How Much Merch to Order for a Holiday Market Booth
If you've booked a booth at a holiday market or craft fair this season, the hardest question isn't the design. It's how much merch to order for a holiday market without running out of mediums by noon or hauling home three boxes of 3XLs. Most markets run late November through mid-December, which means mid-October is when your order needs to be placed. Here's how we help vendors size it up.
Start with foot traffic, not hope
A useful rule of thumb: plan to sell to about 1–3% of the people who walk past your booth. A market that draws 2,000 visitors over a weekend might move 20–60 pieces for a vendor with a strong design and a good table. If it's your first year at that event, plan for the low end. Selling out is a good problem. Unsold stock is cash sitting in a closet.
If you're doing more than one market, total up the expected sales across all of them and order once. One bigger run almost always costs less per piece than several small ones. Our bulk order playbook explains how the price breaks work.
Get the size split right
This is where most vendors lose money. For adult unisex tees and hoodies, a reliable retail spread looks like this:
- S: 10%
- M: 25%
- L: 30%
- XL: 20%
- 2XL: 10%
- 3XL: 5%
On a 48-piece run, that works out to roughly 5 S, 12 M, 14 L, 10 XL, 5 2XL and 2 3XL. Change the split if you know your crowd. A youth-heavy market or a run of fitted styles will lean smaller.
Lead with winter pieces
Holiday shoppers are buying gifts, and gifts that keep someone warm sell. Hoodies and crewneck sweatshirts usually earn more per sale than tees, and they're worth more to the person who receives them. A good booth mix:
- Screen-printed hoodies or crewnecks as your main item (12 piece minimum per design)
- Screen-printed tees at a lower price point for impulse buys
- Embroidered beanies (6 piece minimum) for easy gifts that fit any head, with no sizes to guess
- Leather-patch caps (12 piece minimum) if your brand leans rugged or outdoorsy. They look premium and price well. Here's how local brands are using them.
Keep it to two or three designs. A tight lineup moves faster than ten options that each sell two pieces.
Plan your restock before you need it
Here's the good news for vendors: once we've printed your design, the art stays on file. Exact reorders never carry set-up fees, so if your hoodies sell out at the first weekend market, restocking for the next one costs only the garments and printing. Start with a smaller first run and reorder based on what actually sold.
Your October timeline
- This week: finalize designs and request a free digital proof
- Within 7 days: approve the proof and confirm sizes
- 2–3 weeks later: pick up or ship, then price, tag and pack your bins
Ready to stock your booth? Tell us about your market and we'll put together a quote.