Merchandise Vendor Insurance

Yes, if the policy includes products liability and completed operations, which is the extension that responds to claims arising from something you sold, regardless of when the injury or damage actually occurs. A candle sold in October that starts a fire in January is still your exposure, and the policy in force at the time of the loss — not the time of sale — is generally the one that has to respond, so continuous, uninterrupted coverage matters more than most vendors realize.

Nickel is one of the most common skin-allergy triggers in costume jewelry, and lead content in children's jewelry is federally restricted with real regulatory teeth behind it. Underwriters ask about metal content and sourcing because an allergic-reaction claim or a regulatory recall both trace back to the same fact pattern — inadequately disclosed or tested materials — and both are far more common in handmade and imported jewelry than vendors expect.

In most cases your products liability coverage follows the product, not the sales channel, so a policy written correctly covers a piece sold at a fall festival and shipped later from an online order just the same. The gap shows up when a vendor's policy is written narrowly as 'special event' coverage tied to specific dates, which can leave the off-season online tail completely uninsured — worth confirming explicitly before assuming it is included.

Additional insured status extends your liability defense to the promoter for claims tied to your booth. Primary and non-contributory wording tells your carrier to pay first, ahead of any coverage the promoter carries on its own, instead of the two insurers arguing over which pays first while a claim sits unresolved. Most vendor agreements require both, and they are two separate endorsements, not one.

Generally yes, under your general liability coverage for bodily injury arising from your operation, assuming the canopy was a normal part of your booth setup and not modified or used against its rated specifications. What underwriters look at afterward is whether the canopy was properly weighted for the venue's typical wind exposure, because a documented weighting failure can complicate a claim even where the base coverage responds.

Once a maker is doing more than three or four shows a season, the math usually flips: repeated per-event certificates each carry their own binder fee and processing lag, and any date the certificate does not exactly cover is a date you are uninsured. An annual policy that a broker can certificate same-day for any promoter, at any market, removes that gap entirely and is usually cheaper across a full season than stacking one-off certificates.