Mrs Coot & I are vendors. It is a hobby business for us (thank goodness) & we attend a number of events where if we counted all of our expenses, we would be losing money - but we attend those events because we enjoy them. That said, we have many vendor friends who are trying to make or at least seriously supplement their living. Several factors enter into the decision on whether to attend an event, prior sales at that event being number one. Time away from home/shop including travel is another. The average vendor has a bigger set up & needs more time to make/break camp than the average camper - often this means a night in a motel. Vendors generally pull trailers so gas cost more on average. A longer event does not mean more sales - if someone wants something & can justify the cost, they will buy it. If not, they won't. Longer events simply spread the sales over more days. (Once you buy that knife or whatever, you do not buy another the next day). (The exception being food). The location & date of the event are also important - can you make a "loop" of several events on consecutive weekends - or will it be a long run out & back to a single event. Small events seldom have enough customers to be cost effective but a bigger event may not either. People come to market fairs with shopping in mind so from a vendor point of view, a smaller market fair may mean more customers than a larger rondy. Some events are well populated with campers who are on a tight budget, think they can make it themselves or go home to try to find a cheaper item online - all fine but, not likely to encourage a return visit from a vendor.
