Ticketing for
Craft Fairs

Craft fairs have a dual ticketing challenge: you need to manage stallholder registrations and visitor entry as two completely separate processes. The stallholders are your suppliers, paying for pitch space and facilities. The visitors are your customers, paying for entry or browsing for free.

Stallholder management is effectively B2B ticketing. You are selling pitch spaces at £2-8 or more, and you need to collect business details, product descriptions, insurance certificates, and setup requirements. This goes well beyond a standard ticket purchase and requires custom form fields.

Visitor entry at craft fairs is often very low-priced (£1-5) or even free. At these price points, ticketing fees are proportionally devastating. A £1 booking fee on a £3 entry ticket is a 33% overhead. This is where zero-fee platforms make the biggest difference.

Many craft fairs run across multiple days or sessions. A weekend craft fair might have different opening times on Saturday and Sunday, with separate capacity limits. Your platform needs to handle this without requiring visitors to understand the backend complexity.

For craft fairs, the key platform features to look for are:

• Stallholder registration to manage your event professionally
• Visitor entry for a smooth attendee experience
• Multi-session management to protect your margins
• Family discounts for convenience

Eventbrite is a common choice but charges 6.95% + £0.59 per ticket. On a £5 ticket, that is £0.94 in fees. Ticketco offers different pricing but still adds up at scale.

tickts charges zero platform fees, zero booking fees, and zero commission. The only cost is Stripe's card processing at 1.5% + 20p per transaction, which on a £5 ticket is just £0.28. That is £0.66 saved per ticket, which adds up significantly over multiple events.

Payments go directly to your Stripe account and land in your bank within 2-3 business days of each sale. No waiting until after the event to access your money.

See the full platform comparison or model your exact costs with the fee calculator.

Pricing for craft fairs should balance accessibility with revenue targets. Here are the key strategies:

Early bird pricing: Offer 15-25% off your target price for the first tranche of tickets. This generates early cash flow, creates social proof ("already selling!"), and rewards your most engaged audience. Limit early bird to 15-20% of capacity to create genuine scarcity.

Standard pricing: Set your target price based on local market rates for similar craft fairs. Research what comparable events in your area charge. The £2-8 range is typical for UK craft fairs, with the sweet spot around £5 for a good-quality event.

Premium tiers: If your event supports it, offer a VIP or premium tier at 50-100% above standard. This might include priority access, better seating, exclusive experiences, or bundled extras. Even if only 10-15% of your audience upgrades, the revenue impact is significant.

Group and family discounts: Offer 10-15% off for groups of 4+ or family bundles. Craft fairs are often social occasions, and group discounts encourage people to bring friends, filling your event faster.

Round numbers: Price at clean, round figures: £3, £5, £6. Avoid awkward prices like £4.99. Clean pricing builds trust, especially when there are zero booking fees on top.

For a typical craft fair event with 300 visitors at £5 per ticket (total revenue: £1,500), here is what each platform costs:

• Eventbrite: £281 in fees (6.95% + £0.59 per ticket)
• WeGotTickets: £150 in fees (10% flat)
• tickts: £82 in Stripe processing only (zero platform fees)

The saving with tickts versus Eventbrite is £199. That is money that stays in your pocket (or your cause, or your business) instead of going to a ticketing platform.

For organisers who run multiple craft fairs per year, these savings compound. Four events per year at the same scale saves £795 annually versus Eventbrite. That is real money that can be reinvested in better events.

Payout timing also matters. With tickts, your ticket revenue reaches your bank account within 2-3 days of each sale via Stripe. With platforms that hold funds until after the event, you are financing all your costs upfront and waiting weeks or months for reimbursement. For craft fairs with significant upfront costs, this cash flow difference is significant.

Separate your stallholder and visitor marketing. Stallholders and visitors are completely different audiences with different motivations. Market stallholder spaces through craft networks, maker groups, and Etsy seller communities. Market visitor entry through local media, social media, and community groups.

Curate your stallholders carefully. The quality and variety of stalls is what attracts visitors. Reject applications that duplicate existing stalls or do not meet your quality standards. A well-curated fair with 30 unique stalls is better than a chaotic one with 80 similar offerings.

Promote the makers, not just the fair. Feature individual stallholders on your social media in the weeks before the event. A "Meet the Makers" series showing each stallholder and their products builds anticipation and gives visitors reasons to attend.

Offer free entry or very low prices for visitors. Craft fairs make their primary revenue from stallholder fees, not visitor entry. A low entry price (£2-3) or even free entry maximises footfall, which maximises sales for your stallholders, which makes them more likely to rebook for future fairs.

Find the right venue. Craft fairs need large, well-lit spaces with good access for stallholders to load in. Browse suitable venues on UK Venue Guide.

Collect visitor emails for future events. Use your ticketing platform to build a mailing list of visitors. Before your next fair, email them with the stallholder line-up and early bird dates. Repeat visitors are the easiest sales you will make.