First Craft Show!!

I like the way you have every tagged and organized. You seem to have something
for everyone, good idea.

Welcome to LJ’s and may you have continued success BigJon.

Thank you waho. I was extremely nervous, nobody had seen my stuff except for family and friends. So i was almost over prepared!

-- Im bleeding, go get my super glue and roll of black tape....

You’re welcome BigJon. I betcha you’ll do better on your next craft show.

Those coasters would make a nice gift for the Holidays as well.

Do you think those 75-100 dollar boards would have sold @ 40-50??? Could you make $$ at that price?

-- Todd http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid6255915

Welcome to LJ’s

If you sold 11 items in a crowd of 100, that isn’t doing too bad. I watch people very closely, what they look at as well as what they don’t. Items that constantly draw attention will eventually sell and they get people to stop and look at other things you have. I have a couple items that I don’t make much on, but they cause people to stop, look and talk. Then there are items that nobody looks at. Everyone occasionally has a dud. If after a few shows an item draws no attention at all, it gets deleted. Taking up space with no benifit is not good business. be willing to change your lineup to what sells and not just what you want to make.

-- Mother Nature created it, I just assemble it. - It's not ability that we often lack, but the patience to use our ability

Congrats on your sales BigJon. We have members who have gone to craft shows and sold very little or nothing, so I think you did very well, especially considering that this was your first time and the modest turnout. There is no substitute for experience, so you will learn a lot by participating and getting a feel for what attracts customers and what sells and maybe find out which venues are best too. Good luck with future sales!

-- Mike, American in Norway

Bullethead. Yes i believed they would have sold at a cheaper price. And yes i could had made a small profit at around $50 or so. I really didn’t have a clue how to price my items fairly for myself and customers. So I came up with a formula of sorts. I made a set price per cubic inch for endgrain and a set price per cubic inch for “flat” grain. I felt that it was a lot better than just guessing what it was worth.

For example a 12”x18”x1.25” end grain cutting board @ $0.30 a cubic inch would be $81.00…..I thinks this gives you really good ball park price to start with. Of course it can be adjusted, for special materials, difficulty in building or whatever else as need be. I would be happy to hear of other ideas.

Thanks for the comments BTW. All are appreciated

-- Im bleeding, go get my super glue and roll of black tape....

BigJon, A belated Welcome to LumberJocks. Some nice looking stuff you have there, congrats on the first fair and the number of sales. My wife and I have started doing fairs as well. One thing we try to do is do some of our own advertising via word of mouth and social media, we just let folks know where we are or where else we will be. Helps to drum up a little bit of business. I agree with Monte though you have to watch what is and isn’t selling and be prepared to adjust as needed. Good luck with the next ones, we are also going to do one in the Spring out first non-holiday one.

CtL

-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."

clieb your right monte does have some sound reasoning. I made a mort of of wine balancer gizmo’s and priced them low i thought. Didn’t sell a single one, but i still have them for the next fair:) You see in my pics that i have one in operation and I encouraged every person that was bewildered by it to play with it. We had some good laughts and a awarkward moment or too, but the bottle never got broke! It kept people lingering more than anything else. So that in its self was a good thing. A variety is important i think. I brought the deer shed coat rack just for display and got a order for which i started on tonight.

-- Im bleeding, go get my super glue and roll of black tape....

Good luck with yours in the spring BTW!!!

-- Im bleeding, go get my super glue and roll of black tape....