"He had a really good spot, we had a pretty bad spot (I guess I just learned if you don't ask for good spots you get stuck in the corner...)"
We do about 10-15 shows a year. We learned that it is best to visit the show the year before, scope it out, and talk to other artists about how successful it was for them - just make sure to ask anyone but jewelers, they always kill it. Sometimes its worth paying more for a prime (corner) spot in the show. The ones you want to be looking for are juried fine art and american craft shows with a lengthy history. We do one in Boston that has been going for about 30 years, it's only 6 hours long but it is worth it. Find the right shows and you can clear a couple thousand a day.
And I do think that you can get big money for those big chargers, they are spectacular.
Aug 14, 2015 19:44:29 GMT -4 mohawkpiper (Greg B) said:
"I haven't tried the gallery thing yet though, the whole percentage they take and the fees and whatnot has kinda held me back a little. Lookin into some though, gonna give it a shot and see what happens...Are galleries considered wholesale?"
Most will take 40-50%. They also want consignment of everything. Good for them, not good for you. Given that they have the customer base, the location, and the infrastructure, it is generally a fair trade, percentage wise, as long as they produce sales for you. The main problem we've had is that far too many gallery owners were not good accountants. Some we had to police them and track the inventory - we stopped doing business with them. If they're going to get the inventory and 50%, they better pay you when it's sold.
What has been working is to negotiate a trial period up front. Offer to give them consignment for 3-6 months, then if things are selling, they buy the lower price point items wholesale and you set the retail price. You may have a hard time getting them to buy larger pieces outright. We have some that do this, but we keep track of what it was sold for and tell them that if it doesn't sell in a year or so, they can exchange it for equal $ of work.
I commend all you who are doing this stuff full time (and even more those who are employing others). My folks and I all pull together part-time to make the equivalent output of less than one person. Despite all the work, it still seems like we make minimum wage.