I just signed up for my first craft show

[maverick31]

well I just signed up for my first show. It is set up for the first weekend in march. I figure I have a little time to get everything ready. I plan on going with mostly turned items like pens,stoppers,bowls, a couple of weed pots. Some of the other stuff I make are rubberband guns,picture frames, and a few other odds/end things. Does anyone have any advice/comments or what I should expect?

I think there may be a hundred or so vendors selling that weekend. Booth fees were over a hundred bucks so I hope it will be worth it. My wife is pretty nervous considering this is the first one and it cost so much with no guarantee to sell anything.

[Joe Lyddon]

Good Luck, Clay!

May the Gods be with you...

Hope you come out ahead...

[maverick31]

thanks joe, I appreciate the encouragement

[Ruffnek]

I hope you do well at the show, Mav. The $100 entry fee sounds like it is a fairly high-end show and will hopefully discourage the imported re-sellers.

[maverick31]

Posted by Ruffnek on Today at 10:31pm

I hope you do well at the show, Mav. The $100 entry fee sounds like it is a fairly high-end show and will hopefully discourage the imported re-sellers.


I read through the terms and I am pretty sure I interperated as all items have to be hand made, no pyramid schemes, no imported resell items, etc... Hopefully eager buyers show up. My wifes grandpaw did these shows back 20 years ago and said he always did pretty good. I am hoping for the same results but I know how tough times are now. This is kind of a trial run for me. If it goes well I will keep going, if it does not go so well I will probably just do a couple of low end shows throughout the year, that way I wont spend too much money. I do have a 3 year old that costs a small fortune.

[boodrow]

Mav good luck on ur first show! I know how u feel. Ive only done 3 shows , 2 of the 3 were good , the other was so so . My only advise is carry as much as u can , keep it reasonably priced and be nice to the ladys , they will be buyin most of ur stuff. Oh and dont forget to dazzle um with BS ,
Boodrow

[maverick31]

I am a pretty good bs'er, my mother is going with me to help out. She is even a better bs'er than me. thanks for the advise guys.

[sachbvn]

Maverick, first of all - GOOD LUCK!!

Second, $100 does imply a high end show - SO, having said that....the best piece of advice I can give you is.... don't undersell yourself.... meaning... don't mark your things low because it's your first show and you wanna test the waters. At a high end show you are very likely to turn people away because they think the item HAS to be cheaply made to be sold at such a low price. I know this to be true.

I've seen your stuff - it's nice, real nice. You should charge every penny, plus some, of what it's worth.

Good luck - I'm very excited for you, please keep us informed about the results!

Zac

[Doug B]

Good luck Mav! I understand your nervousness. Expect to learn a lot on your first show. It is a whole different thing being on the other side of the table

I know your things will sell well if anyone's are selling. Like Zac said, don't underprice your stuff.

Presentation is important - a nicely organized and decorated table is a benefit.

Most vendors will probably have those EZ-UP tents. After my second show, I decided I better get one too, and it really makes your display look more professional. I got mine at Sams club.

Have you determined whether or not you will accept checks? only local checks?

Be sure you can make proper change - for that reason alone I price all my items in $5.00 increments so that I won't have to mess with dollar bills at all.

Be prepared to decide what you will do if someone wants a discount for purchasing multiple items. That one caught me off guard the very first show and I ended up discounting way too much! Now, I have a standard discount that I always use that has some logic to it.

Be ready to determine how you will handle kids that want to pick up and handle your items...most parents do not allow it, but some don't seem to care unless you mention it. I like to have something like an old beat up yoyo that I let kids mess with.

Make eye contact with every person walking by and if they acknowledge you, say something nice and smile - it is amazing how much that will change the look on someone's face who is trying to decide whether or not to take a closer look.

Send one of your cards home with every single purchase with a description of what it was written on the card. I use labels that I stick on the back of the card with wood type, pen type, and what ink refill is needed. This is not only good advertising, but, if they call you later with any questions, you will know exactly what item they are talking about.

