First Show - Follow-up Report

[The MediaBoy]

A few weeks ago I promised that I would report how our first Craft Fair went this past weekend (Mar. 21-22).

 

I had mentioned that I really didn't have any set expectations -- that if we did well, we did well. And if we got totally skunked, the learning experience would still make it worth it. As it turns out we didn't get skunked (although many crafters there did), and we did learn an awful lot. We made enough to cover our expenses for the weekend, and I'll leave it at that.

 

There was decent traffic at the show, but people weren't buying much. Except maybe for the Flea Market quality & priced jewelry. Those folks seemed to clean up. The hardcore, true crafters at the show, the ones who have done this for decades, all pretty much said that this was the worse show they had ever been at. I'll just have to take their word for it.

 

1.) We learned that our 'market' will be the more 'high-end' customers at craft shows/fairs. We're probably better suited for combination Art & Craft shows and festivals. We have one of those coming up in April -- 200 vendors, 100 of which are artists, 100 are crafters.

 

2.) We learned a LOT about setting up, creating displays, and making our booth more inviting and eye catching.

 

3.) We learned that, although there were over 100 different crafters at this fair, no one had anything even remotely resembling our scrolled portraits and scenes. That made us quite a novelty at the show.

 

4.) We learned that we need to take more props to better explain the creation process. A printed pattern, some spiral blades, and maybe even a half-finished portrait. It was amazing how many people couldn't believe that all of the pieces were hand cut. 8 out of 10 people thought it was laser cut.

 

5.) Based on the observations & advice from the vast majority of the long-time crafters, my work is not overpriced. In fact, many thought that it may be under priced. That said, they also said that I would need to be very choosey about the craft shows/fairs that I went to (which is basically what #1 above states).

 

I will say this, if I can ever translate just half of the "Wow", "It's absolutely beautiful", "Amazing", "You are amazingly talented", the "Oh my Lord, I've never seen anything like it" comments into dollars, we'll be very successful. We heard that so much that by the end of Day #2 I was afraid that my wife would go postal if she heard it one more time.

 

So the jury is still out. We'll know a lot more after this upcoming Arts & Crafts festival in April. And once again..., I really have no set expectations.

[Vector01]

Hi:

 

I've had the same experiences with my pyrography...Plenty of acclades but no one reaching for their wallet. Finding a good venue for your art is hit and miss. Specialized art & craft shows dealing in woodcrafts is a great idea.

 

When you have to compete with the flea market vendors it's diffulcult. People are cruising the booths looking for an original Picasso for $10.00 bucks. The current state of our economy doesn't help much either.

 

Demonstrations are a great boost to sales. The buyers see the finished piece and aren't aware of the time and art that goes into making a piece. I know pyrographers that spend a few extra dollars to get electricity to their booths. They bring their woodburning equipment and actually work on a piece during the show. This helps in attracting more potential buyers.

 

 

Have Fun!

[Travis]

Thanks for the update! I found that very interesting. Did you find that other booth owners were willing to offer advice? Or are they guarded with their secrets?

 

When looking for craft show, I would make sure there aren't any re-sellers there and it's only Artists/Craftspersons. Fleamarket crowd is looking for deals. Craftshow crowd are looking for handcrafted items and willing to spend money to get something handmade. Maybe think about having a scroll saw with you and do some cutting. Your wife can do the selling and you can talk about the process. It certainly will draw crowds and maybe help sales. If not, maybe one of those digital photo frames with pictures of the process. That might be pretty cool.

 

One of my favorite blogs (I haven't had the time to read it much lately since I started this website, though ), is Scroll Saw Blog by David Griffin. He's a scroller that does a lot of craft shows and he blogs about his experiences. Very cool blog. You might find some good ideas in there for your next show. You canfind his blog here.

 

I can't wait to hear about your next experiences.

[Christina]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. I'm glad to hear you made your expenses at least and gained valuable information. That in itself is worth it's weight in gold! Hopefully your next show will be much more lucrative for you. But at least now you know what to expect and you have the knowlege to show your work off to it's very best.

Christina

[paul44224]

Thanks for the "tip" on the props idea! Never thought of that. I have an upcoming show in April. I'll certainly use that idea!

 

I keep away from shows that have flea market venders. Different crowd of buyers as Travis and Vector said.

 

You also have to have a somewhat wide variety of items to sell.

 

I'll post my show results after my next show.

