TexasMadness
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Re: Art Fairs?
First and foremost, find a fair that is for ART and not Arts and Crap...I mean Arts and Crafts. It's sometimes hard to tell the difference unless you actually see the show, but sometimes you can know. A friend of mine makes gorgeous pottery and sells it at ridiculously low prices. The last three shows she has gone to, she has sold nothing. All three of them, the person next to her sold out. They were selling: little painted pots with cacti that had googly eyes glued on, puff paint sweatshirts and clothes re-sewn to fit dogs.
Ok, so once you've found the right show, next you need an awesome display. Even if it's just a nice black cloth over a card table, it's better than just the old cigarette burned card table underneath. Better yet, you need some height. I'm trying to find a pic of the jewelry display we did but no luck yet. But something so that people behind the folks that are ogling your wares can at least see what you are about.
Also, people LOVE to try things on and actually handle them. I have no actual proof of this, but I really do feel like people sell more when there stuff is out rather than when their stuff is in locked cases. Sucks cuz you might get something swiped but keep a good eye on things and get a helper if you can (you've got kids right? this is the perfect time to get back some of what you've invested in them!).
Speaking of trying on, be sure to have a mirror. Learned that after my first show.
Be friendly but DON'T hover! I really noticed that when people look at jewelry and you say "oh, that one is moonstone"..."and that is jasper"...."that's a new kind of stone from india!" every time they touch something, they get a bit nervous. Some people love it but you can usually tell which ones...because they will ASK you!
If you do have a helper and you can bring some things to work on, seeing stuff made is a big draw for some folks. The one show that I sat around making jewelry instead of hovering over people, I think I sold twice as much. I even had people asking me if they could buy the thing I was working on. They would come back in 30 minutes and generally paid about 10% more than what I normally would have priced the necklace at (aren't I horrible  )
Can't think of anything else right now. But it's a great opportunity and I bet you will do really well. They are fun and exhausting!
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12/6/2008, 10:02 am
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TexasMadness
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Re: Art Fairs?
Price can really depend on the fair. When they are more on the side of cutesy junk, you will be hard pressed to get $20 out of someone. Terra (the pottery maker) couldn't even sell little pots for $5...I don't get it.
On the other hand, you've got shows like the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar (check out the photo albums to see the type of stuff they have) that not only costs to get in, but you'd be lucky to even find one thing for less than $20.
I've looked at the prices on your website (yes, I've been dying to get some things but need to buy sheetrock first...) and I think they would do well at most fairs. I've noticed that from my own perspective, I start to balk when things are over $100 (for jewelry). Not sure what it is, but once it reaches that point, I question wearing a $100 bill that I could lose around my neck. Maybe that's cuz I lose things...
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12/8/2008, 5:31 pm
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DebbrahF
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Re: Art Fairs?
One thing I have seen is that a pot that will not sell at $5 will sometimes sell at $50.
Value youself. If you price yourself to compete with walmart, you will be fighting over the people attracted to walmart stuff. If you price yourself higher, you will attract the people who are looking for something better than walmart.
Repeat after me: "I am not a competitor of Walmart. I am a talented artist who provides unique, custom, handcrafted objects."
Do not price youself low or you lable yourself as crap. Be proud of your work and price it to reflect that value. Usually right about where you are flinching a bit. You will almost certainly undervalue youself. You will see every flaw (do try to resist the urge to point them out.) But if you price it just as high as you can let yourself do it, you'll usually be right where other's are willing to see the value of a piece.
And it does depend on the fair. If you are surrounded by junk dealers, it will be harder to convince people you are not junk.
Mind you, this is based on a lot of marketing pep talks and one small boutique fair that seemed to agree with it...
---
For good or ill, luck and opportunity are 90%+ preparation...
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2/7/2009, 12:44 am
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TexasMadness
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Re: Art Fairs?
Good tips Debbrah. I often wonder if Terra hasn't priced herself so low that people assume it's junk. But she has struggled with prices that seemed too high as well. Seems you just can't win sometimes!
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2/8/2009, 12:15 pm
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DebbrahF
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Re: Art Fairs?
I am determined to make this a paying practice. I've been lucky enough to run into some brilliant artists who make a good living at it. Every week one of them does a marketing lecture I listen too. And just about every time he does, he talks about one of the main things he sees artists do wrong: most try to sell to everybody.
If you try to price you art low enough everyone will buy it, you just label yourself as being worth little. If you try to please everyone, you lose your voice and just become another mass-marketed (although not mass produced) object. There are many people who won't even look at you if you fall into those traps. But if you can price yourself fairly (rather than trying to compete with walmart and dollartree and such) and just try to produce things that appeal to you, you will have fun. And those who like similar things will see that. And those who buy art (usually those with money) buy what they like... not what everyone else is buying.
But at the very root is this: if you don't respect your name, no one else will. And your name is the most valuble part of what you are producing as an artist. DaVinci or Picasso could draw a dot and it would sell for thousands. But if you wait for some agent or critic to see you worth and try to convince others of your value, you'll be dead before you are worth anything.
You do have to know your crowd. A swapmeet or yardsale isn't going to get the people who usually think to afford original art. Instead they are usually buying reproductions of mass produced graphic design churned out by workers in cubicals. And so any price is going to seem high to them, because that will be what they compare it to. And most of us are in that catagory. But when you price it just to where you flinch, it makes people ask, "why should I pay more for that"? And you answer "It is original art, custom, unique." And the ones who respect that will nod, and respect it. And the ones who want the cheapest price out there will still not buy. But the ones who do buy original art will start to notice. But it won't be at places that cater to the looking for a bargain crowd.
Just about anyone neo-pagan has heard of the rede. In the long version is the line "with no fool a season spend, lest ye be counted as his friend." If you lump yourself in with the junk by price or by association, you will find it hard to move out of that reputation.
And, as you can see, I've kinda gotten a little preachy on this point. I do believe in having lots of price points availible and such. But I've seen would be artists languish at craft fairs and swapmeets (or only pay their bills because they teach or have other primary jobs.) And I've seen this process work for people starting at normal skill levels and work as they grow to amazing. I've seen people sell things at prices that make me just drool... and they aren't better than what I can do, they just have put enough time in to have established their worth and found their voice a little. So, as the craft fair fate is what made me run away from art as a career and this lured me back as a logical possibility... 
---
For good or ill, luck and opportunity are 90%+ preparation...
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2/8/2009, 7:28 pm
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