Market prep
A crochet market prep schedule that fits your week
Start your market preparation with a time budget. Your stock list can then grow from the hours you have available, rather than becoming a deadline you cannot meet.
This is a planning framework you can adapt to a first event or a repeat market. The examples are illustrative; they are not reported sales results or a forecast of what customers will buy.
1. Put the event and its deadlines on your calendar
Record the market date, arrival time and selling hours. Check the organiser’s instructions for payment deadlines, table dimensions, access, weather arrangements and any product or insurance requirements. Keep these details together so your production schedule does not hide an administrative deadline.
Choose the last day you want to be making stock. Leaving some time between that date and the event gives you a chance to finish labels, count stock and pack. The right buffer depends on your other commitments and how much work remains.
2. Count the hours you can actually use
Look at a normal week and identify realistic making sessions. Two short evening sessions and a weekend block may be more dependable than assuming every evening is available. Exclude time already committed to paid orders or other projects.
Our free crochet market-prep planner spreads weekly hours evenly across the days before your event. If your availability varies a lot, work out the total yourself and use a conservative average.
3. Time the whole finished item
Measure the time from starting an item to having it ready for sale. Include assembly, weaving in ends and any packaging you do per item. If several timed examples vary, plan with a cautious estimate rather than your fastest attempt.
Keep shared preparation separate. Designing a price sign once belongs in your reserved preparation hours; attaching a tag to every item can belong in the per-item time. Avoid counting the same task twice.
4. Subtract the stock you already have
Count only finished, saleable items as ready stock. Put unfinished pieces on a separate list and estimate the work still required. If your target is 30 coasters and 10 are ready, the schedule needs to cover 20 more.
Multiply each remaining quantity by its making time. Add the results and compare them with your available hours. Read how to choose your market stock quantities before treating an aspirational list as a production commitment.
5. Turn the list into weekly decisions
Give each week a small set of products and a realistic quantity. Group similar finishing tasks if that makes your process easier, but check that you are producing complete items rather than an expanding collection of unfinished parts.
- First preparation block: confirm event details, count stock and time your products.
- Middle blocks: make to the revised plan, checking actual time against estimates.
- Final making block: finish the priority items and stop adding new designs.
- Before the event: check quantities, labels, display and your packing list.
When your plan falls behind
Recalculate with the time that remains. Reduce a quantity, remove a product that needs extra testing, or use finished stock you had not counted. Choose deliberately instead of quietly adding more hours to every evening.
After the event, keep your planned and actual making times. That record will make your next schedule more useful than a generic recommendation about how many items every seller should bring.