Craft Show Crappiness

Slogging through the mud to set up and pouring rain, what could be better for a craft show? Oh yeah. . . twenty other jewelry sellers and several of them selling really cheap stuff, and let me tell you, most of the people in my area like really cheap stuff. Not all of them. Some appreciate quality handmade sterling and gemstone jewelry, but a lot of them like $5 earrings. Whatever. My faithful customers showed up and I'm grateful for them. I shouldn't feel too bad. The poor lady next to me took in $29 and the table was $25. Ouch! I tested out my new display and it worked really well and I can hide behind it if I want to and totally avoid people I don't like. I made some new contacts, handed out my business cards, and talked about my website. The bad news is, about half the people I talked to don't even have computers. (Our craft show crowd is an older crowd.) I also debuted a new necklace design that everybody loved. (But nobody bought.) :(

Craft Show Craziness

Once again, craft show season is starting and of course, I'm not ready. My craft show is Saturday and instead of organizing and pricing like I should be, what am I doing? Creating new necklaces! I can't help it. I had some really great ideas and I just had to make them. I was on track for awhile. I mailed out my postcards, so at least I did my promoting, but as far as pricing and labeling goes, it's a free-for-all. So, I will probably be scrambling at the last secong to get everything ready. I do have a new display that I will be testing out. One of the articles I read said you should have your jewelry at different levels. Well, I don't know if they will even be able to reach mine. I have this three tiered thing and I don't actually know how high it will be once it's on the table. And have I mentioned that I hate craft shows. I mean, I like my customers and they are great people, but I'm just not good at selling. I'm mean my jewelry is nice, but I'm not pushy or aggressive. If someone can't make up their mind, I don't pressure them. I feel very awkward trying to talk someone into buying a piece of jewelry. They either like it or they don't. I don't like it when people do that to me, so I don't want to do that to anyone. Plus, I have to stand up all day which is just tiring.

Craft Show Countdown

Four days until my first craft show of the year. Am I ready? No flippin' way. I have no idea what to expect because I've never done this one before. I guess there are only about ten tables, so there certainly won't be a lot of competition. It's at a Snowmobile Fest, so I really have no idea what to expect. Perhaps people will buy out of boredom. I would certainly be bored at a snowmobile fest. There is a pancake feed during the craft show, I believe. I have to drive an hour to get there, so it better be worth my while. I'm bringing a larger quantity of my lower priced items; my $10-$15. I'm hoping that is the way to go. I'll bring some of the higher priced stuff, but I'll put out more of the lower priced items. I'll also be testing out my new display. I bought this three tiered thing for holding plates, but I'm going to use it for holding necklace boards. I hope it works and doesn't tip over. I've also got some neat chinese-knotted turquoise and Tagua Nut pendants that are really unique. Will they be too unique for Northern Wisconsin? We'll see.