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calirose_gw

Selling at craft show - newbie at it

calirose
13 years ago

My friend is having a booth at a 3 day large craft show. She has asked me to bring my art. I have made some notecards that cost me about $1 to make, plus extras like wrappers, and 50cents each sold to my friend since it is her booth.

Do notecards sell? These are about 4x6 with envelopes. Is $3 each an okay price?

Here are 2 of my cards

From Acrylic and Oils

I had hesitated to post images, because I didn't want anyone to think I was trying to sell them here. However after reading about the scrabble pendants/magnets, thought I should post them.

Any comments will be most appreciated!

Comments (8)

  • kidd
    13 years ago

    Yes those are nice. I would buy it.

  • posieh
    13 years ago

    Your cards are lovely! I seldom pay full price for a card as there are several thrift shops here that have nice ones 2 for a $1, I only buy for something special such as a Grand child's birthday or someones' Golden Wedding. It will depend on the clientle at the show. People will be tempted as they are so beautiful. Good Luck! I didn't want you to be disappointed.

  • sunnyca_gw
    13 years ago

    Your art is beautiful! With the recession it is hard to know what would sell. I'm in Ca. with 12.6 percent unemployment not much is selling in our area. Lots of yard sales but not much getting bought even at them. Hope you are in a good area & show is advertised well. If your cards are 1 of lower priced items at a show with mostly $20 & over items they might really sell like hotcakes as people want to "buy something nice" when they get up & go to a show. So hope you have a good number made up & if you don't have the sales you hope they would make lovely gifts for friends & relatives. They are something that is easy to store & you could try again later. Good Luck, you have a beautiful product, be sure to sign it somewhere & make up a small business- like card to include in each purchase with name & phone number for repeat orders! Have a nice hand-painted sign(in the booth) that tells folks you are the artist & hand paint them. Be friendly but not too talkative,you want to sell not chat all day!! Jan

  • calirose
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    THANK YOU kidd, posieh, and Jan!!

    And I won't be disappointed (well, I'll TRY not to!) But I know how hard it is to sell anything especially with today's economy. DH's unemployment is a result of it. That is the reason I am putting in cards instead of paintings.

    Jan I appreciate the advice on business cards and having a hand painted sign. And, my problem is not talking enough - usually! Maybe that is why I express myself through my art.

    Thank you all again, I do appreciate you taking the time to comment!

  • sunnyca_gw
    13 years ago

    So you don't talk much! OK so smile & look customers in the face & don't talk a lot to your booth mate! I find it annoying to be interested in something to find the booth folks going on about kids dating problems or hubby being lazy & not getting something done, I just pass on by no matter how interested in the product I was, personal talking between sellers turns me off. I'm there to buy & expect booth owner to be available to answer questions. I sold & headed up many boutiques over the years & that was problem, 2nd problem was people selling, really pushing their wares hard, huge turnoff. 1 lady had son that made lovely wooden pic. frames but she practically shoved them in people's faces. Lot of complaints on her & I talked to her about it but she wouldn't quit & people that had bought $200-300 dollars from us( in the past) just said 'sorry, we won't be back! So that ended our club's boutiques. When you push like that you come off as being desperate! If people regret spending money because "they were pushed into it" they won't be return customers & the return customers were ones that bought most of our handmade items each year.We sent them a flyer each year! Most things were sewn, crocheted or knitted, pillows, natural materials floral arrangements on driftwood,doll clothes for Barbie, fridge magnets,baby bibs & decorated spit-up cloths etc, we had some Christmas but most items were gifts & solved the customers gift giving problems. We tried to have different items each year, not same old stuff as year before, if something was excellent seller we would try to change colors, like when kitchen colors changed, we changed to match what was new. Jan

  • calirose
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks Jan! I will do my best!

  • christopherh
    13 years ago

    First, the two cards are very nice. How many different cards do you have? 10? 30?

    Also I would bringsome of the original art too. Then the customer can see the cards are images of that original, not something gotten off some website and copied. Believe it or not, that makes a big difference.

    On to selling. You have a passion for your art. You must convey that passion to your customers. Be exited about what you have! Be proud of the art! And convey that pride to your customers. They will walk away with your art, not just some notecard they can buy at a discount store that's nothing more than some folded stock with a picture on it.

    So don't be afraid to engage your customers. But it's mandatory to have at least a couple original paintings in the booth too. Many artists have their originals in their booth, but in this economy the customers can't afford them, so the notecards are how they make money. I do a LOT of 3 day shows each year and those notecards pay the bills at every show. And when the space fee is upwards of $500, those notecards, sold individually AND in packs of 6, sell quite nicely.

    Also, if you're really interested in this business, there's a website geared to artists and crafters who are professionals. You can go there and lurk for a while and learn, learn, learn! You can follow discussions by full timers who do this for a living. The link is below.

    Good luck!
    Chris in VT

    Here is a link that might be useful: Art Fair Insiders Forum

  • calirose
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Chris, thank you so much for the information! The show was this past weekend, but my friend is so excited and has been bitten by the bug, so to speak. She is ready to do more.

    I did sell some of the cards, and a few other items. My friend (who became my friend after taking painting lessons from me 6 yrs ago) sold several paintings! I was so glad to be there to support her efforts.

    Please tell me at what price your cards sell?

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