Comments on: Signing Up for an Outdoor Show – Insights from Jewelry Artists

By: Paula Brooks

Paula Brooks — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:48:05 +0000

I suggest using promotional products at your shows too so your brand can create a memorable impressions even if a piece of jewelry isn’t purchased at the show time. Tote bags are my favorite giveaway.

By: Gary Martin

Gary Martin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:53:34 +0000

Dee, your thought of keeping your jewelry different is really great. We try to do the same thing, plus I get bored doing the same thing over and over. One thing I have learned is when we do shows, we are at the mercy of the show promoter to do any marketing for the show. I have now changed our focus and decided to spend much more time with the marketing of our little company. The up side is we are doing much better in our sales, especially our higher end products. The down side is I am spending 90% of my time with the marketing and only 10% making jewelry and cabochons. One person who is very happy about it is Ms.Rena (yes, there is another Rena)!!!

By: Dee

Dee — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:42:06 +0000

I love Gary’s idea. I’ve also found this year that the number of jewelry vendors at shows have increased. I’ve been contemplating on where I want to continue for this reason, and have been really looking into doing more home shows or personal trunk shows. I do ask how many jewelry vendors they’ve accepted and so far most seem to be honest. I had one that I didn’t accept, but they already had 30 jewelry vendors out of about 90 others…way too many in my opinion. Competition is good in most cases and I don’t mind, because people are going to purchase what they like anyway, but the above was ridiculous. I just try to keep my things different, which tends to bring people back to my booth but enough is enough

By: Roxan

Roxan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:59:37 +0000

I agree with Barbara, I take the time to take pictures and comply with a promoters rules and find that they do nothing about people who bring crap made in China to a show. Even when they say they have the right to remove items that don’t comply, I have never seen anyone ever do this even when brought to their attention. This is one of the reason I will not do shows that don’t keep up with quality in shows.

By: Gary Martin

Gary Martin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:43:00 +0000

We have also found a number of “juried” shows who allow anyone to sell anything. Can not compete with people who sell the junk made in China.

I know for each show we do, we are required to sign a contract. I am thinking about having a contract for the “juried” show organizers to sign stating if they do not strictly enforce venders to only sell what they have personally created that my space fee will be refunded at the conclusion of the show. Probably would have a hard time finding an organizer willing to sign, but it is fun to think about!

Gary

By: Annette

Annette — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:39:40 +0000

I agree with staying open as long as you can and being prepared for that. I’m usually the last person to pack up (regardless of the weather, venue etc) and yes, you can benefit in sales because people who have come late often have $ to spend and there aren’t many people left to spend it with

I’ve also found organisers just wanting numbers rather than a good mix and it just spoils it for everyone. I now ask and seriously consider if its even worth going, especially if the event is small.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:42:32 +0000

Hi, what I’m currently more than angry about are two things: “juried” and “craft” shows where you pay a fee to be juried, and you assure them often more than once that, yes, indeedy, I do make all my jewellery myself, 100% hand-crafted, and then when you get there you find… Tupperware, commercially-produced spices (i.e. blends not made up by the vendor her/himself), cheap junk jewellery manufactured “by hand” in a sweatshop in China and priced accordingly, etc. I’m new to all of this, and I guess my question is, how hard do you push to find out what the event coordinators consider “craft”, not to mention, do they really understand the concept of a juried show?

By: Rena Klingenberg

Rena Klingenberg — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:24:22 +0000

Thanks, Rachel! I’m honored – I love your One Pretty Thing blog!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:39:32 +0000

This information is fantastic! Thanks so much for all the tips, I’ll be linking to this.