 

Paul

[The MediaBoy]

I absolutely agree about how taking one of my saws to the show and doing demos would probably draw interest. The wife and I talked very seriously about that -- weighing the pros and cons. The issues with taking a saw are:

 

1.) Toting the thing there. The truck is already pretty doggone full. And since my wife has had two back surgeries, I am all of the 'muscle' on the team. Okay..., muscle may be an overstatement , so suffice it to say that I'm just not as young as I once was.

 

2.) Electricity - is not always available at shows, and when it is available it usually comes at a premium price.

 

3.) Space - in most cases you get a 10' x 10' space and all of that is taken up by merchandise. You can get larger spaces (see "premium prices"). And for outdoor shows a canopy is almost always required. We have one 10x10 canopy, and at about $200 a pop I seriously doubt we'll get a second one.

 

4.) Liability - unless I am standing or sitting at the saw at all times, what is stopping some kid from turning it on or knocking it over on themselves and getting hurt?

 

For now I'm thinking that I'll just take more props - a partially finished piece, some blades, a few patterns, etc.

 

Thanks to all of you for your interest, encouragement, and suggestions. They are all very much appreciated. This whole thing is a work in progress and I'm pretty sure that we'll make adjustments along the way.

 

Travis to answer your question, the majority of other vendors at the show were very open, helpful, and gave us plenty of good advice. That could be because they're just really nice people, or it could be that what I sell poses absolutely no competetion to what they sell. It's probably a combination of both.

[blame]

The issues with taking a saw are:

 

1.) Toting the doggone thing there. The truck is already pretty doggone full. And since my wife has had two back surgeries, I am all of the 'muscle' on the team. Okay..., muscle may be an overstatement , so suffice it to say that I'm just not as young as I once was.

 

2.) Electricity - is not always available at shows, and when it is available it usually comes at a premium price.

 

3.) Space - in most cases you get a 10' x 10' space and all of that is taken up by merchandise. You can get larger spaces (see "premium prices"). And for outdoor shows a canopy is almost always required. We have one 10x10 canopy, and at about $200 a pop I seriously doubt we'll get a second one.

 

4.) Liability - unless I am standing or sitting at the saw at all times, what is stopping some kid from turning it on or knocking it over on themselves and getting hurt?

 

when i was a teenager, i use to help a guy that sold leather belts (all hand made) what we would do is set up the tables so that there was U shape with the bottom of the U being the front of the canopy we then set up a table in the middle and would demo the process of making the belts. the crowd couldnt get to the where we where working unless they came in the back which then we could stop them we also had full view of every piece we had for sale and nothing ever came up missing...

[The MediaBoy]

Hmm, blame, that sounds like a plan. Now if I could just find a way around the "Toting" part...

[Travis]

Demonstrate with a fretsaw! That'll impress the heck out of 'em! Plus its easy to tote!

 

[The MediaBoy]

Demonstrate with a fretsaw! That'll impress the heck out of 'em! Plus its easy to tote!

There's always one in every group. The only surprise here is that this time it was Travis and not me.

[blame]

i have a thought about toting it

 

if you where to mount it to a hand truck it would make for handy way to move the saw by one person

[Travis]

Demonstrate with a fretsaw! That'll impress the heck out of 'em! Plus its easy to tote!

There's always one in every group. The only surprise here is that this time it was Travis and not me.

 

LOL....I'm always here to help.

[Christina]

LOL yep they would be impressed alright! Actually I think the idea of the props is a good one. And to help tote you could always get a little red wagon

No seriously..........when I was doing craft shows I made myself a cart I could stack stuff on and then pull to my area like a wagon. I had to load, set up/tear down and run it by myself. Sure made it alot easier! Basically a flatbed wagon. I used straps, bungy cords etc... to help hold things if I needed to and sometimes it took two trips but...........it worked!

Christina

[Travis]

LOL...those darn wagons are almost as expensive as your tent! I was looking for one for my son....man, those things sell for like $100! I couldn't believe it. But you're right, I've seen a lot of crafters use those wagons to carry their plastic totes. I bet it makes life much easier, especially when the show manager makes you park a mile away.

[blame]

u could check here there's all kinds of options lol

 

http://www.google.com/products?q=hand+truck&oe=UTF-8&scoring=p

[The MediaBoy]

I got one of those convertible hand trucks. You can use it upright or as a flatbed and I couldn't do without it.

 

If possible, I'd like to limit the number of trips back & forth from the truck for setup and teardown. Right now it takes 2 trips with stuff stacked so high that it's almost teetering -- which for some odd reason brings visions of the old Flinstones cartoons to mind.