Faire Markets: What They Are, Whether They're Worth It, and How to Prepare
Twice a year, Faire runs a “Market” — a concentrated, platform-wide buying period where retailers are actively shopping, Faire is driving extra traffic, and promotions get a visibility boost.
If you're on Faire, you've gotten the emails. And if you're like most brands, you've either skipped Markets entirely, participated without a clear sense of whether it helped, or felt a nagging sense you were missing something. This is the breakdown you need before the next one rolls around — what Faire Markets actually are, what they can and can't do for your brand, and the biggest mistakes to avoid. (By the way, for a deep dive on Faire more generally, head right this way.)
What Is a Faire Market?
A Faire Market is not a separate platform or anything you have to "sign up" for. It's a window of time — a few days, twice a year in January and July — when Faire puts its promotional muscle behind getting retailers to buy. More retailers are browsing, more orders get placed, and your shop page will see more traffic than at almost any other point in the year.
The main lever you have is whether or not you offer a promotion. That's what separates brands who are actively participating from brands who are just... also on Faire that week.
When is The Next Faire Market?
Faire Markets are held in January and July of each year, with the exact dates varying slightly and published here.
Are Faire Markets Worth It?
Short answer: for most brands on Faire, yes — but with some important caveats.
The upside is real. The July 2025 Faire Market was the biggest in the platform's history, with over 65,000 retailers shopping and ordering over one million products from an average of five different brands. That's a lot of retailer activity compressed into a few days.
The cost comparison to other wholesale acquisition methods is also favorable. A trade show booth can run $8,000–$15,000 before you factor in travel, samples, and time away from your business. Faire Markets have no fixed cost — you're only spending if you run a promotion, and even then, only in proportion to orders received. That's a very different risk setup.
Markets also happen twice a year, which makes them a system rather than a one-time event. Brands that treat the first Market as a learning experience often perform noticeably better the second time around, because they've refined what they're doing.
That said, Markets don't create demand from nothing. If your listings aren't strong, your pricing doesn't make sense for wholesale, or your operations can't handle a volume spike — extra traffic won't save you. It might actually hurt you if it creates problems you're not ready for (more on that below). Before you dive into Markets, it's worth making sure you're not falling into one of the most common Faire traps.
4 Things About Faire Most Makers Get Wrong
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The Two Risks Brands Don't Think About Enough
Most brands think about Faire Markets as an opportunity. Fewer think carefully enough about the risks. There are two that really matter:
Operations metrics damage. If order volume spikes and you're not ready, you can miss lead times, ship late, or create fulfillment issues. That can damage your metrics and your standing in Faire's algorithm — not just during the Market, but for a long time after. Revenue that looks good in the short term isn't worth it if it hurts your Faire performance for months.
Promotions that don't work financially. It's surprisingly easy to stack a discount, free shipping, and Faire's commission in a way that leaves you with very little margin — or none. The goal isn't to discount deeply for the sake of participating. It's to participate in a way that still works for your business (or skip it if the math doesn’t work in your case.)
Both of these risks are manageable. But they require thinking before the Market starts, not after.
The Basics Matter More During Markets
Because Markets amplify traffic, they also amplify whatever is already working — or not working — in your Faire setup.
Strong listings, seasonally relevant products, accurate lead times, and solid operational settings are always important on Faire. But they're especially important during Markets, because you're getting more eyes on your shop, and those eyes are forming impressions (and Faire's algorithm is collecting data) faster than usual.
The brands that do well at Markets are the ones who've already done the basics well, and are using the Market to amplify something that's already functioning.
If you want a complete picture of what it takes to build a Faire presence that actually performs — during Markets and the rest of the year — that's exactly what we cover in Making Faire Work.
Do Faire Markets Replace Trade Shows?
Faire calls its Markets "the wholesale industry's first online trade show." That's a useful framing — but worth thinking about more carefully.
Trade shows do offer something Faire Markets can't: physical product experience. For products where texture, weight, finish, or scale matter — ceramics, textiles, candles, jewelry — the in-person encounter is often what makes a retailer fall in love with a line and build an IRL connection with you.
But for most independent brands, trade shows aren't actually the right comparison. The cost is significant — a booth alone can run $8,000–$15,000+ before travel, samples, and time away from your business — and unless you have an established wholesale presence and the revenue to justify it, that's a hard bet to make. Most makers aren't choosing between Faire Markets and trade shows. Trade shows aren't really on the table (or shouldn’t be.)
It's also worth stepping back from the "Faire Markets vs. trade shows" framing altogether, because it implies those are the only two options. They're not. A lot of brands have built substantial wholesale businesses through direct outreach to stores — no trade show, no Faire Market required. Faire Markets, trade shows, and direct outreach are all tools. The right mix depends entirely on your business.
A Few Things Worth Knowing Before Your Next Market
If you're planning to participate in an upcoming Faire Market, here are the things that matter most:
Get your fundamentals in order first. Listings, lead times, operational settings. Markets reward brands that are ready — they don't fix brands that aren't.
A simple 5% promotion qualifies you for Faire's matching and gives you something to communicate to retailers. You don't need anything more complicated than that to participate.
Communication matters more than most brands realize. Retailers who already know you're participating are more likely to prioritize your shop. A simple email sequence — before, during, and after — makes a real difference and takes less time than most people expect.
Treat each Market as a data point. Because they happen twice a year with no fixed cost, you have a built-in opportunity to learn and improve each time.
Ready to build a Faire strategy that works beyond Market week? We got you: Making Faire Work — the course for independent brands