Tigi Labs · Market Day Decision Kit
Which market is worth your Saturday?
A crowded-looking event can still earn less than a smaller one after stock costs, card fees, travel and the hours you put in. Compare contribution after the value of your time, not just projected takings.
A fictional comparison
Imagine two vendor invitations. The following numbers are invented for illustration, not actual event data or customer results. Use one currency throughout.
| Input | Saturday market | Sunday fair |
|---|
| Paying buyers × average spend | 60 × 18 = 1,080 | 20 × 18 = 360 |
| Product costs (40% of sales) | 432 | 144 |
| Card fees (50% card sales × 3% fee) | 16.20 | 5.40 |
| Booth + travel + other | 45 + 22 + 0 | 45 + 22 + 0 |
| Total time × chosen hourly value | 8 × 20 = 160 | 8 × 20 = 160 |
| Estimated contribution | 404.80 | −16.40 |
|---|
Here the Saturday invitation leads by 421.20, but only if 60 buyers arrive. The Sunday event would need 22 buyers at 18 average spend to cover its modeled costs. The Saturday event also needs 22 buyers because its fixed and variable assumptions are identical. That is a threshold, not an attendance forecast.
Test the fragile assumption
Replace the imagined buyer counts with your own evidence: past event receipts, organizer footfall information (which is not the same as paying buyers), and expected conversion. Recalculate a low-case number. Include packing, setup and return travel in hours. Use your real card processing terms and actual product cost, including packaging. Enter parking or event permits under other costs if applicable.
Sales taxes, refunds, insurance, unsold inventory write-offs and business-wide overhead are not automatically included; add applicable event-specific costs once, or account for them separately. A positive figure here is not accounting net income. If buyers do not materialize, the result changes.
Further context
Farmstand's free farmers-market calculator illustrates a single event with similar cost categories. This guide and calculator use an original fictional side-by-side example; no affiliation is claimed. A competitor listing does not verify our own demand or sales.