TagLeaf › Guides › Etsy sellers at in-person markets

Etsy seller's guide to in-person markets: pricing signs, tags, and a table that sells

Selling on Etsy teaches you photography, keywords and shipping. It teaches you almost nothing about a Saturday market, where the customer is standing in front of the product, there is no listing page to read, and you have about four seconds before they move to the next tent. This guide covers the parts that change when you go in person: how to price, what to print, how to take payment without breaking your Etsy inventory, and how to lay out a table so it does the selling for you.

1. Pricing for in-person: same item price, different maths

The first decision is whether market prices should match your Etsy prices. Match the item price. Customers who know your shop will notice a difference either way, and explaining it at a table is a conversation you do not want. What changes is everything around the price:

• No shipping. The customer walks away with it. Your Etsy buyer paid item plus shipping; your market buyer pays item only and still feels they got a deal.
• No Etsy fees on the sale. A market sale at the same price nets you more than the same sale online, minus your card processing fee if they pay by card. Etsy does not charge a transaction fee on items sold in person through its Square integration, though a synced listing that sells still incurs the standard $0.20 auto-renewal listing fee (Etsy Help: How to use Square in your Etsy shop).
• The booth fee. Divide it by the number of items you realistically expect to sell, and make sure your margin per item covers that share. If a $120 table needs 40 sales to break even and you sold 15 last time, the answer is a higher-margin product mix, not a lower price.
• Whole dollars. $12, not $11.95. Cash change is faster, the tag is easier to read, and nobody at a market is fooled by .95.

If you have never worked out your actual cost per item, do that before the fair, not at the table. The formula and a worked example are in how to price handmade items for markets.

Bundles are your in-person advantage

Etsy makes multi-buy pricing awkward; a market table makes it natural. "Any 3 soaps for $15" lifts the average sale, clears inventory, and gives an undecided customer a reason to pick up a second item. Put the bundle on one sign next to the group, and keep the individual price on each tag. Never print two prices on the same tag; a tag that makes the customer do arithmetic is a tag that gets put down.

2. Tags: every item, one price, readable from arm's length

The single most common mistake at a first market is unpriced items. Most shoppers will not ask. A tag answers the question before it becomes a barrier.

Print your shop name small on every tag. On Etsy, the buyer already knows where they bought it. At a market, the tag is the only thing that goes home with the item, and it is how the gift recipient finds you online three weeks later. Full sizing and paper details are in craft fair price tags: sizes and what to print.

3. Signs: the three every table needs

Tags answer "how much is this one?" Signs answer everything else. You need three, and they should be large enough to read from the aisle.

The shop sign

Your shop name, and a one-line description of what you make. "Hand-poured soy candles, small batch, Ohio." Etsy buyers find you by search; market shoppers find you by reading this from six feet away. If your Etsy shop name is hard to spell, add the URL or a QR code that goes straight to your shop. Print the QR code at least 2 inches square and test it with your own phone.

The deal sign

One offer, big. Bundle pricing, a market-only discount, or "free gift wrap." One sign, one offer. If you have three offers you have none.

The payment sign

"Cash · Card · Tap to pay" plus whichever apps you accept. If you charge sales tax on top of tag prices, this is the sign that says so: "Prices shown plus sales tax." Most sellers find it simpler to build tax into whole-dollar prices and say "tax included"; either is fine, but decide before you print.

4. Taking payment without breaking your inventory

The specific Etsy problem at a market is selling the last cedar candle at your table and then having it sell again online that evening. Two ways to prevent it:

1. Sync Etsy to Square. Etsy's Square integration, available to sellers in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, lets you push your Etsy listings to a Square location and sell them in person with a Square reader. When a synced item sells at the table, the quantity updates on Etsy. Note the sync runs one way: changes you make in Square do not flow back to Etsy, so keep Etsy as the source of truth (Etsy Help).
2. Split stock manually. If you would rather not sync, reduce the Etsy quantity of anything you are bringing to the market before you leave, and add back whatever comes home. Less elegant, but it works for a small table.

Whichever you choose, bring a way to take cards. Cash-only tables lose sales to people who stopped carrying cash years ago, and a contactless reader costs less than one booth fee.

5. Sales tax and permits: the part Etsy was doing for you

On Etsy, you probably never think about sales tax. In US states with marketplace facilitator laws, Etsy calculates, collects and remits it on Etsy orders. A sale at your table is not an Etsy order, so none of that applies. In most states you are now the retailer: you need to be registered (a seller's permit or sales tax license), collect tax on taxable sales, and file. Many states offer a temporary or event permit for occasional sellers, and many event organisers require proof of it in your vendor pack. Rules and rates vary by state and even by city, so check your state's department of revenue before your first market rather than after. This page is general information, not tax advice.

6. A table layout that sells

Your Etsy shop has a hero image, a grid, and listing pages. A six-foot table has height, colour and a walking customer. Borrow the same principles.

• Height at the back, small at the front. Crates, risers or a stacked shelf at the back put your best pieces at eye level. Baskets of small, cheap items go at the front edge where hands naturally land.
• One hero. The product you would put in your shop banner goes at the centre back, alone, with room around it. Everything else supports it.
• Group by product, not by colour. All the candles together with the candle sign, all the soaps together with the soap bundle sign. A customer who wants a candle should not have to scan the whole table.
• A cloth to the floor, and space between items. The cloth hides the bins; the space keeps the table from reading as clutter. Restock from the bins as things sell.
• Stand up, step aside. Sit behind the table and you are a cashier; stand at the corner and you are the maker.

Etsy's own seller handbook has a longer piece on in-person selling that covers display and conversation in more depth (Etsy Seller Handbook: Bringing your "A" game when selling in person).

7. Bring the market back to Etsy

The customers at your table are the warmest leads your shop will ever get. Put your shop name and URL (or a QR code) on every tag and the shop sign, and drop a small card in every bag with a market-only Etsy coupon code. A code like MARKET10 also tells you afterwards which sales the fair generated.

Before you pack the car

Tags cut for everything, including the front basket. Three signs. A charged reader. Change. Your permit. Blank tags and a marker for the item you price in the parking lot. The full packing list is in the first craft fair checklist.

Frequently asked questions

Should my in-person prices match my Etsy prices?

Match the item price and let shipping be the difference. The market sale still nets you more because there are no Etsy fees on it, and you avoid awkward conversations with customers who follow you in both places. Use bundles, not lower unit prices, to lift market sales.

Do I have to collect sales tax at a craft fair?

In most US states, yes. Etsy remits tax on Etsy orders in marketplace facilitator states, but a table sale is not an Etsy order. Many states require a seller's permit or a temporary event permit. Check your state's department of revenue and the event's vendor pack.

Can I sync my Etsy listings to Square for in-person sales?

Yes, for sellers in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. The sync is one-way from Etsy to Square, and quantities of synced listings update on Etsy after an in-person sale. Changes made in Square do not flow back.

What should be on a price tag at a market?

The price, large; the item name and variant; one short note if it helps (scent, size, material); and your shop name. Put multi-buy deals on a sign next to the group, not on the tags.