[Nfb-krafters-korner] the reality of a buisness in selling at festivals

Sun Oct 3 15:05:33 UTC 2010

This is excellent advice. I have been selling fine art for over 30 years 
through exhibitions in galleries and museums. I have been doing arts and 
crafts festivals and holiday exhibitions for about 10 years, too. Each is an 
entirely different market, different expectations of the customers, very 
different settings, and have to offer very different items depending on 
where the place is and who the customers are that I am hoping to sell my 
things to.  It may work extremely well in one place, and absolutely bomb in 
the next. It can vary from one day to the next.

Example, recently at  a two day festival, a particular bracelet I make for a 
general arts/crafts show is magnetic hematite. I use real hematite, not 
manemade imitations such as hemalykite. I use stainless steel wire, and I 
use silver clasps. I lay them out on a brilliant yellow suede cloth so the 
black shos up the very best possible.  On one day, I barely could sit down 
due to so many sales and talking with customers.  The next day, same show, I 
sold ZERO from that table no matter how many engagements I had with the 
public. What works one day, may not work the next. That is a fact of life 
when you are selling your handmade items. And, you only figure it out as you 
are out there doing it.

A friend of mine travles to a number of states selling her fabulous carved 
sculpture. She goes to very high end markets, which cost a lot just to be 
there in a space, without even counting your time, travel expenses, hotel, 
ets.  She has told me often, that when she had a great show with lots of 
sales, she has found it to be the "kiss of death" to go back to that show. 
Through years of experience she has learned if she does well there this 
year, next year she will most likely NOT to anything there. Why? I have no 
clue. But I know this can be very true.

Just last week, I had a one day fall fstival. I had enormous publicity for 
two weeks prior to the show. Was in two local papers with photos and stories 
of my work.  Because of this, I set out far more pottery than I normally 
would have, and put out far less jewelry.  Yes, you probably guessed it - I 
sold ZERO pottery, and lots of jewelry....though thousands had read and saw 
my face and my pottery through the newspapers, nobody came to buy it.

Festivals are becoming harder and harder to do, and I do not know if it is 
the economy now or what. But everyone I know who does them, and have done 
them for many years, is saying the same thing. They are having to produce 
more and more things and make less and less money. And, one of the things 
that is killing us are the amateurs who sit there with their stuff priced so 
low they are certainly not even breaking even, and they will smile and say 
"Well, I just like to do this, so that is why my prices are so low."  And, 
there are the other people who are doing this for a living and who have to 
make a profit, that are being killed by the bozos who are just playing with 
it for fun. We see this more and more...at least that is what I see here in 
the PA area. How about some of you others who do this kind of selling - what 
are you seeing in your areas? The booth spaces are very costly - normally 
over $100 - 300 for most shows here, some far more. And, you are dependent 
on the weather completely. People do not come to art festivals in storms and 
high winds...they stay home...and you cannot stay in business cuz your tent 
will be destroyed. So you lose. There is so much to be learned about this 
kind of thing and I believe you should probably talk a lot with peopple who 
are out there doing it and have been for a long time. Just sayin'
Lynda Lambert
River Road Studio, Since 1976
www.lyndalambert.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "slery" <slerythema at insightbb.com>
To: "'List for blind crafters and artists'" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2010 2:24 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Starting a Business in Crafts

