I've never done one, but a friend used to. Hers was a combination of crafts and home sales products like Longaberger, Pampered Chef, Home Interiors, Mary Kay, etc. She enjoyed it, but one thing she hated was that she was the only one to clean and her carpet needed a cleaning after it was over. She said if she did it again she was going to charge a booth fee.

She brought in a variety of people, but tried to make it such that nobody was competing with other people. For instance, if one person sells candles, another person does not.

Each vender was required to donate an item for a drawing. The drawing gave them a way to collect names and addresses of people who were not on the list.

Invitations were sent out on postcards to reduce the cost of advertising. She didn't advertise elsewhere, but you certainly could if you had facebook or some other outlet.

She would charge a booth fee of $15 and a plate of cookies or a jug of cider. I would help her to clean, and maybe some other friends.

I think it would be by invitation only. I'm glad you mentioned the rug, her family room has w to w, in a light color, so we'd want to do something to protect that. I can print postcards very cheaply as long as they are b&w.

Thanks for answering.

Kathy

I don't know how many people you think might come or type of products are being sold. If the show were big enough, I'd charge a bit more like a minimum of $25. A booth sale at any other event is higher than that. Your friend may incur some costs that you just don't think about like electricity or water. $25 isn't that much to someone who could potentially make that in one sale. Plus cleaning out your house and decorating to have a ton of people over is a major imposition.

My friend used every single room in her house including the bedrooms. There was only a little bit of seating available because it was a small house.

My friend did her show at the beginning of November so that people could order stuff and have it in time for Christmas.

I think the other people in the show could also supply a box or two of cookies or coffee. Someone did Pampered Chef at my friend's party. I think they supplied a majority of the snacks since they were showcasing their dips and food items.

I think my friend sent out at least 200 invitations.
They were black and white.

I am preparing for my 19th year of hosting a craft sale in my home. I try to keep it "homey" and do not set up booths, per se - I have a number of tables and displays that I bring in, and it looks lik Christmas decorating on steroids. All of my personal affects (and a lot of the furniture) get removed. I charge $35. I do not take a % of sales, but I know of some who do. My mail list is over 300, and last year we sold over $5,000 in a total of 5 days (two weekends) with careful planning you can make it work. (p.s. I have hardwood floors so that helps)

Yes there wouldn't really be booths. We talked about only one day, but reading the comments I'm wondering if possibly 2. That may be too much for her as she would be preparing to get her kids back on Sunday. I'm now tending toward $20 and a plate of cookies. The other woman had planned on Dec 3 which my friend can't do. Is Dec 10 getting too late, or would we take advantage of people's desparation to get something, lol.
Thanks for all the suggestions, keep them coming! I really want this to happen and be a success.
Kathy

I think the earlier the better. If you don't have a choice then do the December 10th date. Craft fairs are already starting this weekend. They are your competition. See what you can get started this year, make notes, and then plan an earlier date next year.

My friend's house didn't have booths either. They used tables, beds, dressers and anything else available.

She's thinking maybe the friday after Thanksgiving. People do come to the stores in the west side of Town for shopping, so out of town friends could swing by. Not sure how I feel about the date, but it is earlier.
Kathy

I went to one in NO CA several years ago, the items for sale were all coded so the people in charge of taking the money, just took the little tag off at the same time they noted it in a notebook, already filled out. She had several trees set up with things hanging on them. The one thing she did mention, was she purchased thru her agent some special insurance to protect the family from people getting hurt. Not sure how that works. She also collected sales tax, as CA is quite strict on that. She also had two people with the money at all times, along with other just being around visiting keeping an eye on the items. She just served cookies, and punch, nothing hot. And just the small 5 oz cups of punch. Another person made sure and kept the place clean--that is picking up punch cups etc.
Big 2 story house and great show.

