits of being able to use side walls with your tent if you choose a model that has splayed legs.

Canopy Material

• There is a chance you may need to prove that your canopy is fire retardant, so look for that in your outdoor canopy. Some outdoor tents have a tag stating that they are fire retardant right on the canopy, but do keep any documentation that comes with your canopy in case you are asked for proof that your canopy is fire retardant.

An Easy Way to Compare Tents

I have created a convenient, downloadable Craft Tent Comparison Chart to help you keep all of this information straight when you are researching portable canopies. You can learn more and download the chart from the following page: Canvas Canopy

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Protection from Rain and Wind

Protecting Your Portable Canopy from Rain

Your tent will need to protect you, your customers and your inventory from the rain at outdoor shows. Some portable canopies do better than others when it comes to keeping out the rain. Here are a few tricks to help keep the inside of your craft booth dry:

• Some people scotchgard their tents once a year to help make them more water resistant.

  If you do want to scotchgard your tent, be sure to spray a small, inconspicuous test area first to ensure there are no problems. Read any care information that came with your tent to ensure scotchgarding is okay, and follow the instructions on the product carefully.

  If you have a colored canopy, keep in mind that scotchgarding can slightly alter the color of the fabric. Also, be certain that the canopy fabric is completely dry before you pack it away.

• Often leaks are a direct result of rain water pooling on your canopy, particularly in the corners where the fabric tends to be a bit loose in some brands of outdoor canopies.
  Hula hoops keep the tent dry on a
  rainy day at a craft show
  

  You can prevent water from pooling in those areas by eliminating the slack in the canopy.

  If you place a hula hoop or a bent pool noodle between the frame and the canopy fabric at each corner of your portable canopy, it will take up any slack in the canopy and reduce or eliminate the problems caused by water pooling on the canopy. If you use a pool noodle, bend it in a U shape with the bottom of the U pointing toward the center of the canopy and secure each end between the frame (on each side of the corner) and the canopy fabric.

• On days that will definitely be rainy, some craft artists put a sheet of clear plastic between the frame of the tent and the fabric canopy in order to prevent leaks. I have not tried this strategy myself, so I can't personally vouch for how well it works, but some people say it works quite well on rainy days.
• You may want to bring a couple of clear shower curtains to hang from the front of your booth on really rainy days. Tie or clip the curtains back (just like you would tie back regular curtains on a window) on each side of your tent to create an opening for customers to enter your booth.

Tent Weights - Protect Your Canopy from Wind

Gravity Weight Tubes	Fillable Weighted Feet	E-Z Up Weight Bags

It is absolutely necessary to secure your canopy with weights so it does not blow away. Although most portable canopies come with stakes for anchoring the canopy to the ground, there will be many situations when you will not be able to stake your canopy to the ground, either because you are set up on cement, or because you are not allowed to use stakes.

People have come up with plenty of ingenious ways to create tent weights. You can buy ready made tent weights for about $40 to $60, or you can make your own weights with PVC pipes filled with concrete and a ring bolt secured in the top so you can suspend the weight from the top of each leg.

Whatever type of tent weights you choose, keep in mind that most people recommend you have at least 40 pounds of weight on each corner of your tent, and some craft show organizers require you to have your tent weighted in this way.

If you have difficulty lifting heavy weights, consider dividing your weights into two 20 pound weights for each leg rather than using a single 40 pound weight on each leg. The lighter weights will be easier to manage.

Also, ensure that your weights are secured carefully so they do not create their own safety hazard. Make sure they cannot swing freely if they are suspended, and ensure that do not create a trip hazard if you have weighted your tent from the base of the tent legs.

Remember that side walls can cause your tent to be more prone to blowing around in the wind, so you will need to be extra careful about wind when you have your side walls up.

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Where to Buy Portable Canopies

There are several retailers that sell portable canopies. Here are a few popular places:

Amazon.com carries Ez Up Tents, Caravan Canopies, King Canopy, Quik Shade Instant Canopies, and other brands of white canopies suitable for use at shows.

Sam's Club and Costco also carry popular models of white 10 x 10 portable canopies at competitive prices.

Several sellers on eBay sell portable canopies that are appropriate for use in shows.

If you buy your craft show canopy online, do be sure to read the product descriptions carefully to ensure you are buying a tent that will meet your needs, and be aware of any shipping fees and import duty you may need to pay.

When you buy a new tent, be sure to keep the receipt.

Some stores have a very generous return policy, and will allow you to return, or at least exchange your canopy for a new one if it breaks, even if it has been used several times. Do learn about the store's return policy before you decide where to buy your portable canopy.

Caravan Canopy	EZ UP Tents	Quik Shade Instant Canopy

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