My First Show
This weekend I had my first show. The event was the Annual Fall Craft Fair & Flea Market at Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church, just a mile or so from my house. Late Friday afternoon I loaded up my truck with about 45 framed prints, portable walls, a collapsable table, director’s chair, and a few other odds and ends and drove the arduous 2 minute journey to the site. I had the choice of an inside setup or an outdoor setup, and I choose indoors. I was glad I did. We just came off a morning of drizzly rain, so I was glad to have everything safe and dry inside. The hall itself was nice and roomy, and Diane, the event coordinator, quickly showed me to my 10’ x 10’ space. It took me about 2 hours to unload the truck, set up the walls and table, and hang the art. I also forgot a few items and had to run home a couple of times. Glad I was local.
Saturday I was onsite at 7:45 am, the event kicked off at 8 am, and ended at 2 pm. Foot traffic throughout the day was steady and lots of people stopped at my booth. I met some wonderful people, got good tips on birding locations in the area, and had a great time telling people about birds, the importance of habitat conservation, photography in general, and so on. It was really nice. Prior to the event I told myself that even if I sold just one print I would be really happy, and I ended up selling a few. It’s a great feeling to know that my photographs will continue to bring joy to others in their homes.
Standing in my booth at the show.
Here’s five lessons I learned at today’s craft fair and flea market:
Make a list of everything you need. If I had made a list I probably wouldn’t have had to run home twice to get things to set up my booth. I tell ya, I was really irritated with myself on that second trip home.
Get an enclosed cargo trailer. My truck, a Toyota Tundra, has a bed too short to fit the ProPanels. They were sticking up and over the tailgate. An enclosed cargo trailer would be a great way to move items to and from an event. It can be locked, an important consideration when attending events away from home, and everything would be protected from the weather. Physically, it should be easier as well, as you can leave things stored in the trailer rather than having to load and unload the truck for each event. So I guess I am in the market for an enclosed trailer. Standby.
Setting up the credit card device to automatically calculate sales tax. My business banking account is with Wells Fargo and through them I got a portable credit card reader called Clover. I downloaded the Clover Go app to my phone and all of my sales transactions for the day were were via credit card using this device. It worked very well. However, one thing I noticed was that it didn’t automatically add in the sales tax. So during the event I was having to open the calculator app on my phone and multiply the sales price by the tax rate (7.5% in Hillsborough County), and add the two numbers together. Then I would have to open the Clover Go app and type in the final price that included the tax. What a hassle. So the first thing I did when I got back home was call Clover and explain that I wanted the Clover Go app to automatically calculate the tax and add it to the final price. Turns out Clover can do this, but it was not available with the plan I was using and that I needed to upgrade to the “Essentials” plan at a cost of $15/month. OK, done.
Print a “Don’t sit here” sign. I walked away from my booth to throw something away in the trash and in the 15 seconds I was gone an older gentleman decided to sit in my director’s chair. I guess he was really tired because even when I came back and jokingly commented that he would need to buy something since he was sitting in my chair he didn’t get up. Although I was a little annoyed, I was mostly worried that this overweight gentleman might break my chair, or worse yet, fall and get hurt. That’s the last thing I want to have to deal with. So a sign shall be made before the next event.
Evaluate the event ahead of time so that you bring the right items. I noticed early on that the crafters who were having the most traffic (and sales) were selling items in the $3 to $20 range. Across from me there was a gentleman selling laser-cut balsa wood Christmas ornaments. He was selling them for a few bucks each and had steady sales all day long. He was also sales bundling (e.g., 4 for $25) which seemed very popular. While my framed prints were very reasonably priced ($60 to $150), I do think they were not in the price range most attendees were prepared to spend at this event. Quite frankly, that’s my fault. In the future I will do a better job of researching an event, anticipating the expectations of customers likely attending that event, and bringing items to meet those expectations. For example, today I might have done better if I had brought fewer framed prints and instead brought mostly unframed prints that can be more modestly priced. Recently I have been thinking of creating “print packs” consisting of 3 or 4 prints that would look well framed and hung on a wall together. These print packs might have been a good option for today’s event. Conversely, large format fine art prints that are matted and framed with acid-free materials might be better suited for events labeled as “fine art shows.”
I haven’t scheduled my next event. I recently bought a Flourish Trimline tent, and I need to set it up in the driveway and load it up with art and take some pictures. To apply for most art festivals, pictures of the pitched tent fully loaded with art (how it should look at the show) has to be included in the application. So I need to get cracking on that soon.
All in all, this event was a success for me. I was grateful to attend the show, I met lots of friendly people, got to talk about birds all day, sold a few prints, turned a modest profit, and learned a few valuable lessons. I look forward to doing it again next year!
