I wanted to give you some idea of how large this craft show was so here are some photos that are incredibly fuzzy. There were 90 vendors and we were spread out down all of the main hallways of Indian River High School.
You could, in all honesty, get all of your Christmas shopping done in one place. The quality and quantitiy was amazing. That having been said, it was not a good show for most of the vendors. Roughly 3,000 people attended. I sold 11 bags. Yes, ELEVEN! That's it. I had a lot of people take my card and ask if I did custom orders (certainly!) but only 11 are not returning to Pennsylvania. Thankfully, I am fairly certain that the balance of my inventory will sell before Christmas so I am not totally freaked out. I am very disappointed however. I chalk this up to being a good learning experience (and I DID learn a lot!) My dear son, Chad, is setting up a real website for me and also doing some really cool video stuff. I will see what kind of interest that generates and go from there. I am very serious about this becoming a business with a viable income generated.
So, this morning we are loading up the car, adding a grandchild and her stuff and heading home. The rest of my family arrives on Wednesday night. I am not going near a sewing machine until next Sunday. I will probably be a little twitchy for a few days!!
We just hosted a craft fair of our own and experienced the same disapointment. I thin people are really holding thier purse strings tight. We had a lot of people looking at our things, but not a lot of buying.
ReplyDeleteWow. Only 11? Ugh! Good luck with the website and I hope you get some calls and orders! And enjoy your Tahnksgiving and relax a little!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you must be disappointed but I find that people that attend craft shows are always looking for a bargain and aren't prepared to pay for handmade. Have you tried opening a store on Etsy? I know a lot of bloggers have been really successful on there and it's certainly worth a try. I think your bags are beautiful so don't give up.
ReplyDeleteI learned something a long time ago from working those shows: I don't like sitting and waiting for people to come buy my stuff. *G* I am too bashful and unsure of myself to sell and terrible at setting up a booth. Your eleven beat my big zero at the last show I tried. :O( :OD
ReplyDeleteWell...atleast you have a good attitude ....... I would be totally bummed...and I usually don't have much success at things like that...but like you said, it was a learning experience...and good luck with your website!!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that you didn't sell more bags. Hopefully the website will fait better for you. Unfortunately people don't seem willing to pay a fair price for what we do. I'm glad you didn't reduce your prices and devalue yourself.
ReplyDeleteLove and hugs Gina xxx
Absolutely fabulous! good for you.
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