Free tool
Free art fair checklist
Seventeen tasks across three phases: pre-fair preparation, booth operations, and the post-fair week where most sales are actually won or lost. Each row takes an owner and a due date, because a checklist without names is a wish list.
Pre-fair: the catalogue does the paperwork
Booth list and alternates, verified dimensions and insurance values, outgoing condition checks, transport and customs paperwork, printed price lists and labels, and a booth preview room for clients who cannot attend. Every one of these generates from inventory data when the catalogue is in order; the fair prep guide walks the sequence.
At the fair: capture, hold, deposit
The booth discipline that pays for the booth: every serious conversation becomes a contact with the works discussed attached, holds carry expiry dates instead of verbal promises, and deposits go through a payment link at the stand. See gallery POS alternative for taking payments at the booth without a register.
Post-fair: the 48-hour window
Returns get condition-checked against outgoing reports, follow-up viewing rooms go out within 48 hours while the conversation is warm, deposit balances get invoiced, and holds get reviewed before they quietly expire. The follow-up guide covers cadence and message structure.
FAQ
- When should fair prep start?
- Eight weeks out for international fairs with customs paperwork, four weeks for domestic. The checklist due-date column exists so the answer stops being "when we panic".
- How do we capture leads at the booth without breaking conversations?
- A phone and a contact record with the works discussed attached. Thirty seconds after the person walks away, not a stack of business cards on Sunday night.
- Should we take deposits at the fair?
- Yes. A deposit at the booth converts intent before it cools. A Stripe payment link on the buyer's own phone closes it without hardware.
- What is the most-skipped task on this list?
- Condition-checking returns against the outgoing reports. Skipping it means the next fair inherits undocumented damage and nobody knows which transit caused it.
- Can the whole loop run in one system?
- Yes. Booth list, labels, preview rooms, contacts, deposits, and follow-up all read the same records; see software for art fairs.
Run the next fair on one system
Import the booth list into free Core, build the preview viewing room, and take the first deposit by payment link. The checklist gets shorter every fair.