Thinking about crafts

[valarltd]

The craft fair yesterday was a disaster. I had over $100 tied up in it. I made $3, because I sold my tablecloth! The weather was atrocious. I watched a 20' marquee shade flip, along with several smaller 10x10 ones. The people next to us, their sunshade's frame bent from the wind. It tried raining several times.
Several negative comments on my books, from people I KNOW are fapping to 50 Shades.

So, now, I'm stuck with a plethora of handmade stuff that isn't moving on Etsy.
I'll figure something out.

Looking into what it would take to get an actual craft business running: set up, stock, entry fees to fairs, etc.
I could lose a lot of money really quickly.


If you are looking at crafts, and you come across a crochet booth, what do you expect to see and what price do you think is fair?

Hot pads?
Kitchen towels?
Baby afghans?
Shawls?
Fridge magnets?
Doilies?
Edged pillow cases or towels?

Do you want pretty or practical? Small and inexpensive? ($3 hotpad) or large with a price to match ($50 baby afghan)>
Or do you turn your nose up and walk on to the person who has epoxied mason jars to candlesticks for redneck wine goblets?

Comments

[reannon.livejournal.com]

Practical, small and inexpensive, but YMMV.

Do you have an EZ-UP? Between book events, craft fairs, art shows and Relay, I have never seen any booth tent that holds up better. It is not cheap; ours was $125, I think. But they last if you take care of them, and they hold tight in the face of really bad weather. (Plus the "walls" keep stuff from flying away.)

Alas, you aren't going to sell books at craft shows. I tried several times, often sharing a booth with a friend. But the only success I've had was when I showed my photography, and if they liked that, they might be interested in the books too. You'd think people who were there to shop would look at books as well, but for some reason there's not a lot of crossover. Exception: I hear from my friends who write history books, particularly local history, that they sell well at craft shows. But fiction seems to be a nonstarter. I've never understood it.

As to specifics... um. This is only my opinion. Baby afghans are a no-go; every new mom receives a zillion of them. I had an entire bin full and I think Ian maybe ended up using one. My sister has a stack of them. It's not something I think of as a purchase item.

However, you can never have too many hotpads and kitchen towels. A shawl is a bigger investment, so I might not leap to it. Fridge magnets need to be cute, and doilies are unnecessary items, so they should be cheap. Edged pillow cases would be nice, but I tend more toward lacy than kitted.

And don't give up on etsy. One thing I've heard from everyone: it takes a long time to build up an etsy business. You need new items, regular updates to customers, and constant maintenance - just posting and walking away won't do it. This is something I have to keep reminding myself, as I cycle out older images and replace them with new material. I've developed a sub-list on MailChimp to promote it, and offer specials regularly. It's working... a little. I'll say this: the weeks when I sell on etsy are the weeks I've done promotion, bar none.

Good luck, dear. So sorry the show was a bust. :(

[sidewinder.livejournal.com]

Newer EZ-Ups are much better than older ones. I had an older model completely demolished in a thunderstorm about 3 years ago...like it literally needed to be carted away by a tractor, there was no saving it (thank goodness I had packed up all of my crafts the night before.) Problem used to be how water could pool up on the roofs if you didn't hack them to avoid the problem. Even newer EZ-Ups still need a certain amount of care and maintenance, and to keep from blowing away I use sand (from home depot) in some old milk containers roped to the legs. If you don't weigh down the legs you're just asking for eventual trouble.

I did a whole series of articles on the crafting business a few years ago (both at cons and at local fairs) - might be worth a read? To be honest I've pretty much given up on it at this point because I really got tired of exhausting myself every weekend and shelling out $35-150 a pop on shows where increasingly I was lucky to just make my money back...the economy has severely impacted the ability to make money at these events unless you are just a shill for one of the home business companies like Tastefully Simple or Tupperware, want to face paint kids for $5 a pop, or you really have something unique to market at the right price point for your area.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the article link. I've got it open to check out.

We're looking at not just the crochet work, but also geeky sex toys that don't look like sex toys at first glance. Paddles with My Little Pony or Star Wars or Star Trek or Dr. Who symbols on them.

I'm hitting the whole "I'm not sure conventions are worth it" spot with the books. Hells, I'm hitting the whole "I'm not sure writing is worth it" spot.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I used a zillion baby blankets, the little receiving blankets and the big handmade ones.

What about full size afghans?
The pillow case edgings would be thread crochet, mostly arch-style lace. (I HATE thread crochet)

I need to restock my shop.

Funny Etsy story: I carry Celtic Knotwork Trim. I had a gentleman in Dublin buy some. Talk about coals to Newcastle.