show review:
this past weekend
i vended at the
ellwood city art/crafts/food fesitcal
in none other than
ellwood city, pa
this is my second year here
and i was pleased with the outcome again
you get a spot and 1/2 for a reasonable price
no crowding of booths
which is so very nice....
the weather was beautiful.
the first day it was actually a little cool in the morning...
it did get a bit warm
(ha...90 degrees and humid)
on sunday
being a sun lover,
it was fine with me
but it always hinders sales
when it's that hot
people do NOT want to carry
anything !
lucky for me...
jewelry..they just put on or toss it in thier purse,
so it doesnt hurt me much.....
***
the discussion has been a bit different this year.
no one can seem to get a grip on how shows are going to be.
i did well at this show, but many others complained.
some didnt even make their booth money back...
that's bad!
some did extremely well !!
so go figure !
no one seems to know anymore
what the difference is between those who
do well and those who dont..
like we always say...
you have to have...
the right product....
at the right time....
at the right price...
with the right person....
at the right place.......
everything has to line up for you to make that sale !
sometimes it amazes me that i sell at all !!
this show is an easy load in,
they have teenagers who work for tips
to help you unload.
(none were around when i was unloaing,
but i brought Krystal
so we were fine)
*
this show brings out the whole town
over 3 days
ending with a zambelli fireworks display on sunday
*
the people are nice and friendly
although, i personally didnt see any staff the whole weekend.
i stayed over sunday and packed up monday morning
so i could just take my time
lots of people did the same,
on monday, they let you bring your vehicles actually into the park,
right up to your spot,
so that's a big plus !
i was by myself for load up
and was fine til the temp started rising
whoowhee....everyone around me....me included
were soaked by the time we finished !
think i sweated off a couple pounds !
***
all in all a good show by my standards....
they need to improve the bathroom situation for sure.....
not nearly enought portas...and they seemed to be out of
order way too much.
and as usual..too much buy/sell..
dont understand why NO ONE enforces
their own rules....
but i will definately be back
and i will still recommend this show to folks -
both buyers and sellers!
shout out to my 'frame girls' marcy and suellyn..
so great to see you !
and shari, my bathroom buddy...what would i do without you !
hi...to carrie
next show...... south side works exposed ....in two weeks..
i better get to work
makin' the jewelry, makin' the jewelry, makin' the jewelry..
***
Very happy to hear you had a good show. Mine was too with the weather considered! Please, what do you mean by too much buy/sell?
ReplyDeletejill...buy/sell is when what they are selling is NOT handmade...it is bought by the case from china or whereever..and passed off as handmade by the vendor...ALL the shows around here say they do NOT allow it, but they do ! this show in particular said they would have 'secret shoppers' to weed these folks out, but if these shoppers existed, they either were fooled or just let it go?? it is a hUGE problem here....
ReplyDeleteThanks for the shout out. The "Frame girls" had fun talking with you this weekend. :)
ReplyDeleteJeanne, thanks for the review. I don't get that buy/sell thing either, except maybe times are tough for everyone, so the only way organizers can fill the booths is to turn a blind eye. But I think it hurts legit vendors, because the buy/sell folks have nothing but $$ invested, where we who hand-make our items actually have time and money invested.
ReplyDeleteWe were next to some 'fair trade' people at a show recently. The woman was so uneducated about what fair trade is that her entire sales pitch was (no joke, and she would YELL it all day) "THESE ARE HANDMADE BY THE POOREST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!!!!" Well, congratulations, I guess? When I asked her if she goes and deals directly with the people who make the items, she said (as if that was an absurd question) 'OH NO, I have a *person* online and I just buy whatever I want and have it shipped. I get new stuff every week.' So that means there's a middle-man, so the trade isn't all that fair anymore - or not as fair as it could be? I don't know! I just picture her ordering from that Tom Bosley infomercial for SMC! Bogus!
Granted, I don't know much about fair trade, but she could have taken the opportunity to educated shoppers about what it is and why it is good.
She was AMAZED that Matt + I don't 'work' - but I had to kindly inform her that we do work, all the time, making the stuff that's in our booth.
ALSO, when an organizer has on an application that there's no buy/sell allowed and they allow it anyway, EVERY PERSON who is there selling truly handmade items is being disrespected and kind of even lied to. We apply in good faith thinking that everyone else who is accepted is going to set a reasonable price for their handmade goods so the playing field is level. It's not. We should all rise up against this! If every 'handmade' craft fair only had buy/sell items, customers would start to notice and hopefully eventually stop showing up.
Who knows? It's a big problem. Unless you're in it, you can't appreciate why. The show organizers also rarely ever are artisans or crafters themselves, so they can't even see it all the time.
thanks for listening..haha....the thing about buy/sell is that the customers BUY IT !!...and happily !! if they keep buying it, 'they' will keep selling it..and why not?? they are making easy money...at the last show i did prior to this....if i had a dollar for every 'faux rust flower with a cup for bird seed on it' that went past my booth..i would be rich ! these people were pulling them out of china boxes all day..and made a fortune...dollar store stuff ! makes me crazy...the customer has to learn to 'appreciate' handmade or these shows will really disappear...that's actually why indie shows are so awesome...the customer knows they want handcrafted !!! (but not enogh of those shows and way too much competition for me to make a living..so i have to do "country' craft shows too.....:(
ReplyDeleteI'm with you guys on the buy sell crap! I don't get it, who wants something anybody and everybody else has?! Everyone and her sister sells jewelry around here, getting into good shows is competitive and expensive, and early sign up, which I'm not good at, (not the go getter here). So I end up doing shows with Pampered Chef and Tupperware, seriously.
ReplyDeleteThen yesterday I read an article about making money selling jewelry and they basically said no one makes money selling ONLY what they themselves like. Wtf, I don't want to make something I don't like.
I like doing shows, meeting and talking with people. If I could just get rid of those vendors I don't like (such a snob) and increase the traffic pu-lease! Mo money would be nice.