We did the Pagan Pride Day in San Antonio over the weekend. It rained all day long, and the event was in a public park. Fortunately, the organizers had considered this possibility and reserved several shelters, so it could have been much worse.
The rain was a mixed blessing. It might have kept some people away, but it also kept the people who came *inside*, where the merchants were! We were, from the look of things, the only "professionals" there; we had more stuff, and a much wider mix, than anyone else. For such a small group (a bit over 100 people total) we did AWESOMELY well -- total sales tickling the 4-figure mark!
Most of that, as usual, was my partner. He had T-shirts, and bumper stickers, and buttons, and some odds and ends that a friend of ours was trying to clearance out (bookends and statuary), and fiber-optic spheres, and other Neat Stuff. I had my usual setup, plus some stone cat carvings we picked up *very* cheap at the Intergem show. Again as usual, almost all of what I sold was the cheap silver stuff -- 1 pair of ocean jasper earrings was it for the beadwork. This is frustrating; I'm getting sales, but they're not the stuff I really
*want* to be selling! However, I made nearly $300, which is my highest sales level at an event to date.Got a tip from a bead person about selling at the big HBS show come November; she said that, in addition to my finished work, I should also put out some loose beads in packages. This makes a lot of sense to me, and I can do the same thing at cons, which may boost my sales a bit more. It'll also help me cut back on some of my inventory -- things I'm overstocked on, or have bought and then never figured out how to use them, can go in the bead bowl.
I was also considering offering to make custom earrings from the bead bowl. Have any of you done anything like this, and if so, how did it work?
Celine