I've been a little busy (first show)...

[Doug W Swanson]

Hey all,
A few years ago my wife and I talked about starting up a company and selling my wares at some craft shows. This past summer, we followed through and started up 'Triple S Woodcrafts' with the Triple S representing my two kids (shop helpers) and I. Since we had the company, we picked a couple of craft shows to do and yesterday was my first one. The last few months have meant a lot of shop time for me and what you see here are the results of that shop time.

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Even though I didn't sell as much as I had hoped, the show was a good experience. I had some items priced from $3 (fridge magnets) up to $80 (a couple of pens) and many things in between.

The hard part for me was that I thought the show was geared towards home made items but in fact had lots of stuff like Norwex, Scentsy, etc. One guy even balked at the price of my birdhouse ornaments but then again he must think they grow on trees!

I did have a lot of compliments and received some great advice from some of the other vendors (including the ladies selling on either side of me). Those ladies also told me to find a 'juried' show and I should do better. That's good because I have another show on Dec 7th that is juried.

Hopefully I can do better next weekend!

[Brian Kent]

Congratulations, and what is a Juried Show? Is it a combination contest and sale?

[Dale Gillaspy]

Nice start. Your friend is right. It is hard to do well with handcrafted items when people next to you are selling stuff imported or doing what is referred to as "buy/sell" where they buy at wholesale. You should do better at juried shows, but just like anything else, you have to watch those, as well. Sometimes it takes some doing to find a good, reputable promoter. Then it sometimes takes some time and experience to get into the good shows, but no worries, looks like you are off to a great start.

Brian, a juried show is one where you don't just pay your entry fee and go. You submit photos of your work and your booth, and are selected based on the quality and style of your work. When it works as designed, it keeps the quality of the work up, and rejects items that are purchased at wholesale and re-sold. Many shows also limit the number of artists in a specific genre.

[Doug W Swanson]

My understanding is that juried shows screen their vendors. That way there won't be 14 vendors selling the same thing. Some shows are geared to higher end items but others just screen their vendors...

[Paul Engle]

My first juried show I did not get in .... entrance fee and submit a CD of my work and they picked some guy from Montana that got dried up pieces of wood from the forest and varnished them.. so they do this to raise money and help their friends out .. oh and they got 20% of your sales.

[charlie knighton]

wish you luck, there are buyers out there, you have to find the right show, enjoy, and do not worry about the ones that do not like your prices

[Fred Belknap]

Nice set up and nice selection of things to sell. Your comment about someone thinking your birdhouse was to high was funny. I run into that at about every sale. I see you have the price sticker on the inside of your bowls, I found from experience that when they have been on a bowl for a while there will be a light spot under the sticker when it is removed. I put the price on the bottom. Good luck on your next show.

[Richard Madden]

I put the price on the bottom. Good luck on your next show.

Did you ever notice that the vast majority of shoppers automatically turn a piece over to look at the bottom? The scary thing is when a lid or finial is dumped right out.

[Lee Koepke]

Nice setup and variety. Freds comment about the pricing on bottom of bowls work, I tend to find people are tactile and picking up items lets them really 'feel' your work.

One other thing I do is create cards for my bowls (Staples has two sided business card stock), I have my business card on one side and "type of wood / care instructions" on the back so you can handwrite the type of wood. just another way to get your card/name in front of them for future orders.

I do three or four shows / year and I know what to expect from them, and finding a show that does some sort of screening really helps put you in the right show. Good luck and Have Fun!