How To Become A Vendor At Farmers Markets

Become a vendor at farmers markets and sell your products in person!

I have been a vendor at multiple famers markets, craft fairs and other events. Here are some great tips to get started.

I had a dog treat business and loved to sell my treats in person. Regardless of the type of business I have and you have, the overall process is very similar.

If you are looking to grow your business, get in front of customers and find a way to participate in your community, I really recommend farmers markets.

This is a great way to earn steady weekly and monthly income!

What can you sell as a vendor at farmers markets?

Do you have an awesome craft or baked goods that you sell?

If you are serious about turning your hobby into a part-time or even full-time job, you might consider starting with your local farmer’s markets.

This is a great way to test the waters, listen to customer feedback and learn more about what products sell the best!

Local farmers markets have become a staple in almost every community. They are a great way to bring people together and shop locally.

There are so many products you can sell at a market. Aside from fresh fruit and vegetables, I have seen:

• Baked breads and pastries
• Women’s clothing
• Coffee
• Specialty food and farm to table
• Candles
• Jewelry
• Baby clothing
• T-shirts, sweatshirts
• Pet treats and pet products
• Puzzles and toys
• Artwork and stickers
• And more!

Items you need to become a vendor at farmers markets

You need to have a complete set up for your booth. Start with what you have! However, you will need the following:

• 10×10 pop up white tent (if you’re outside)
• 1-3 rectangular folding tables
• Tabletop cover
• Table top decor (baskets, shelving, signage, etc.)
• Cash bank and/or credit card app to accept credit cards (Square or Venmo work great)
• Large banner with your business name

Are your products a good fit for a farmers market?

Attendance

When visiting the market, is it crowded or quiet and slow? Are people showing up to purchase solely from a fruits and vegetable stand and leaving, or are they perusing the entire market?

Expect your sales to be around 10% of the foot traffic.

Make sure you attend a few different markets to get an idea of what customers are purchasing, and what type of booths are most popular and why.

Should you be the only vendor in your niche?

At small markets, I did not apply to any markets that were already selling my product. I preferred being the only vendor in my niche as it was quite specific.

For large events and weekend markets with a high number of booths, duplicate categories are allowed and quite common. This makes it worth applying and attending.

What are customers buying?

Depending on your business, look for markets where customers are making luxury purchases as well.

If customers are coming to the market to solely buy a few vegetables and leave, the market might not a good fit.

However, if customers are shopping and purchasing all kinds of non-essential or luxury items, the market will be a good fit.

How much are customers spending?

I wanted a market where customers did a lot of shopping and also purchased non-essential items.

If a customer was willing to spend money on items such as cupcakes, jewelry or dog treats, I knew I was in the right market.

How to apply as a vendor at farmers markets

Most markets have a website where you can apply. Otherwise, attend the market and ask to speak to a market manager.

Most vendors require you sell your own product, and it is handmade and/or local.

The majority of farmers’ markets will not charge an application fee to apply.

In general, you should only have to pay for your rental spot!

It is not typical for the market to require a percentage of your sales. If you see this, I would avoid that particular market as this is not common.

Weekly rental spots can vary greatly depending on the location and the attendance of the market.

The cost of a farmers market mooth

I have paid anywhere from $10 to $50 for a booth spot for a single day.

The application process is usually done online and requires the following information for submittal:

• Submitting a short description of what you would like to sell
• Copy of your tax and license information
• Picture of your product
• Picture of how you would display your booth or tabletop examples
• Business insurance is not typically required as this is covered by the market!

Submitting a photo of your booth setup can be a little tricky if you have never sold at a farmers market before.

The market manager just wants to make sure that there is nothing out of the ordinary that could possibly violate the market rules.

Practice your booth setup

I chose to set up my entire booth display in my driveway!

I set up my display space the same way I would if I were at the farmers market. This includes setting up my folding tables, my tabletop decor and my product.

I also hung my banner and weighed down my tent. It’s really important to weigh down your tent incase you have a windy day.

Doing a practice run is really beneficial for a number of reasons. First of all, it might be a necessity if you need to take photos of your booth set up.

Second, it takes some practice setting up and taking down your booth. When I first got my pop-up tent, it took me forever to figure out how to open it! Now it is much easier and can be done faster.

Once I mastered the art of being efficient, I was able to set up my vendor booth in 10 minutes!

How to become a vendor at multiple farmers markets

I originally started with one farmer’s market. My product started doing well and I eventually expanded and participated in multiple farmers markets a week.

I realized that there were two Saturday morning markets that I knew my products would do well in, but wasn’t sure how to be in two places at once.

Fortunately, my parents were a big help! My parents would attend one market for me and I would attend the other one.

Because my business was growing as a vendor at the farmers market, I was able to invest back into my small business.

I ended up purchasing duplicates of items, like an additional pop up tent and folding tables.

How to become a farmers market manager

I was really active in promoting my markets, which included reaching out to other vendors via Etsy and word of mouth.

Because of my casual but effective approach to sharing the farmers market, the town that hosted the market asked if I would be interested in managing the market!

This is probably not typical, but I thought I would share my story incase this is something you might ever be interested in doing.

Once the role was explained to me, I agreed pretty quickly and became the farmer’s market manager!

Once I was a manager, my duties expanded. Not only was I still running my own booth, but I was now in charge of managing all the booths at the market.

This included collecting the rent from each vendor, assigning booth spaces to vendors as well as assisting with setup and tear down at the end of the day.

I also had to review applications and assist new vendors.

One of the perks included free rental booth. I was able to sell product for free of charge. On top of this, I was also paid a monthly salary for being the market manager.

Becoming a market manager is a lot of work, so if this is something you are interested in, you will have to be ready to commit and be reliable.

Bottom Line

Selling your product at your local farmers markets is a great side hustle and an amazing way to earn extra income.

If you are just starting out your side business, farmers markets are a great stepping stone to take your business to the next level.

It’s also a great way to meet customers, peers and gain experience without having a brick and mortar retail location.

Do you want to sell your products at farmers markets?