My craft fair last weekend....

[Malinda]

sucked! Didn't even make back my table fee, close but not quite! I guess good thing is everyone was down so they said so I can't take it personal. I am going to view a couple more upcoming fairs and not participate in them but starting next year I will be more active in them (as money permits).

So, as some have reminded me, I already have a start on items for next years events :)

[Kev]

Sorry to hear that Mal. The one, and only one I did last year sucked as well. I don't think it's really my forte either. What you have made will not go out of style, so yes, looking at it positively, your ahead of the game for next year.

[ct4mom]

Sorry to hear that Malinda. My first of the year is this Friday and last years sales were good but down from the year before, hoping this year will improve...time will tell.
Your in a new area so going to a few shows and talking to see what sells in the area will help too.

[Lou Ann]

sorry to hear that... I have found the first one I do in a new town I tend to have low sales but when I go back they are usually very good, it's like people need to see you are in it for the long haul...

[Malinda]

well next time I am gonna have to much stuff for them to look at they'll have to stand at my aread for at least 10 minutes! :)

[Judy K]

I hate it when that happens. The next show will be better.

[Audrey]

SO sorry to hear that.  You will pick up. Give it time.

[Amber]

That bites :( , was it a big show?

[Malinda]

i think 350 booths / 270 selllers.... huge in my eyes?

[Amber]

That's a mind boggling amount to me *lol!! I live in a small city of 55,000 (if we push the boundaries it can maybe get up to 85,000) so I can't imagine what a show like that would be like, either as a vendor or a shopper ;).
Was it a arts and craft show only or was it open to a variety of things?? You must have worked like crazy to try to get enough stock so I can imagine the disappointment in sales and it must have been a hefty entry fee for something so big.
Did the show organizer say how many people walk through the doors for the event?? I just did one this weekend with 85 booths and it had about 10,000 come visit the show but to be honest the first day was awful with more then a few people only being tire kickers I found.

[Lou Ann]

did you notice if there were there a lot of other glass vendors? if so, table placement could have been your issue (if they were closer to the door, they may have gotten the sales before people even made it to your booth), I can't imagine people walked around more than once in an event that large.

the larger shows I've done have been about half that and we were hard-pressed to see the same people come around more than once...

what type of facility did they have it in? an airplane hanger is about the only thing I can think of big enough for that, unless they had you in multiple buildings and those usually stink for the people not in the main building... I've learned to ask about layout because I've gotten burned a couple of times because I didn't ask and got there and found out we were all in separate classrooms for example...

[CC]

We have an Arts and Craft Affair twice a year.  It is held at Canterbury Park(horse racing place).  They say there are 500 Artists and craftspeople from 30 states there.  I like to go to see all the different things for sale.

[ct4mom]

I attended one last weekend that we have early. It is held at the fair grounds and consists of 4 buildings and is 4 days long. There are vendors from all over the country that attend. I cant imagine having the inventory to cover that much traffic and days, not alone the cost of the space which is not cheap. I'll stick with the small intimate shows that are more friendly and reasonable,

[Barbara]

Sorry Malinda, hopeful that it gets better.

[Judy K]

Consider throwing a glass party, like the old tuperware parties.

[Stephen Richard]

well next time I am gonna have to much stuff for them to look at they'll have to stand at my aread for at least 10 minutes! :)

You may want to think about that.  I don't know what you are selling, but if you look in bargin shops, the window is crowded.  If you look in the windows of expensive shops, each piece has lots of space around it.  The first is about volume, the second about high margins.

[Anne]

well next time I am gonna have to much stuff for them to look at they'll have to stand at my aread for at least 10 minutes! :)

You may want to think about that.  I don't know what you are selling, but if you look in bargin shops, the window is crowded.  If you look in the windows of expensive shops, each piece has lots of space around it.  The first is about volume, the second about high margins.

I have to agree with Stephen. I've been doing shows for a long time and for the past two years I've been building less and less stock in keeping with what the economy has been dictating.  Sales have consistently gone down since 2008 and I don't see that changing any time soon.  I still have 3 shows to go for the year and although I set my goals low but to the degree that I thought was attainable I've still been too overly optimistic. So, unless I have a show that knocks my socks off I'll be finishing the year with stock again.  That never happened prior to 2008.  2 of my remaining shows are small ones but one is a 3 day one that prior to the crash was one of my better ones so we're hoping for the best (but not holding our breath). So, my advice is like Stephen's Malinda, I wouldn't overstock unless you don't care if you have to carry over a lot of inventory.

Good luck in the next show, I hope it goes better for you.

[Malinda]

Man, I answered questions, hit post and it made me log in then lost what I typed :( lets try this again:

This is in a high school, all the hallways and 5 large rooms were used. I know I didn't have the "Best" location but still..

Saturday had around 2700 customers, don't know yet about Sundays numbers.

The bank that lent an ATM gave out $10,000.00 over the weekend, haha, the money went somewhere :)

I was the only stained glass person there.

I make the items because I enjoy making them, I'm not much worried about carring over inventory, I have to keep making things to stay sane lol. I don't expect to cut back production, not going to go fast and crazy but not going to halt making things :)

I am going to hang things in my house so when people come over if they see something they like well...it's there for the buying lol. I love the idea of a glass party, just need to find some friends to invite over haha.

[Lou Ann]

I am going to hang things in my house so when people come over if they see something they like well...it's there for the buying lol. I love the idea of a glass party, just need to find some friends to invite over haha.

where you are rather new to your area, the other thought is to get a friend to "host" an event for you, you bring your stuff and set up, she provides snacks and people peruse that way you don't have to find many friends to invite, that's her problem

[Amber]

Saturday had around 2700 customers, don't know yet about Sundays numbers.

The bank that lent an ATM gave out $10,000.00 over the weekend, haha, the money went somewhere :)

I'm thinking that the show probably had an overwhelming amount of vendors if you only had say 5000 people walk through. I've only done two shows that felt large to me so it's not all that great for comparison but they had different ratios which probably helped with sales. The first had 50 vendors and has 6000 visitors and the second has 85 vendors and 10 000 visitors............ I think if we had 270 people all vying for those dollars we all would leave with a lot less money in the cash box ;).

this recent show taught me a few lessons mind you..... I'll likely pop into promoting artwork and leave some notes :P.