More than you ever wanted to know about a craft show

I realized I never recapped my last craft show which was in December at a local elementary school. Let me take a moment and summarize it now. Sold approximately $90 worth of merchandise. Booth was a percentage of sales (I think I paid about $17 in the end). Only sale over $5 all day was to my friend. It was a disheartening day sitting there and selling $2 items but I learned some lessons.

1. price better (higher!) but,

2. sell in the right venue. One that works for your product, has customers who will accept higher prices  and isn't filled with folks selling handmade items for less than the value of materials

So IndieSacramento in the California Museum on a busy, sunny, free admission Saturday with a great group of professional vendors was just right for me. I also had a great spot (thanks, Stacey) and a product range which was reasonably unique for the show.

 

I had worked on my display the day before so I felt pretty good about how I was presenting my work (especially compared to my usual "toss the stuff onto a wrinkled table cloth and cross my fingers" approach). Well, the burlap was still wrinkled but I did have actual display pieces to cover those wrinkles. I had a plate of homemade cookies for the first ~3 hours of the show so that helped encourage folks to stop.

 

I forgot to take close ups of the merchandise but, even with what I consider to be a successful sale, there is plenty left to photograph later :) The stump bud vases were new this time around and I LOVE them but the buyers, not so much. Sold only 2 (one to a friend. Thanks, Lauren). They were priced at $12 for small and $15 for large. Too much? Maybe but they were more of a hassle to make than they might appear. The wool stones were more popular than I anticipated and midday I started giving one free with any purchase of $20 or more. That made people happy and they forgave me for not having bags for their stuff. Oops, forgot the bags. But I did have adorable little tins to package the necklaces.

The candle holders are all reversible (flip overable?). I had to explain that a lot but basically one side holds a votive and if you turn it upside down it holds a pillar. Cool, eh? As long as you don't let the candles burn too low! I sold three of those ($10 each). The engraved logs/decorative objects (top left in the photo) attracted a lot of attention and it was nice to have a more unisex product than all the jewelry. With all the wood my table attracted a number of men (some hanging out while wives shopped elsewhere). I got to talk about lasers and band saws a good bit. Men are fascinated by laser engravers. Anyway, sold two decorative objects ($20 each) both to men.

The pins and pendants attracted the most interest by far. Lots of looky loos and 7 sales ($20 each although I sold one for $18 because it was small). One woman bought two! The ones I liked best sold first so I know what images I should reprint. A few complaints that they were too expensive but it was the minority view which was a relief.

Finally, the rings were a hit. Sold 8 at $5 each and they were super easy and fun (piece of oak branch, sliced, sanded, shellaced, glued to ring base, done). I thought they looked cool and surprisingly lots of folks agreed. Great impulse buy item to have up front.

So, the grand total? $289 in sales. Booth fee was $25 and although I didn't keep good enough track of expenses, I spent approximately $100 on supplies many of which I still have on hand in the form of merchandise for future shows. I guess it depends how you measure success but making everything was fun, sitting at the booth was fun and I have ~$150 I wouldn't have otherwise had. I also got a custom order that seems pretty secure for another $25 item. No complaints from me.

Thanks, IndieSac!

Comments

[Amy Cluck]

Sounds like you did great! Your display really really looked good. If you sold 7 pendants than I don't think they were priced too high at all! at least 7 people didn't think so. lol. I had someone complain about a $12 headband the other day. People forget that we actually make the stuff. I thought "Um, sorry. This isn't Forever 21." Oh well. Anyway, everything looked really great and I love the vases too. thank you for the pendant - I owe you!

[UK lass in US]

I don't suppose they're having another IndieSac type thing towards the end of April, are they? - I'll be up that way some time around then.

[UK lass in US]

PS. I really love the look of all those laser engraved things. You could make coasters and magnets and buttons and ring trays and drawer pulls and tree ornaments and bookmarks (can you engrave wood that thin?) and things like that, if you want other unisex things. Does it work on premade wood things, like a ready made wood box? Ok, I need to stop imagining engraving all the wood surfaces in my house and put these kids to bed...

[Melissa Haworth]

UK Lass, I wish there was another one in April but Amy (aka Peptogirl) whos been planning them has said this is her last one unless theres another third party (like the museum) who will host. Getting insurance and proper licensing for this type of show was getting too prohibitive. Bummer, huh?  If youre in the region April 17 its Picnic Day at UC Davis which is always a good time....

[Jessica]

Love the rings! Totally would have snatched up one of those myself if I had been there. (I'm wearing one of your necklaces right this very instant!) Congrats!

[Melissa Haworth]

Jessica,
it makes me so happy that youre wearing the necklace. Thanks for telling me!!
Melissa

[CMonster]

yayyyyi bought one of these lovely rings ♥♥ Super cute!

[Melissa Haworth]

Thanks, CMonster! Im so glad you like it!