Comparison
BoothInventory vs Craftybase
Craftybase suits a maker whose hardest number is what a finished piece costs to make, while BoothInventory suits a maker whose hardest number is what a weekend at a given fair returns.
Comparison
BoothInventory vs Square Point of Sale: Checkout or Show Math
Square Point of Sale suits any seller who needs to take a card and hand over a receipt, while BoothInventory suits a maker who needs to know which fairs on the circuit are worth reapplying to.
The short answer
Square Point of Sale is a payments and checkout product used by merchants of every kind, and at a craft fair it does the job that has to happen at the table: take the card, send the receipt, keep a catalog of what you sell. BoothInventory is not a card reader and does not try to be. It is the per event ledger around the checkout, holding an opening count for each show, a closing count at teardown, plus booth fee, mileage and helper pay, so you can rank one fair against another. Plenty of makers run both.
BoothInventory and Square Point of Sale side by side
| What you are deciding | BoothInventory | Square Point of Sale |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Tell you what sold at each show and whether the booth fee paid off | Take payment at the table and keep a catalog you can ring up |
| Scope | One loop: opening count, show sales, closing count, restock list | Checkout, payments and hardware for sellers across many trades |
| Who it assumes | A maker working a season of fairs, art markets and holiday pop ups | Any seller with a counter, a booth or a storefront |
| Unit of work | The named show, with its dates, fees and travel attached | The business overall rather than one weekend at one fairground |
| Booth costs | Jury fee, booth fee, mileage, lodging and helper pay per event | Focused on the payment side rather than travel and show expenses |
| Restock | A build list produced from the counts you took at teardown | Stock tooling shaped for general retail rather than a show circuit |
| Card processing | None, you keep the reader and the rate you already have | Payment processing is the center of the product |
| Where the numbers land | A season table that compares shows side by side | Sales reporting for the merchant account as a whole |
On the right is the kind of tool Square Point of Sale is and the job it is shaped around, rather than a list of what it includes at any given price. Any product moves on, so confirm the live details on their own pages first. BoothInventory is published by MLJ, SASU and this page is written by Jimenez Julien.
Choose BoothInventory when
- Your season runs eight to twenty shows and you cannot say which three actually paid.
- You leave teardown with a full tote and no record of which line emptied first.
- You want a restock list on Monday built from the counts you took on Sunday.
- Booth fee, gas, lodging and helper pay never land in the same place as sales.
Choose Square Point of Sale when
- You need a card reader and a receipt at the table, which is a different product.
- Your selling is mostly a shop or a counter rather than a circuit of weekend shows.
- You want checkout, hardware and payouts from one vendor with one support line.
Two different questions at the same booth
At a two day art market you are answering two questions that feel like one. The first is immediate: this shopper wants the blue mug, take the card, wrap it, next. The second only shows up in February when applications open: did that show earn its jury fee, its booth fee, the hotel and the tank of gas, and should you send in the application again. A checkout app is built for the first question and answers it well.
The second question needs numbers a card reader was never asked to collect. It needs the count of what you carried in, the count of what you carried out, the fees you paid to be there, and the hours you stood on the asphalt. BoothInventory is built around that record, which is why it does not compete for the card in the shopper's hand.
Why counts beat receipts for restock
Receipts tell you what went through the reader. They do not tell you about the three necklaces you traded with the potter next door, the two seconds you discounted at four on Sunday, the piece you gave your sister, or the earrings that walked off the display. On a busy aisle those gaps add up to a restock list that is quietly wrong by a dozen units.
An opening and closing count catches all of it, because the tote does not lie. BoothInventory asks for a number at load in and a number at load out, then does the subtraction per line. What you get on Monday is the real movement, which is the only sound basis for deciding what to make in the three weeks before the next show.
Running both without double entry
Most makers on the circuit already have a reader they trust and a rate they have made peace with, and switching that mid season is a bad trade for no gain. The sensible setup is to leave checkout alone and add the event ledger beside it: you keep taking cards the way you always have, and you record counts and show costs where they can be compared across the season.
In practice that means about ten minutes of work per show. Enter the opening count while you are setting up the grid wall, enter the closing count before the totes go in the van, then add the fees and the mileage on the drive home while somebody else is at the wheel. That is the whole ritual, and it is what turns a season of shows into a ranked list.
Questions people ask before they choose
Does BoothInventory take card payments at the booth?
No. It does not process payments and does not sell a reader. You keep the checkout you already use at the table, and BoothInventory records the counts, the fees and the show level result around it.
Do I have to enter every sale as it happens?
No, and most makers on a busy aisle should not try. The workflow is an opening count at load in and a closing count at teardown, with the difference giving you units sold per line. You can add notes during a slow hour if you want more detail.
What if my show is at a fairground with no signal?
Take the counts on paper the way you always have. The sheet is short enough to fill in on a clipboard at teardown, and you enter the numbers later when you are back in range. Nothing about the record depends on being online at the booth.
Other comparisons on boothinventory.com
Comparison
BoothInventory vs Google Sheets
Google Sheets suits a maker doing a handful of shows a year with a setup they enjoy maintaining, while BoothInventory suits a maker whose tab count has outgrown the season.
Settle this one with a fair you know
A head to head reads cleanly on a page and differently at teardown with cold hands and a half packed van. Ask for a demo and we will run this exact comparison against one show you have worked twice, using your counts and your booth fee. Fifteen minutes is usually enough to see which side of the split your circuit sits on.