If you make handmade soap, candles, body care products, or other crafts, farmers markets can be one of the most profitable places to sell them. You get direct access to customers who value handmade and locally made products, the ability to let people see, smell, and touch your products before they buy, and the chance to build a loyal customer base that comes back week after week.

The good news for non-food vendors: you do not need the food permits, health inspections, or cottage food certifications that food vendors deal with. The regulatory requirements for handmade soap, candles, and similar products are simpler in most ways — though there are specific labeling rules you need to know.

This guide covers how to find markets that accept non-food vendors, what permits and insurance you need, pricing strategies for handmade goods, and how to set up a booth that stands out alongside food vendors.

The short version: Not all farmers markets accept non-food vendors, so look for markets that include "handmade goods" or "artisan products" in their vendor categories. You need a business license, sales tax permit, and liability insurance — but no food permits or health inspections. Handmade soap is the top-selling non-food product at most farmers markets. Price your goods using cost-plus pricing (materials + labor + overhead, multiplied by 2 to 2.5x), and invest in booth displays that let customers interact with your products. An established non-food vendor can earn $200 to $800 per market day.

Can You Sell Non-Food Items at Farmers Markets?

Yes, but not every farmers market accepts non-food vendors. Most farmers markets are produce-first, meaning fruits, vegetables, baked goods, and prepared foods fill the majority of vendor spots. Non-food vendors typically fill a limited number of slots — often 10 to 20 percent of the total vendor count.

The types of non-food items commonly accepted at farmers markets include:

• Handmade soap and body care products (lotions, lip balm, bath bombs, scrubs)
• Candles (soy, beeswax, specialty scented)
• Herbal products (salves, balms, tinctures)
• Beeswax products (wraps, candles, lip balm)
• Pottery and ceramics
• Woodwork (cutting boards, utensils)
• Textiles (hand-knit items, sewn goods)
• Jewelry

The key requirement at most markets: your products must be handmade by you. Reselling commercially manufactured products is not allowed at most farmers markets. The market manager will want to see that you are the maker.

Some markets are specifically labeled as "artisan markets" or "maker's markets" and welcome a higher percentage of non-food vendors. On the other end, farmers-only or produce-only markets typically do not accept non-food vendors at all.

What Permits Do You Need to Sell Non-Food Items?

The permit requirements for non-food items are straightforward and completely separate from the food permit world. You do not need cottage food permits, health department inspections, or food handler's certifications — those apply only to food products.

Here is what most non-food vendors need:

• Business license — Required in most cities and counties, typically $25 to $100
• Sales tax permit (reseller's permit) — Required in most states so you can collect sales tax on goods sold
• Liability insurance — Many markets require a general liability policy, typically $300 to $500 per year
• Farmers market vendor application — Each market has its own application process with fees

For soap and body care products specifically, there are FDA labeling rules to follow:

• The FDA considers handmade soap a cosmetic if it contains anything beyond basic cleaning ingredients or if you make any claims beyond "cleans the skin"
• Cosmetic labeling requirements include: ingredient list, net weight, and manufacturer name and address on every product
• If your soap makes therapeutic claims (treats acne, heals eczema, cures dry skin), the FDA classifies it as a drug — which requires drug registration. Avoid making therapeutic claims.
• Simple "true soap" (made from fats and alkali with no added cosmetic claims) may be exempt from cosmetic regulations, but most handmade soaps with added ingredients fall under the cosmetic category

Compare this to selling meal prep from home, which requires a licensed commercial kitchen, health department inspections, and food handler's certifications. Non-food items are a completely different regulatory category with far fewer barriers.

How Do You Find Markets That Accept Non-Food Vendors?

Since not all farmers markets accept non-food vendors, you need to be strategic about which markets you target.

