visit us on FacebookVendor FAQ
- When and where is the upcoming fair being held?
- What is the venue like?
- How do I apply to be a vendor?
- What does my booth fee cover?
- What does it mean that the fair is juried and how do you make your decisions?
- What makes a strong application?
- What are typical reasons that a vendor would not be accepted?
- When and how will I know if I am accepted?
- How do I pay the booth fee?
- Is my booth fee refundable?
- Do I need a vendor's permit?
- If I am accepted, do I need to be there for the entire duration of the event?
- Can out-of-state and international vendors apply?
- Can I share my booth space with a friend?
- Can I rent two booth spaces for my business?
- What other promotional opportunities are available for my business through the IHE?
- How else can I get involved with the IHE?
- Where else can I find the IHE online?
When and where is the upcoming fair being held?
Our next event will be held on Saturday, June 12, from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. This will be our second annual summer show, and our seventh show in total.
This event will be held at the Harrison Center for the Arts, located at 1505 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202. The HCA is just 16 blocks north of downtown Indy.
This summer show will be held in conjunction with the Independent Music + Art Festival. We will have over 80 vendors, both outside of the venue and inside in three rooms. In addition, the Talbott Street Art Fair happens on the same day, in the neighborhood just across the street from our venue.
What is the venue like?
The Harrison Center for the Arts seeks to be a catalyst for renewal in the city of Indianapolis by fostering awareness, appreciation and community for arts and culture.
The HCA houses over 20 artist's studios, two galleries with new shows monthly, and a gymnasium suitable for a myriad of community events.
For our June 12 summer show we will have vendors both outside and inside of the venue. There will be two stages for music set up outdoors in the courtyard, along with beer and food vendors, and about 30 of our artists. The indoor vendors will be in three rooms throughout the HCA - the gymnasium, Gallery No. 2, and The Underground. There will be about 60 IHE artists inside the building.
Restrooms will be available inside the building.
Unfortunately, only Gallery No. 2 is easily handicap accessible. There are no elevators. Stairs must be taken to upper and lower levels of the building.
How do I apply to be a vendor?
We will begin accepting applications for the June 12, 2010 show on February 1. If you are interested in receiving a notification when those become available, please enter your email address at the bottom of the page in our "Email Alert Signup" box. The email alert will be sent out sometime in the first week of February. Applications for the June show will be accepted through Saturday, March 13.
After February 1, you may download the application directly from our site by clicking on the "Vendors" link on the navigation bar at the top of the page. Then click on the subnavigation labeled "Application." The application can be downloaded there as either a .pdf or a Microsoft Word document.
After you have completed the questions on the application please submit the form with:
- 3-5 .jpg images of your best/favorite/most interesting work
- a 120 pixel wide x 60 pixel tall .jpg logo/banner
via email to: amanda@INDIEanaHandicraftExchange.com
The logo/banner file does not have to be a formal logo. If you do not have a business logo, you may crop an image of one of your products and put your business name over it. This should be a simple, easy to read image. The file may be created in Photoshop or Illustrator, or another similar imaging or design program.
Please thoroughly read through the Vendor FAQ before submitting your application to be sure you understand all of the details of the event.
What does my booth fee cover?
The booth fee for the June 12, 2010 show is $85.
This booth fee covers your choice of either an outdoor booth space (11' wide x 8' deep) or an indoor booth space (9' wide x 6' deep).
In addition, your booth fee covers your logo/banner and link on our website on the "Vendors" page, as well as our promotion of the event via posters, postcard mailings, newspaper and radio ads.
Also, we will provide breakfast (coffee, juice, donuts and fruit), beverages and your lunch, all from local Indy restaurants. There will be vegetarian options available.
If you would like to donate an item for our raffle, you may subract $10 from the cost of your booth fee. The item must be one of your handmade products of at least a $10 value.
If you cannot bring your own and need to rent a table and chairs from the IHE for the summer event, you must add an additional $10 to the cost of your booth fee. The $10 will cover either a 6' wide x 30" deep or 8' wide x 30" deep table (your choice) and two chairs.
What does it mean that the fair is juried and how do you make your decisions?