People love to hear about what your different materials used are and how you make things, so I have several visual aids that I take with me to every show. I especially like to have a Cross refill and a Parker refill handy to quickly show the difference between them. Also, have a writing pad handy to let them try the pens out. Because I like to leave the protective cover on ink gels, I keep my own pen handy for people to use to see how nicely an ink gel writes, but I don't remove the protective tip until they purchase.

I always give the buyer a choice between a box and a cloth sleeve for a purchase. If the pen is going to be a gift, then the box with a sleeve is very much appreciated by the purchaser. For bottle stoppers I use a cloth pouch.

I am sure I am forgetting some things, but those are some of the things I wish I had known going in to my first show

Good luck!

[Joe Lyddon]

That could end up NOT so good...

If you had sales of $1,000, your fee of $100 would be 10% of your sales.

Can you figure what percentage of your sales would be acceptable for The Fee?

It may be higher than you think...

Do you have enough merchandise to sell to get the Sales$$ to make it profitable?

The Fee is not the only expense involved... either...

How much do you expect to sell?

[sachbvn]

Joe does have a point - it's not just $100 in sales you need to make, it's $100 PLUS cost of each pen sold, so... you figure whatever that would be.

BUT - I'm honestly not worried for you Maverick - like Doug said, if ANY ONE is selling stuff - you'll be selling stuff too....and at $100 a vendor, I'm fairly certain this is the kind of show where people do buy stuff....

Seriously, I would just work on getting a wide variety of pens and other items going. I can't remember who, but someone here, said - women love Zebrawood.... you know? That is the truth - when I show my stuff to people, the women really love the Zebrawood stuff..... so.... I'd make sure you have a couple/few pens in that and a few bottle stoppers if you are able to.

Just my thoughts.
Zac

[maverick31]

wow thank you guys for your advise and nice comments. I will try and answer some of the questions:

Posted by dougb on Today at 11:46am

Presentation is important - a nicely organized and decorated table is a benefit. (Got my mom covering this one, she is like martha stewart)

Most vendors will probably have those EZ-UP tents. After my second show, I decided I better get one too, and it really makes your display look more professional. I got mine at Sams club. (this is an indoor show, not sure if needed???)

Have you determined whether or not you will accept checks? only local checks? (yes, I will accept local checks only, the place putting on the show also has credit card processing for a 1% fee too. ;D)

Be sure you can make proper change - for that reason alone I price all my items in $5.00 increments so that I won't have to mess with dollar bills at all. (all over this one for sure)

Be prepared to decide what you will do if someone wants a discount for purchasing multiple items. That one caught me off guard the very first show and I ended up discounting way too much! Now, I have a standard discount that I always use that has some logic to it. (haven't thought of this one yet, but will think about pricing for mult items)

Be ready to determine how you will handle kids that want to pick up and handle your items...most parents do not allow it, but some don't seem to care unless you mention it. I like to have something like an old beat up yoyo that I let kids mess with.
(not too worried, I will have a few kiddie items for this)


Send one of your cards home with every single purchase with a description of what it was written on the card. I use labels that I stick on the back of the card with wood type, pen type, and what ink refill is needed. This is not only good advertising, but, if they call you later with any questions, you will know exactly what item they are talking about. (all over this one already)


I always give the buyer a choice between a box and a cloth sleeve for a purchase. If the pen is going to be a gift, then the box with a sleeve is very much appreciated by the purchaser. For bottle stoppers I use a cloth pouch. (working on this one as we speak)
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Posted by Joe Lyddon on Today at 12:31pm
That could end up NOT so good...

If you had sales of $1,000, your fee of $100 would be 10% of your sales.

Can you figure what percentage of your sales would be acceptable for The Fee?

It may be higher than you think...

Do you have enough merchandise to sell to get the Sales$$ to make it profitable? (I should by march, I plan to go with 30 or stoppers, 30-40 pens, 10 or so bowls, 5 or so vases, 20-30 small kiddie items/toys/rubberband guns, as many picture frames as I can stand to build and maybe a few other things if I can finish up all the above)

The Fee is not the only expense involved... either...