• Search for "artisan market," "maker's market," or "craft market" in your area — These are more likely to welcome non-food vendors than traditional produce-focused farmers markets
• Contact farmers market managers directly — Call or email and ask specifically about non-food vendor availability. Many managers can tell you immediately whether they have open non-food spots.
• Check market websites and applications — Most markets list their vendor categories on their website or vendor application form. Look for categories like "handmade goods," "artisan products," or "crafts."
• Consider seasonal and pop-up markets — Holiday markets, night markets, and pop-up events often have more non-food spots than weekly farmers markets
• Apply early — Non-food spots fill up fast because there are fewer of them. Apply months before the season starts.

For tips on the application process itself, see our guide on how to get into a farmers market.

What Non-Food Items Sell Best at Farmers Markets?

Handmade soap is the top non-food seller at most farmers markets. It is affordable, consumable (customers come back for more), giftable, and — most importantly — it engages the senses. People love picking up soap bars and smelling different varieties.

Top-Selling Non-Food Products

• Handmade soap — Bar soap is the number one non-food product at most markets. The combination of scent, texture, and affordability makes it the easiest non-food impulse purchase.
• Candles — Soy candles and beeswax candles sell well, especially in fall and winter. Customers are drawn to the scents and the visual presentation.
• Lip balm — Low price point ($3-5) makes it the easiest add-on sale. Customers buying soap often grab lip balm too.
• Body care products — Lotion bars, body butter, bath bombs, and sugar scrubs. Anything customers can sample at the booth.
• Beeswax wraps — Growing demand from eco-conscious shoppers looking for plastic wrap alternatives. Popular at farm-focused markets.
• Herbal salves and balms — Muscle balm, healing salve, cuticle balm. Be careful with health claims — stick to describing use rather than promising therapeutic benefits.

Candle-making suppliers like CandleScience sell soy wax, fragrance oils, wicks, and vessels at wholesale prices — buying your supplies in bulk is what keeps your per-candle cost low enough to maintain healthy margins at the $12 to $25 retail price range.

What Makes Non-Food Items Sell at a Farmers Market

The products that sell best at farmers markets share a few common characteristics:

• They engage the senses — Soap you can smell, candles you can see burning, textures you can touch. Products that customers can experience before buying outsell products behind a glass case.
• They make good gifts — Farmers market shoppers frequently buy non-food items as gifts. Gift-ready packaging and bundled sets sell well year-round.
• They have a story — "I make this soap with goat milk from a farm down the road" resonates more than "handmade soap." Customers at farmers markets value the connection to a maker and a process.
• They hit impulse-purchase price points — Items priced at $5 to $15 sell far more frequently than items at $50 or more. Keep your most affordable products front and center.
• They are consumable — Soap, candles, and body care products get used up and need to be replaced. This creates repeat customers.

How Do You Price Handmade Non-Food Items?

Most makers underprice their products because they compare them to mass-produced alternatives on store shelves. Your handmade soap is not competing with a $2 bar from the grocery store. You are selling a handmade, locally crafted product — and farmers market customers expect to pay a premium for that.

The Cost-Plus Pricing Formula

Use this formula to set your prices:

• Materials cost — Everything that goes into the product (oils, fragrances, wax, wicks, packaging materials)
• Labor — Your time at a fair hourly rate. If you would not work for less than $20 per hour at a regular job, do not value your crafting time at less than that.
• Overhead — Market booth fees, insurance, labels, packaging, fuel for transportation, equipment wear
• Total cost = Materials + Labor + Overhead
• Retail price = Total cost x 2 to 2.5

Example: A bar of handmade soap costs $1.50 in materials, takes 15 minutes of labor at $20 per hour ($5.00), and has $0.50 in allocated overhead. Total cost: $7.00. Retail price: $7.00 x 2 = $14.00 wholesale, or price the bar at $7 to $9 retail since soap is a competitive market and you need to stay within what customers expect.

Soap-making suppliers like Bramble Berry sell oils, lye, fragrances, and molds at wholesale prices that bring your per-bar material cost down significantly compared to buying small quantities from craft stores.

