Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Best Comment Overheard at the Arts Festival.......

"I wonder how much a booth cost....I want to sell my old shirts." 

Luckily he was walking by my booth and not in it.  My mouth fell open and then I started laughing.  Yeah...thanks dude.  Like we all want our work compared to your old sweat stained shirts. 

It was a great show!!!  Friday it rained during set-up but stopped by showtime.  The only problem was the rain brought out the smell of dog in the park.  I brought Oust spray with me on Saturday but once everything dried out the smell went away.  Saturday and Sunday were roasting.  The tent was under full sun and it turned it into a hot house.  That was miserable.  The guys on either side of me had battery operated Ryobi fans.  I have to get a couple of these before the next summer show. 

But I can't complain too much.....jewelry was flying out the door.  I went home Friday and Saturday night and worked in the studio to make more necklaces.  That was the big seller at this show.  Usually it's earrings.

I also had two gallery owners talk to me about putting work in their shops.  This is something I want to explore.  Anybody got any experience with this??  I don't know the first thing about consignment....which is probably why I haven't done it before now.

I don't do another show until November.  I have 5 months to play in the studio!!!!  But first I have to clean it...LOL....I can barely walk into it right now.

Bonne Nuit, Mes Amis

4 comments:

Valerie A. Heck Esmont said...

Congrats on the show going so well! That's great. When it comes to selling through galleries you may want to read the book Profiting by Design a jewelry makers guide to success by Marlene Richey. From my experience I would say no to consignment, consignment is a no interest loan to a gallery. If the gallery goes bankrupt most likely you'll never see your work again, nor will you get paid for it. I've done consignment in the past and only 1 time out of 10 did it work well. I would try to set a minimum order and have them buy outright at your wholesale price.
That's my advice, I wish you luck and love your jewelry!

Katie Hanrahan said...

Woo-hoo!!! Congrats on such a great show!! Definitely go for the consignment - talk to Cathy as she does it. And let us know which galleries you get your things into so we can go check them out! So glad the weekend was such a success!!

Susan Dilger said...

Valerie's right. Selling direct is the best way, but I have yet to work with a gallery who will do that. It really puts you at a disadvantage if you insist upon it and it could be a deal breaker. The key is to handle consignment carefully. I'm doing my presentation at Purdue (PMC) on this topic. If you'd like to give me a call, I'm happy to chat with you a bit on this.

Valerie A. Heck Esmont said...

I once did an 'art show' and it turned out everyone around me were yard selling at their tables. At the end of the day people kept on coming up to me asking if my prices went down and I said no and probably looked a little pissed. Didn't do that show again.
Have fun playing in the studio!