> Eleni,
>
> There is one thing I have noticed in your round of questions, you do not
> seem to have any experience making the items you want to sell. You must be
> prepared to try making some of these things first to see if you will be 
> able
> to make any of a quality to sell. Please do not take this as a criticism. 
> If
> they give you the money to buy supplies to make 32 items, then they expect
> you to sell 32 items. And if it takes you 31 completed items to learn how 
> to
> produce a sellable item you will not be able to earn enough to buy 
> supplies
> for the next batch. Most people will not be able to make something
> perfect/sellable the very first time they try something; it takes 
> practice.
> Also, once you try making the item, you may discover that you absolutely
> hate working with that material and can't see yourself making the amount 
> of
> quantities needed to maintain a business.
>
> This is just something you should probably consider before talking to your
> VR representative.
>
> Cindy S.
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org
>> [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>> Eleni Vamvakari
>> Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 8:59 PM
>> To: List for blind crafters and artists
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Starting a Business in Crafts
>>
>>
>> Hi Greg,
>>
>> I know that my family is willing to help me as far as sending
>> things to the post office so that won't be a problem.  On the
>> off chance that they're unavailable, I could ask a trusted
>> friend.  As far as craft shows, I would need to work on that
>> in advance.  I might have my boyfriend, a family member or a
>> friend take me.  I'm actually planning on starting this
>> business with a friend.  The reason why I didn't mention this
>> is because I'm sure it will create even more of a headache
>> come tax time and I wanted the basics answered first.  She's
>> visually-impaired, not totally blind like me, so could help
>> with some of the more challenging aspects of creating these
>> things until I feel more comfortable.  She's on SSD, so I'm
>> not sure if she qualifies for the PASS or if it's only for
>> those on SSI, if we could make a plan together or if I would
>> be better off applying as an individual and listing her as an
>> employee.  I don't want to do anything that might cause
>> trouble in the longrun.  At any rate, I'm sure that we could
>> put our heads together when it comes to some of the
>> calculations.  There is also software that can help us keep
>> track of purchases, costs of shipping and materials, income
>> earned etc.  But I think that when it really comes time to
>> crunch the numbers, we'll go to an accountant. You're
>> absolutely right about yard sales and the like, which is why
>> I would always attend one with someone sighted who has a good
>> eye for catching these crooks.  I don't consider this
>> discouragement at all. In fact, I'm very greatful that you're
>> taking the time to explain all of this to me.  The more I
>> learn the better.  I sincerely hope that this isn't going too
>> offtopic, but perhaps the advice that I get and the questions
>> that I ask could help someone else who's interested in
>> starting a business in crafts.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Eleni
>>
>> On 10/2/10, NCBootman <ncbootman at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > I never discourage anybody who wants to work. But, the fact is that
>> > one of the biggest factors in failure of a blind person's work
>> > experience is due to transportation. This is an area that you will
>> > need to have a rock solid plan of how you will deal with
>> the issue of
>> > transportation. Employers Will ask and if you seek funding for a
>> > business, they will ask. So, spend a lot of time with this and have
>> > alternatives. Alternatives are necessary because what
>> happens when you
>> > have a deadline for delivery or a show or just a scheduled
>> day and the
>> > main transportation fails. Drivers have surgery, get mad, aren't in
>> > the mood, ...
>> >
>> > Another important area is if you are in a selling business, you'd
>> > better love math or hire somebody to do it. There's the
>> actual adding
>> > up of a sale, calculating sales tax, figuring item cost,
>> paying bills,
>> > reporting income taxes, reporting to Social Security, and
>> just doing
>> > the day to day accounting. If you have a yard sale or go to
>> the flea
>> > market and have no backers of any kind, you've still got to
>> deal with
>> > that crook who wants ten $5 items for $25. They'll work so fast you
>> > won't even know what happened if you aren't on your toes.
>> >
>> > Again, this is not discouragement. This is work related
>> facts and must
>> > be considered as a part of beginning work or any business.
>> I'm happy
>> > to answer any questions and do anything I can to help.
>> >
>> >
>> > Greg
>> > Greg
>> >
>> > --------------------------------------------------
>> > From: "Eleni Vamvakari" <magkisa83 at gmail.com>
>> > Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 5:14 PM
>> > To: "List for blind crafters and artists"
>> > <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
>> > Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Starting a Business in Crafts
>> >
>> >> Thanks Annette and Joyce.  I haven't gone to any crafts
>> shows, since
>> >> I don't know where any are located in my area and have no
>> one to take
>> >> me.  That said, my boyfriend might be able to if it's during the
>> >> weekend.  I'm terrible with mathematics so all of this would just
>> >> give me a headache if I tried it on my own.  That said, I've saved
>> >> your questions and will attempt to work on them, if only
>> for myself.
>> >> Your strategy for estimating is very logical.  But I will
>> still seek
>> >> help in actually writing these things out.  I didn't know that you
>> >> needed permits or a business license just to sell on Ebay and/or
>> >> Craigslist or on your own site.  I doubt that I could use
>> my income
>> >> in the beginning to cover my monthly living expenses but they'll
>> >> probably lower my SSI payments etc. if I go this route
>> anyway.  I'll
>> >> check into these resources if I don't hear back from my counselor
>> >> etc.  I'm not really sure how much The Comission would be
>> willing to
>> >> help me, since they already paid for a part of my college
>> education
>> >> and for an independence centre experience.  Still, it's
>> worth trying.
>> >> But I'm really interested in this online course.  It sounds doable
>> >> and I don't need to worry about transportation at all.
>> >>
>> >> Thanks,
>> >> Eleni
>> >>
>> >> On 10/2/10, Blindhands at aol.com <Blindhands at aol.com> wrote:
>> >>> Greg is right.  My state agency for the blind actually
>> drove me  to
>> >>> a couple of classes that the small business  was giving.
>> >>>
>> >>> Joyce  Kane
>> >>> www.KraftersKorner.org  (http://www.krafterskorner.org/)
>> >>> Blindhands at AOL.com _______________________________________________
>> >>> Nfb-krafters-korner mailing list
>> >>> Nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
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>>>>
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