It may be the recession. I remember a number of crafty people last year posting that they hadn't sold enough to cover their expenses at some of the craft fairs they usually do well at. So if sales have still been down generally, I'm thinking a lot of people have just decided it's not worth the gamble of renting a table and possibly losing money if people aren't spending much.

I don't know about shipping, but you can probably still find everything crafty you want on Etsy.