If you decide that pursuing wholesale contracts is not right for your craft business, your focus will be on retail craft sales. When you sell your crafts at retail shows, you will be selling your work directly to the end customer. To determine if this strategy works for your own craft business, consider the following:

1. You’ll sell items at a higher price than you would if you sold on a wholesale basis, but you’ll sell smaller quantities to more customers.

2. You’ll need to bring plenty of inventory to craft shows, so you’ll need to make plenty of items ahead of time to sell at retail craft shows.

3. You’ll get direct feedback from and contact with your customers, which can be very satisfying and important to some craft artists.

4. You will make all of the money from the sale of the product (as opposed to approximately half when you sell wholesale), and since you’ll attend more shows, you’ll have more frequent influxes of cash.

5. Retail craft shows provide opportunities for interaction with customers and with other professional craft artists. This interaction can be important to some people who work alone and can provide important opportunities to network with colleagues and to understand your customer.

6. You will very likely attend more shows that you would if you were selling wholesale, some craft artists enjoy attending art and craft shows and see this in a positive light, while others do not enjoy the time spent away from the studio.

7. Time spent at shows will take you out of your studio. You’ll need to ensure you have enough time in your studio for production and balance this with number of shows you chose to attend.

Selling crafts retail or wholesale is not an either/or proposition. Some craft artists choose to incorporate both strategies into their craft business. If you have a clear understanding of your work preferences and your vision for your business and your lifestyle, you’ll be well prepared to make smart choices about the business strategies that will work best for you.