Each IHE show is juried because of limited space and high demand. We accept all applications and then sit down and examine them to determine which vendors and products best represent our idea of what the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange was meant to be.
The INDIEana Handicraft Exchange is a contemporary craft fair that consciously celebrates modern handmade goods, the relationship between creator and consumer, and local, alternative economies. Most of the products sold by IHE artists serve the dual purpose of art and function and range from the beautiful to the irreverent, from the adorable to the slightly sinister, from the hysterical to the just plain bizarre. Vendors may use traditional crafting techniques but they express contemporary themes and design. Vendors offer a range of unique handmade goods from wooden jewelry to fanciful undergarments, from custom vintage-inspired western wear to stationery, from plush animals to natural bath and body goodies, from hand-screened rock ‘n' roll poster art to pop culture icon finger puppets and much, much more.
We have a rotating panel of 6-8 judges who jury the applications and make the final selections for each show. The judges are local illustrators, graphic designers, painters, teachers, writers, photographers, woodworkers, etc.
What makes a strong application?
- A complete application form with the required attachments, sent in by the due date of Saturday, March 13.
- Quality images of your work. Blurry, far off or cluttered images do not allow us to look at your work carefully. We need to be able to see the details.
- Variety in the images of your work. We need to see different pieces. Five images of the same product from different angles, or of the same product in five different colors doesn't give us much to go on.
- A functioning URL listed on the application form. If you have an Etsy store set up, but no product for sale there, do not give us that web address as your primary business site. Give us a site where we can see further examples of your work and get a feel for how you conduct your business.
What are typical reasons that a vendor would not be accepted?
We regularly receive many more applications than we have booth spaces available. We will have nearly 90 spaces for our June 12, 2010 show, making this our largest event yet.
Vendors may not be accepted for this particular event because of any one of the following reasons:
- Vendor rotation...Unfortunately, some of our established vendors, whom we love dearly, may fall victim to this. We love your work, and would likely have you back for future events should you choose to apply again, but to keep the event fresh for patrons, we are going to have to start rotating some of our regular vendors to give newcomers an opportunity. Vendors who have been in the show before and are most likely to be invited back are those who are evolving...improving the quality of their products, coming up with new items in their product line, improving their packaging design and display, etc. Our biggest concern is creating exposure for small handmade businesses; not so much handmade hobbyists. If you are working hard to take your handmade work from hobby status to business status, there should be evidence of reflection and progress year to year.
- High number of applicants in any one category...We cannot have an excess of any one type of product at the IHE. If we have ten vendors selling bath & body products, none are likely to sell particularly well. That puts each of those vendors at a disadvantage and leaves customers disatisfied with the selection of goods at our events. When we have a plethora of applicants in one category, it comes down to quality and originality of the work, presentation of the product, what we believe will be most attractive to the demographic we cater to, and the range of price points on the items a vendor offers.
- The hands-off approach...Vendors who assemble materials produced by others (necklaces strung with mass-produced beads, store-bought findings, etc.) or make items from patterns or kits that are not of their own original design are least likely to be included, followed by those who assemble "old" materials produced by others. The fewer truly handmade elements present in your work, the more you need to impress us with a creative re-envisioning of the objects you use. (For example, we get many, many applications from vendors who use "vintage" pieces to make pendants or other jewelry. We accept those who come up with a truly original way to repurpose them.)
- Jack of all trades, master of none...We love variety but there is something to be said for picking a technique or theme and mastering it. Our favorite vendors emphasize the craft in crafting.
- Aesthetic of product line...We are looking for a very specific type of craft for our show and some work just doesn't fit in. You can call it indie craft, DIY craft, modern or contemporary craft...it's hard to find an accurate term to describe it, but we know what we're looking for. If you are unsure if your products would sell well at the IHE, attend our upcoming fair to check out the current vendors and attitude of the event. Or look at the images or videos in the gallery section of our website.
- Not following directions...Amanda is an art teacher by day, and some of the school marm qualities from that profession carry over into her personal life. Not including requested attachments or info on an application without any explanation drives her crazy and makes her quite intolerant. If you are unsure about something, please send an email to ask. We assume that most/all applicants are at least of high school age or older and should be able to remember to put their names on their papers.