Common price points at farmers markets:

• Handmade soap: $6 to $10 per bar
• Candles (8-12 oz): $12 to $25 depending on size and vessel
• Lip balm: $3 to $5
• Body butter and lotion: $8 to $15
• Bath bombs: $5 to $8
• Sugar scrubs: $8 to $12
• Gift sets (3-4 items): $20 to $35

For more on pricing strategies, see our guide on how to price your products.

Bundling and Upselling Strategies

Bundling is where non-food vendors significantly increase their average transaction value.

• Gift sets — Soap + lip balm + body butter at a slight discount. A $25 gift set is easier to sell than three separate purchases.
• "3 for" deals — Three bars of soap for $20 instead of $8 each. Moves volume and increases average purchase.
• Seasonal bundles — Holiday gift boxes, summer skincare kits, fall scent collections
• "Build your own" bundles — Let customers pick 3 to 4 items for a set price. Customers love customization.
• Add-on prompts — When someone buys soap, suggest lip balm. When someone buys a candle, suggest a wax melt sampler. A simple "Would you like to add a lip balm for $4?" converts frequently.

How Do You Display Non-Food Items at a Farmers Market?

Your booth display is your single biggest selling tool as a non-food vendor. Food vendors can rely on the smell of fresh bread or the sight of colorful produce. Non-food vendors need to create visual interest that draws people over and makes them want to touch and interact with your products.

Booth Display Tips for Non-Food Vendors

• Use height and layers — Risers, tiered shelves, and stacked displays bring products up to eye level. A flat table with everything laid out in rows looks like a garage sale. Vertical displays look like a boutique.
• Let customers interact — Unwrap soap bars so people can pick them up and smell them. Have tester candles they can sniff. Put lotion samples out for people to try on their hands.
• Clear pricing on every product — Customers should never have to ask how much something costs. Use small chalkboard tags, printed price cards, or labeled signs.
• Product cards with ingredients and your story — Especially important for soap and body care. Customers want to know what is in the product and who made it.
• Professional labels and packaging — Clean, consistent branding on every product builds trust and justifies premium pricing. A handmade bar of soap with a beautiful label sells for $8. The same soap in a plain wrapper sells for $5.
• Keep it clean and organized — Clutter makes products look cheap. Less inventory on display with a well-organized layout sells better than piling everything on the table.

For general booth setup tips including tent, table, and signage recommendations, see our guide on how to set up a booth at a farmers market.

Standing Out Among Food Vendors

As a non-food vendor at a farmers market, you are surrounded by food. Here is how to hold your own:

• Position near popular food vendors — When you apply, ask the market manager if you can be placed near high-traffic food vendors. Their foot traffic becomes your foot traffic.
• Use scent to draw people in — Burn a tester candle at your booth. Fan soap scents toward the walkway. Scent is the non-food vendor's equivalent of a free food sample.
• Offer something free — A small sample soap bar, a scent strip, or a single-use lotion packet brings people to your table. Once they are at your booth, they shop.
• Match seasonal themes — Fall scents in October, gift packaging in December, floral scents in spring. Seasonal alignment keeps your booth feeling fresh and relevant.
• Cross-promote with food vendors — Build relationships with neighboring vendors. "Buy a jar of local honey from the vendor next to us, and pair it with our beeswax candle" creates a natural partnership.

Tips for Growing Your Non-Food Market Business

Start With One Market, Then Expand

Test your products and pricing at one market before committing to multiple. Pay attention to which products sell best and which sit on the table all day — adjust your inventory accordingly.

Track your numbers: what you brought, what you sold, your revenue, and your costs for each market day. This tells you whether a market is profitable and which products to make more of.

Once you have a consistent following at one market — customers who come back regularly and look for your booth — consider adding a second market day.

Build a Brand, Not Just a Product

Customers at farmers markets buy from people they know and trust. Building a recognizable brand helps you stand out and creates loyalty.

• Consistent branding across all your labels, packaging, signage, and booth display
• A memorable business name and logo that customers recognize when they see your booth
• Business cards and social media handles on every piece of packaging — so customers can find you between market days
• An ordering page where customers can reorder between market days without DMs or texts

Plan for Seasonal Peaks

Holiday markets (November through December) are the biggest sales period for non-food vendors by a wide margin. Start preparing extra inventory months in advance.

