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anybody know?? (Read 5,283 times)
 
Anthony Yakonick
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #15 - Feb 8th, 2009 at 3:50pm
 
I shoot for ten times my booth fee in total sales.

You do need sides, for when not if, the wind and rain comes. A slight breeze can knock 10 HFs down, I keep 3 sides down 99% of the time.

Tables work for your first show, but you want your work at eye level. Also a large turning for a booth centerpiece, it (edited out) the people into your booth.

Get a white canopy, any other color (edited out) the light out of your booth and changes the color of your work.

If you want to do 2K in sales you need 5K in inventory.

If there's a few turners at a show, the market for turnings is small. You don't want to cut your own throat and the other turners throats also.

Poor craftsmanship won't cut it, torn end grain, tool bruises and sanding marks are a no no

It aint a flea market, set prices right and stand firm, no Walmart Woodturning. But give a discount on multiple item sales if asked.

5 people in a booth gets crowded.

Great the customers, sitting in a chair reading shows you don't care. speak to them eye to eye.

Don't smoke, eat or drink in your booth.

Doing shows can be brutal, finishing up the week before, packing, night before butterflies, early set up, tear down WILL take it's toll.

And finally, there's a good chance you'll have a bad show. Moneys tight right now.
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ByGeorge
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #16 - Feb 8th, 2009 at 6:14pm
 
Junior Adams wrote on Feb 6th, 2009 at 10:48pm:
I went to my first arts and crafts show today as a patron just to do some research. The show i went to is one of the biggest in the state taking place twice every year, and it was HUGE... 5 or 6 buildings at the state fairgrounds full of arts and crafts. I was really looking forward to getting to meet other turners and maybe squeeze a few answers out of them. After searching a couple of the buildings and finding no turners, i searched out the office. When i found the office, i was told that there are normally two ( yes 2) turners, but this time neither of them purchased a booth.


My first reaction was suprise. no turners at all... weird i thought.

My next thoughts were excitement.. If i come to the October show fully stocked, i should clean house... I mean even if two other turners show up i should have no problems doing good...

the cost of the show seems pretty high to me though... $300 to $500 for a three day deal. so my next thought is concern. I don't want to spend a bunch of money buying stock, and then all teh stuff i need to set up a booth, and then the cost of the booth itself, and then sell nothing..

There were tons of vendors, selling tons of stuff, and lots of people walking around with full arms, so it seems that it wouldnt be too hard to at least recoop the cost of doing it...


anyones thoughts and or experience here would be much appreciated. Cause right now i sure am excited about my possibilities.


(PS... not to sound big headed, but i saw two pens that were made by one of the other turners that usually have a booth and i was not impressed... even a little bit.)


USUALLY, when vendors don't come back, it's because they didn't do well at the show...  Promoters need a full venue to make a profit...  They get your money, even if you don't make a sale.  Ask the promoter who the turners are, see if you can contact them and find out why they didn't do the show...
So, fully stocked or not, it is not a foregone conclusion that you can do well.  Some shows just don't provide much interest for certain kinds of work (and I really can't figure out why).  Just because the customers are buying SOMETHING doesn't automatically mean they will be buying your work.

Having said that, GO FOR IT!  If you are going to try and sell your work, and if your work is good quality, go to where the more informed customers / the folks with more discretionary/expendable income.
If you think of the financial layout as tuition and the experience like a college course in economics, you'll get your money's worth whether you sell anything or not.
One thing to consider is the current economy; How well we do over the next 6 to 36 months may be more a reflection of the economic environment than our work.
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« Last Edit: Feb 8th, 2009 at 6:15pm by N/A »  
 
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Terence Rice
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #17 - Feb 10th, 2009 at 6:54pm
 
Thanks for the link, Phil. I hadn't seen it before and it looks very helpful.

     
TD
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Junior Adams
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #18 - Feb 11th, 2009 at 12:39am
 
tons of awesome help here on this thread!!


thanks again for all the help everyone! this is sure to be an exciting adventure!


I actually have an old plastic soda rack that is pretty much exactly eye level. In fact, it may be a bit too tall. if it is, i can always cut four of the legs to lower it. Today, i found all the hardware needed for two tables, and i have some fiberglass paneling normally used to make cattle trailers that will make an excellent tabletop! So i will have two tables that i can customize to fit, and all it will cost me is a few carraige bolts and a bit of time!


I am also thinking of doing 6 or 8 "Featured" turnings... maybe a couple of HF's, and some bowls, and such.. then i want to take just a few pictures of that piece going from hunk of wood, to finished product and loop the pics on my laptop using my 32" LCD tv as a display. any thoughts?
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Philip Peak
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #19 - Feb 11th, 2009 at 7:33am
 
Don't forget you will need table and shelf coverings.  Nothing looks more unprofessional than bare tables and shelves.
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Vaughn McMillan
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #20 - Feb 11th, 2009 at 2:40pm
 
Junior Adams wrote on Feb 11th, 2009 at 12:39am:
...then i want to take just a few pictures of that piece going from hunk of wood, to finished product and loop the pics on my laptop using my 32" LCD tv as a display. any thoughts?


I think it's a good idea. (You'll need to make sure you have power in your booth, though.) I have a display of Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to Login or Register showing the transition from a root ball to a bowl, with the bowl displayed in front of the pics. (The bowl's not for sale...LOML put her dibs on it.) This display gets a lot of comments, and seems to draw people into the booth.

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Junior Adams
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #21 - Feb 11th, 2009 at 2:55pm
 
Yes Sir.. i am with you there!