How much do you expect to sell?
(You know I think if I sell about $500 worth of stuff I will break even considering I have 135 in booth fees, and several hundred in wood/pen kits/stoppers/etc....hopefully I sell more than that though)
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Posted by sachbvn on Today at 3:08pm
Joe does have a point - it's not just $100 in sales you need to make, it's $100 PLUS cost of each pen sold, so... you figure whatever that would be.

BUT - I'm honestly not worried for you Maverick - like Doug said, if ANY ONE is selling stuff - you'll be selling stuff too....and at $100 a vendor, I'm fairly certain this is the kind of show where people do buy stuff....

Seriously, I would just work on getting a wide variety of pens and other items going. I can't remember who, but someone here, said - women love Zebrawood.... you know? That is the truth - when I show my stuff to people, the women really love the Zebrawood stuff..... so.... I'd make sure you have a couple/few pens in that and a few bottle stoppers if you are able to.
(still have quite a bit of zebrawood left, I plan on picking up another 1.5 x1.5x 12 this weekend, along with a few other pen kits and more bottle stopper kits)
---------------------------------------------------
Sorry so long, I also plan on building a few displays for the items. Hopefully I will look like I know what I am doing

[Joe Lyddon]

Clay,

I was glad to see a very diverse spectrum of items For Sale!
That will help a lot! ... and you have til March to build more & more! ;D ;D

I think you will sell MORE than $500 in Sales...

[Doug B]

Clay, you are so much more prepared for your first show than I was that it is not funny.

And yes, indoor shows do not need the EZ-UP tents I have never done an indoor show yet, but I am signed up for one in February. I won't be using the tent for that one ;D

Best of luck to you Mav!

[maverick31]

I hope you are right, would love to see over 500 per day but that may be reaching for the stars. I have done a lot of research on how to prep for a show. My wifes grandfather has been a huge help. When he retired he did this full time to supplement his retirement checks/social security and did it for a long time. I learned a lot from him over the years and he has not let me down yet. I am the type of person that goes all out for something like this when I make the decision to do it. I figure there is no sense in half a**ing it. Sink or swim I guess. Luckily this year has been pretty good for us financially and I can afford to take the risk. I think it will go ok as long as people show up to buy.

[maverick31]

well, I just got my confirmation in the mail. I have been approved and my booth is 2nd row directly in front of one of the entrances/exits. I went to the woodstore today and bought a stick of cocobolo,black palm and some more pen kits. Now I just gotta get busy. thanks for all of your help/advice by the way.

[Doug B]

No backing out now Mav! You gotta go with what you think is the best things to take, and hope you guessed correctly

Heck, if it was easy...flat workers would be doing craft shows too ;D

[boodrow]

One last word of advise , If the lady is 90 years old that walks up to u , always greet um as " How are u today young lady " Ive had so many women tell me I just made there day. Again good luck , stick to ur guns on price and dicker if needed. Ive dont the same thing Doug talked about. Have a discount for multiples in ur head for u start. And remeber to tell um its one of a kind and cant be duplicated , its American hand made and not from china. Ive also lost sales the last 2 years at the Edom show me and Cody do because I dont give into the tite wads. They get the lowest price from u then offer less , Id rather give it to somebody than sell it to them. Tis a long story and maybe one day I will post it. Again good luck my friend.
Boodrow

[maverick31]

thanks for the advice boodrow. I will use your line with the older ladies and young ones too. I am a great negotiator/bull chitter extrorinair, so if the try to talk me down I will buge a few bucks but not much else. I know what the stuff is worth and I do have a bottom line. I can always sell my items at a different time. A friend of mine is big buddies with a liquor store owner here in town and said when I get a few made up he will go with me to meet with the owner. He thinks they would love to do a deal with me. THey have 4 or 5 stores all over town. I plan on doing this before the show so when I get done with the show I can start mass producing them if the liquor store is interested.

[Ruffnek]

Jan 18, 2010 20:00:33 GMT -6 boodrow said:

Again good luck , stick to ur guns on price and dicker if needed. Boodrow

I don't think the show promoters would like it if you were to dicker...at least not right there in your sales booth.