• Holiday season (November-December): Gift sets, holiday scents, premium packaging. This is when non-food vendors do 30 to 50 percent of their annual revenue.
• Spring (March-May): Floral scents, garden-themed products, Mother's Day gift sets
• Summer (June-August): Lighter scents, skincare products, outdoor candles
• Fall (September-November): Warm scents (pumpkin, cinnamon, apple), gift sets for upcoming holidays

Taking Orders Between Market Days

The holiday rush is the clearest example of why non-food vendors need an ordering system. November and December produce 30-50% of your annual revenue, and it all compresses into a few weeks. Customers message you asking if you still have the lavender soap gift set, or whether they can order six candles for office gifts, or if you can hold three bars of the pumpkin spice soap until Saturday. You're making product, packing orders, and answering 40 DMs at the same time.

Etsy works well if you're shipping handmade goods nationally — customers search for "handmade soy candle" and find your listing. Etsy takes roughly 10-12% per sale in combined fees, and the platform is designed around shipped orders, not local pickup.

Shopify at $39/month provides a full e-commerce store, but it's built for businesses with nationwide fulfillment and large catalogs. For a vendor who sells 8-12 products at Saturday markets, the setup complexity isn't worth it.

Homegrown is $10/month and was originally built for food vendors — but the ordering model works identically for any handmade product sold locally. You list your soap, candles, and gift sets with photos and prices. Customers order and pay through one link. You see exactly what to bring to the market or prepare for porch pickup. When the lavender gift sets sell out, the listing closes. Customers choose pickup or local delivery at checkout.

The honest limitation: Homegrown is food-vendor-focused. The vendor directory and customer discovery features are organized around food categories. If you're primarily looking for marketplace exposure for handmade crafts, Etsy gives you that. If you need a simple way for local customers to order and pay between market days — especially during the holiday sprint — the ordering model works regardless of whether you're selling soap or sourdough.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do You Need a Permit to Sell Soap at a Farmers Market?

You need a business license and a sales tax permit to sell soap at a farmers market. If your soap qualifies as a cosmetic under FDA rules — which most handmade soaps with added ingredients do — you must follow cosmetic labeling requirements (ingredient list, net weight, manufacturer name and address). You do NOT need food permits, health department inspections, or cottage food certifications — soap is not a food product.

How Much Money Can You Make Selling Handmade Products at a Farmers Market?

An established non-food vendor can earn $200 to $800 per market day. New vendors typically start at $100 to $300 per market day and grow as they build a customer base and refine their product mix. Your revenue depends on the market size, your product variety, your pricing, and the strength of your booth display. Holiday markets often produce the highest single-day sales.

What Is the Best Non-Food Item to Sell at a Farmers Market?

Handmade soap is the top non-food seller at most farmers markets. It is affordable enough for impulse purchases, consumable so customers come back for more, giftable, and it engages the senses with scent and texture. Candles are the second-best seller, followed by lip balm and other body care products.

Do Farmers Markets Allow Non-Food Vendors?

Many farmers markets accept non-food vendors, but not all. Look for markets that specify "handmade goods," "artisan products," or "crafts" in their vendor categories. Some markets limit non-food vendors to 10 to 20 percent of total vendor spots, so non-food slots fill up quickly. Apply early and consider artisan markets or maker's markets, which are more welcoming to non-food vendors.

How Do You Price Handmade Soap for a Farmers Market?

Use cost-plus pricing: add up your materials cost, labor (at a fair hourly rate), and overhead (market fees, packaging, insurance), then multiply by 2 to 2.5 for your retail price. Most handmade soap sells for $6 to $10 per bar at farmers markets. Do not compare your pricing to mass-produced grocery store soap — you are selling a handmade, locally crafted product that farmers market customers expect to pay a premium for.

Ready to sell your handmade products beyond market day? Set up your ordering page in 15 minutes and give your market customers a way to reorder before the next Saturday.