I went to a house sale in Hollywood Hills in a lovely hillside home that was benefiting children with some illness. Several ladies planned it. The home was emptied of furniture except for tables, end tables,dining tables, coffee tables & several trees were decorated with salable items, they also had the patio set up with tables, card tables & I think a pool table. They had cookies & punch or coffee(before you worried about hot coffee getting spilled) but the eating had to take place in 1 area of the patio.(garage perhaps if cold there) this was 1 fine home, the upstairs was off limits. The downstairs bathroom was black marble, large pieces(12x18in with gold vein imported from Italy) floor, walls & ceiling, toilet & pedestal sink were black with beautiful gold faucets,very fancy, & glass shower with gold fixtures- everything spotless & nicest bathroom I've ever seen. It was a very comfortable experience as everyone there was very nice,helpful if you asked about something otherwise left you alone to look. Tables were in center of rooms so you could walk all the way around them since dining room tables were large,with plain colored table cloths on them but that way you could have taller items at center of tables & flat things that weren't breakable near edges of tables. I think a couple of card tables on patio were covered with a 4x8 piece of plywood to make large table out there, a round table was a large piece of plywood cut to 60 or 72 in or removed from a table like that & placed on something else, maybe a built-in bbq. I did that with 60 in round piece on a card table once but you need to have someone there so they don't tip it, think my hubby anchored it to the old card table some how but some don't. There were few pics on wall not for sale but too hard to move but otherwise personal stuff was moved out. We could tell a lot of work went into it. Lucky for them it was lovely day so no problems with rain or snow like you might have to deal with & heavy coats etc. I would keep the food & drink in 1 place tho, as we used to have "dime-a-dip" luncheons & I saw people take their foot & grind spilled coffee or food into the carpet instead of trying to get it up with a paper napkin or asking for a damp cloth to try to remove the spot. Hope it works out well for you! And do help her with cleanup. So many times at different functions whether PTA,school or church minute people are full they "have to go" so rest of us always got stuck cleaning up, most times it was OK as fun bunch but if 2-3 are stuck with ton of dishes to clean-no fun!! Jan

Thank you for all the advice. It looks like we will go with Dec 10. We need to find at least 9 other artisans, besides me. I am going to do the postcards with some materials I have lying around and we will give each artist 20, plus extras to our friends.

Our first task is to now find the other craftspeople and/or artists. It was suggested that all the artists' names should be on the card as some of them may have a following as well as the type of crafts. I feel very eager an excited. I hope we can pull it off.

Kathy

There's a gal close to me who does an open house several weekends. She used to hold it in her garage, but now has an old chicken coop remodeled into a shop, open only on these weekends. She is a wholesaler, so she has a large variety of items, as well as antiques and local crafts she buys wholesale (including from me). She also has another gal who does florals. She usually does a weekend or two in October and also several weekends (including Thanksgiving) in November. She also does a few weekends around Easter and Mother's Day. This year, another "shop" has joined her, two gals holding their sale in their garage which they transform into a "shop" for the sale weekends. I hope to join them in the near future, I was holding out for my own shop, but I think I will do the garage transformation. We are all within a few miles of each other and can help promote each other. I want to focus on a "recycled treasures" theme and invite other crafters who use recycled items. I definitely would not want all the traffic in my house. Their's is open to the public, with large signs up announcing the dates way ahead of time as well as fliers being handed out and ads in the newspaper. No individual mailings. I am seriously considering giving up my shows and trying this. T'would sure be easier than hauling stuff around every weekend. It is chilly here this time of year but our garage is insulated and I can invest in a heater. Just food for thought.

I hope it works out Luvs! It would be wonderful to have your own "store". The one fair I set up at it was so hard to lug everything and it barely fit in my car. I'm loving it that my friend is right down the street. It will probably be snowy but if not I may be able to just roll things down in my garden cart.
Kathy

I do "Yard Boutiques" the first week-end of the month, from april through Oct..(also selling at the local farmer markets and assorted craft shows) Any way, I put signs up just like I would for a rummage sale, saying yard boutique..there is nothing but hand crafted items..mostly my own..and run it just as I would a rummage sale..I do have it set up like I do at outdoor craft shows..easily make several hundred dollars, no travel and ease of set up :0) The month of Dec is a no sales month for me..Just for enjoying Christmas :0)

I loved reading this thread. I am doing an event in my home November 11 and 12. My family hosted events such as this when I was a child, but not now in 20 years, so we are really looking forward to it.

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but for those who have these home markets regularly, don’t your neighbors get annoyed with the parking and traffic impact? Aren’t there laws or ordinances against storefront retail sales from a private residence? it‘a one thing to have an occasional yard or garage sale, but I can understand neighbors getting annoyed if I had a craft sale every weekend or once a month.