The soda rack thingy i spoke of says RC COLA all over it.  Grin


not to mention, i think it is in the rules for most of the local shows (the ones i have looked into anyway) that your tables must be covered and skirted to the floor.



On the idea of the pictures of the piece on a loop, my wife suggested that i do a white background shot of the blank, and then two or three through the process. that way it keeps them guessing on the machinery and techniques and all. it would just be several pictures of the piece in process... i think it would catch alot of attention. Especially on a head high 32" television.



I had another question too...

Do people touch your stuff?

I mean, i read somewhere that someone has a set of pens or whatever that they let people touch and feel for the fit and finish. is that the norm? and do people still try to handle the pens?

if a person is actually going to buy a pen, then touching two or three of them to figure out which one they want would not bother me... but if people walk up and handle two or three pens and then turn and walk away, i might lose it. that would make me wanna kick em in the shin!

I didn't touch anything when i went to the craft show the other day... but i had no intentions of buying anything. i just have this feeling that everyone is gonna want to pick them up and look at them and feel them and so on.

It will be interesting no doubt! If something happens, i will post a link to the coverage!!!!!!!


**************THIS JUST IN**********************

A man was arrested today at the 23rd annual Whatchamacallit arts and crafts fair for... of all things, kicking people in their shin bones. We tried to get a statement as they hauled him away in cuffs, but he just kept screaming "PUT IT DOWN. PUT IT DOWN"
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Brendan McAreavy
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #22 - Feb 11th, 2009 at 4:09pm
 
There will be a lot of people who touch and feel but not buy.  Once you put your stuff on a table for sale a lot of potential customers will view it as being in their domain and that, unless you have 'do not touch' signs up, they are entitled to feel and see what the goods are like.  If you stop people touching you essentially put a sheet of glass across your booth and people will treat it as a shop window and look as they pass.  On another thread we were discussing the tactile effect of wood, that's an important element in sales.

If you have pieces you don't want touched I imagine there should be a place for them inside the booth where customers who are likely to buy will make the effort to reach rather than casually lift things as they pass.
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« Last Edit: Feb 11th, 2009 at 4:10pm by Brendan McAreavy »  

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Terence Rice
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #23 - Feb 11th, 2009 at 6:45pm
 
In my gallery displays I have a sign that says "Wood is a very tactile medium. Please feel free to touch the pieces." Then the few really delicate pieces are behind glass. Most people are still too wary to do more than run a finger across them. In the past three years I have only had one piece damaged and that happened as I was handing it to someone and it slipped out of my own butterfingers. Embarrassed
           
TD
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How did all these wood shavings get on my shop floor?
 
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JimQuarles
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #24 - Feb 12th, 2009 at 1:01am
 
I had 175 pens, letter openers, key rings, and etc at the shows I did.  Average price was about $40.  They were spread out on 3 tables in a "U" shape seen in the pictures.  I checked inventory when I got home, and never lost a thing, though I had as many as 7 people handling pens all around me at the same time.

JimQ
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Vaughn McMillan
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #25 - Feb 12th, 2009 at 3:25am
 
As I said in a thread next door...

Quote:
For my first couple shows, I had a few small signs around my display that said "Please ask before handling". Some people didn't see (or heed) the signs, and others would just back off and not touch anything.

Now, I encourage booth visitors to handle the pieces. I tell people "Feel free to pick any of the pieces up. They're meant to be handled. I just ask that you don't juggle with them". That usually gets a chuckle, and folks tend to relax and spend more time checking out my work. I've found that people tend to be real careful with my stuff. (Knock on wood.)


I use Renaissance Wax on pretty much everything, so fingerprints really haven't been a problem. I also have a tin of wax and a microfiber cloth at the show with me for touch-ups if needed.

Junior, I'd say get used to the idea of people touching your pens. Might want to wear your fuzzy slippers, so your customers won't bruise too badly when you kick 'em in the shins.  Grin
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« Last Edit: Feb 12th, 2009 at 3:28am by Vaughn McMillan »  
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Tom Davis
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #26 - Feb 12th, 2009 at 5:59pm
 
Terence Rice wrote on Feb 11th, 2009 at 6:45pm:
  In the past three years I have only had one piece damaged and that happened as I was handing it to someone and it slipped out of my own butterfingers


Funny that you said this, last night I took some pens, bottle stoppers, and bowls to show a group of my daughters friends. As I was putting the stuff away I dropped a bottle stopper on a curly maple bowl that a lady was going to buy. Put a dent in the inside of the bowl so I told her I would make another just like it and get it to her. She said she wanted that one and didn't care about the little ding and would pay the same price. I couldn't let her do that so we agreed that she would pay full and I would through in a pen of her choosing. Today I had 3 messages on my answering machine for orders from her friends.
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Mike Baber
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #27 - Feb 12th, 2009 at 6:37pm
 
Tom Davis wrote on Feb 12th, 2009 at 5:59pm:
Today I had 3 messages on my answering machine for orders from her friends.


You go Tom... Congrads!!!
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Chuck Beland
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #28 - Feb 12th, 2009 at 7:22pm
 
Tom,
Fantastic news. That's how to keep them happy & coming back for more.  smiley=thumbsup.gif
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Re: anybody know??
Reply #29 - Feb 12th, 2009 at 7:31pm
 
thats fantastic Tom.  customer service will win every time. smiley=thumbsup.gif smiley=thumbsup.gif smiley=thumbsup.gif
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