Christmas markets: are they worth it? The sum to do before you book

A Christmas market can be packed with people and still leave you with very little. What matters is not the day's takings, but what you keep once the pitch, materials and expenses are paid, divided by the hours you put in.

You can work this out in four lines, before you sign anything.

A weekend or a week: two different markets

A pitch fee only means something next to how long the market runs and how much of your time it takes. Two public examples, for the 2025 edition:

• In Barr (Alsace), a small chalet costs €40 per weekend, with a light, a power supply, a table and two chairs (2025 rules).
• In Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (Normandy), a 3 × 2 m chalet costs €105 per week (2025 application pack).

A week costs more than a weekend, but it also takes far more hours on the stall, and more stock. That is why the sum has to end with the time spent. Fees change every year: check the one for the coming edition. More price lists are gathered in our article on Christmas market pitch fees.

The four-line sum

An example (made-up figures) for a jewellery maker wondering whether to take a chalet for a week.

1. The market costs. Pitch €105, fuel €40, meals €60. Total: €205.
2. What you keep from each sale. The average basket is €25. Materials cost €7 per sale, the card reader €0.45. That leaves €17.55 out of €25, a share of 0.70.
3. The sales needed to cover the costs. €205 ÷ 0.70 = €293 in takings, or 12 sales of €25. Until the 12th sale, the week hasn't earned you anything yet.
4. What the week pays per hour. If it brings in €1,000 in sales, you keep 1,000 × 0.70 − 205 = €495. Over 60 hours (setting up, staffing the stall, packing down, travel), that comes to €8.25 an hour.

With a €40 weekend instead of a week, the same maker selling €400 keeps 400 × 0.70 − 40 − 30 in travel and meals = €210, for 20 hours: €10.50 an hour. The busiest market is not always the one that pays best for your time.

You can redo this sum with your own figures in the market profitability calculator.

What changes the answer

• Your prices. If the share you keep is small, each sale pays back very little of your costs. The method for reviewing your prices is in how to price your handmade items.
• The average basket. A small gift item placed near the till often lifts the basket, especially in December.
• Stock. A full week means having enough pieces not to empty the stall by Wednesday. The market preparation checklist helps you take stock.
• The time you count. Forgetting the journey or the setting up makes a market look more profitable on paper than it really is.

After the market: check rather than guess

The sum beforehand is an estimate. In the evening, note down your sales, your costs and your hours. After a few markets, you know which ones to do again and which ones to drop. The article a market that "went well": was it really worth it? goes into this in detail.

Frequently asked questions

How much do you need to sell at a Christmas market to break even?

Divide your market costs by the share you keep from each sale: that gives you the minimum takings. Divide that by your average basket to get the number of sales. The result depends on your prices and your costs; there is no figure that works for everyone.

Is a week in a chalet more profitable than several weekends?

Not necessarily. A week costs more and takes a lot of hours on the stall. Compare what you keep per hour in both cases, using your own figures.

Should I count my making time?

It is already in your price if you set it by counting your time. The sum above only counts the time spent on the market itself: travel, setting up, staffing the stall, packing down.

Where can I find the price of a pitch?

In the rules or the application pack for each market. Ask the organiser for the current edition, as fees change from one year to the next.

Comptartisan does this sum for you during the market: it shows how much you still need to sell to cover your costs, then what the day earned you per hour (Comptartisan).