Every maker knows the drive home from a quiet fair: mentally totting up the stall fee, the petrol, the sausage roll, and wondering whether the day actually paid. Forum threads do this maths constantly — "if a stall costs £60 and I make £5 an item, how many do I need to sell?" — usually after booking. Here's how to do it before.
First, the day's fixed costs — everything you pay whether you sell or not. A typical example: £40 stall fee, 30 miles of round-trip driving at 45p/mile (£13.50 — fuel plus wear, not just fuel), and £10 of parking and lunch. Total: £63.50. Second, your contribution per sale — selling price minus what the item cost to make, minus card fees on the share of buyers who tap. A £12 item costing £4 in materials, with half your buyers paying by card at 1.69%, contributes £7.90.
Divide one by the other and round up: £63.50 ÷ £7.90 → 9 sales to break even. Everything after the ninth sale is profit; everything before it, you're paying for the privilege of a nice day out. Sell 30 items and the day banks £173.46. Sell 10 and it's £15.49 — technically profitable, arguably below minimum wage for eight hours behind a table, which is its own conversation (we've written about counting your hours separately).
Not for cancelling bookings — for comparing them. A £25 village hall table that breaks even at 4 sales and a £150 festival pitch that needs 19 are different bets, and the fair's footfall claims should be read against your break-even, not against optimism. It also shows which lever moves the day most: cutting £2 of materials per item lowers break-even faster than shaving the stall fee, because it compounds with every sale.
Mileage at fuel-only prices (45p/mile is closer to the real cost of running a car), insurance for the day if your fair requires it, float, and the quiet killer: stock that doesn't sell but still cost money to make. The break-even number assumes you can meet demand — it says nothing about whether demand exists, which is why one barren fair is information and three barren fairs are a verdict.
Estimates for information only; not financial or tax advice. Card fees verified August 2026 (SumUp 1.69%, Square 1.75%).