If you are not accepted for this particular event, please don't be discouraged. Come on out on June 12 anyway, and do some "market research." Check out your competition and please consider applying again in the future. We love seeing applicants reapply year to year who have reflected on and evolved in their handmade endeavors. We want to see handmade businesses succeed, and that includes yours, even if we couldn't get you into the fair this time 'round.
When and how will I know if I am accepted?
You will receive an email by Sunday, March 28 letting you know if you have been selected as a vendor for the Saturday, June 12, 2010 event.
How do I pay the booth fee?
If you are selected as a vendor for the Saturday, June 12, 2010 event, you will receive an email by Sunday, March 28, which will include details on payment. Please do not attempt to make a payment until you have received your acceptance letter for this show.
Is my booth fee refundable?
You will be notified of your acceptance into the June 12 event by Sunday, March 28. In that acceptance email you will receive information on how to make your payment for your booth space. Payment will be due in full two weeks after you receive the acceptance email, by Monday, April 12. If payment is not made by that time, you forfeit your booth space to the next vendor on our waiting list.
If you make your payment and then find out you will be unable to attend the June 12 event after all, you will be able to receive a refund, minus a $15 processing fee, up to Friday, April 30. After that date, full or partial refunds will no longer be issued.
Do I need a vendor's permit?
You need to contact the Indiana Department of Revenue (317-233-4015) to obtain a Sales Tax Collection Permit. These permits can be obtained online at the IDR website or by going into the downtown Indianapolis office. The cost of this permit is only $25 and it is valid for two years.
You are also responsible for registering your small business with the IRS (1-800-829-4933) and collecting sales tax on the goods you sell. When taxes are due you will have to pay both income tax to the federal government and sales tax for your craft sales to the state of Indiana.
If I am accepted, do I need to be there for the entire duration of the event?
Yes. It's just good manners.
The fair runs from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 12. You may show up as early as 8:30 a.m. to begin setting up and you are expected to maintain your booth until the fair closes down. The crowd may ebb and flow throughout the day, and it is unfair to other vendors for one booth to close up shop and head out early, as it encourages shoppers to do the same.
Can out-of-state and international vendors apply?
Certainly. We love having new vendors at our shows each year. The goals of our event are to further expose Indianapolis to the national D.I.Y and indie craft community and network, and to make Indy a destination stop on the indie craft fair circuit.
If you are applying from out of state, please make sure you check with the Indiana Department of Revenue to make sure you obtain your Sales Tax Collection Permit and other relevant tax documents.
Can I share my booth space with a friend?
Certainly. But please submit all complete info on one single application for each of the folks who will be sharing the space.
Can I rent two booth spaces for my business?
Unfortunately, no. The demand for booth space at our previous events has been higher than we are able to accommodate. We want to have room to accept as many different vendors as we can.
What other promotional opportunities are available for my business through the IHE?
If you are accepted for the June 12 show we will list your logo on the Vendors page of our site with a link to yours. We will also promote the event heavily ourselves through poster distribution around Indianapolis and Central Indiana, postcard mailings, Facebook ads, newspaper ads and radio spots.
If you are interested in further promotion of your business, we will also be selling ad space on the IHE website, as well as print ad space in the event program for Saturday, June 12.
Web ads:
Print ads:
How else can I get involved with the IHE?
We are always looking for independent and local businesses to form partnerships with. We like showcasing for our out-of-town vendors what Indy has to offer, so if you think you can offer financial support or have an in-kind trade you would like to propose, please let us know.
Also, we usually have music and entertainment at our events, so if you are in, or know of, a band that would be interested in playing at one of our shows, please get in touch.
And, of course, we need volunteers. The IHE is still a small operation and is currently run by a husband and wife team. We do not have a paid staff, so we are happy to utilize any hands that would like to help out. At each event we typically need booth sitters to relieve vendors for meals and restroom breaks, folks to pass out event programs and give directions and people to run the IHE info table and sell merch and raffle tickets.
