I was at Comic Con 4 days last week-- I had two tables in the Art Show (up from one the last couple of years), and about three times the number of items as last year, with most of the "increase" in items similar in type and price as previously sold, or which BUYERS asked for. This year, gross sales were about
1/4 of last year's, probably not even enough to cover materials and fees. It may be that this year I had more "competition"-- two years ago I had the only jewelry in the Art Show, last year there were 2 of us (the other lady did wire-wrap pendants), this year there were four, as well as several vendor booths with jewelry (up from 2 last year); however, judging from the exposed "bid sheets" at the Art Show, my "competition" wasn't selling much either.Re: spending.... Dealers in the "vendors room" (about 3 miles of isles of booths, according to one reviwer...) were saying sales were "down" from last year, despite an increase in attendees (75,000 vs 50,000). Big-business type dealers/displays were giving away much less, and less valuable, "freebies" and/or charging for the same sort of items that were "freebies" in the past (like posters, postcards, buttons). More were charging for autographs or pictures (in part, though, because "professional" autograph collectors are running straight to eBay to sell them).
Re: having money to spend.... A lot of people were "broke" for one reason or another, so just attending was straining their budgets, but there was also less to spend on: #2 son went to the convention with $180 that he had earned, planning to spend most of it. He had $120 at the end of the show. Why? Because there was little that appealed to him this time around-- he likes Japanese "Gundam" and similar models, but the ones available this year were mostly ones he already has, or not "in his price range"; the dealers/primary importers are not providing much in the way of new, moderate priced styles. Same for the few other "toys", video tapes and such he's interested in-- and most were available, for the same prices, at local stores, so why lug it around the con? There was a little statue, made of scrap metal and such, that he was thinking of buying, but it was gone by the time he made his circuit of the floor and got back to that booth. Kaytee "Simplexities" on