Just wrapped up our 3rd year at this show. Once again we had a great time, enjoyed the venue, and made money. While this is not our best income show, we love the venue, love Chincoteague Island, and turn this into a real vacation. We spend 10 days at an expensive RV Park, eat fantastic seafood and such, work 3 days and go home with more money than we arrived with. Sam Serio is the promoter here, and it's his only event. Advertising is great, organization top notch, and product mix is pretty good. While fine art sales are probably limited to venue-related art, such as ponies, waterbirds, sealife,etc. Beautiful art did not sell well otherwise. Crafts seemed to do well, lots of great customers, 80% on vacation, but driving, so no issues getting stuff home. With both indoor and outdoor booths, customers stick around since they can take a break from the weather inside. If you don't know about the Chincoteague Pony Swim, check that out before considering the show. The Pony Swim is the Wednesday following the show, and is the busiest week of the year. We picked up 2 good wholesale accounts at the show, and will return next year!
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Alan doesn't speak for everyone. He sounds like he thinks everyone did well or they are lazy sitting in their booth on their phones. It really isn't about that. Is about promoting the show to people who can AFFORD to shop. A lot of people are not buying at shows these days. Not just this show. We greet every customer, we give free stuff away, we chat it up, pass business cards out, etc. On a hot day, people are cranky. Not vendors alone customers too. But what I will say is that the artists at chincoteague have attitudes. You are right. they think that their stuff is better than everyone's, they come off as snippy, and unfriendly to other vendors. Its not about competition. Its about helping one another out. The responses i have seen from you contradict your claim to be a nice polite kinda guy. You have not only insulted multiple people at the show, you called people's items junk. What kind of person does that? Everyone's products appeal to a certain person. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean is junk. I think is in poor taste to post any comments about those items on a public board by a fellow vendor. If you were really big time, you wouldn't be wasting your time with shows of this patheticness. This is a low budget show. we do shows of the 100k variety. We do shows in NYC, DC, LA, Vegas. This is small town fill in the hole show. And I would NEVER talk about another vendor or their business practices on a public forum. Its vendor etiquette. And the thing is, that vendors are saying other vendors are catty. You ever consider they were talking about you? Not trying to be rude. But your posts are 1 rant after another about other people and their problems.
I'll admit to having Zig's concept of "Stinkin' Thinkin'" when I go a day without a sale despite 100's of compliments and good traffic. But that's compartmentalized off during business hours. Every customer is a new opportunity.
Try going home with goose eggs for sales at an expensive show some time. That's humbling. I doubt that you've ever had that behind the counter at your booth.
That's what separates the adults from the children doing this game. It's happened several times in my 10 years on the circuit. But I'm sold on my product and the awards and ribbons are reinforcements. I'm doing something no one else is doing.
First off Alan, that was David in the Old Testament who rumbled with the Philistines.. I wont address the weapon of choice thing....
Second, you know how I work, I sit in the hot sun and demonstrate my work and work the booth. For 2-d original flat art, you cannot generally get a conversation going outside of greeting the customer and encouraging them to ask questions if something inspires them. They have to get fired up before you can even start talking the work up. They do not wish to be engaged b/c it is a often an internal debate with the (usually) couple and they'll ask questions when and if they are ready... That's how 2-d original art sales work in my world. I used to try to engage, rather than just greet, every customer, but found that they weren't interested in talking until they found something that interested them. I was chasing them away. It's not like asking them to try stuff on. Women love to try on jewelry.....
So for me, demonstrating the work is key and that can't happen in a 10x10 booth and have customers circulate. So, that's why I like corner spots. I can work in front of the work on the outside corner by my '4th wall' and let the customers watch me paint and then I can also answer questions or monitor the interest in the booth. So, I disagree with the you have to be in the booth on your feet all day.... Works well for jewelry, though.. I have seen how you and your crew work that booth at HDG.
But jewelry sales are very different than original fine art sales.
Yes Jewelry IS easier. In your case, you are mostly selling women's fashion accessories for a modest price. Yes you have some pricy stuff, but the majority of your sales are much smaller than selling a 2-d original painting. Women will typically spend 20-40$ on something to wear before they ever consider buying something to place on their walls at home. And, they don't have to get permission to make the purchase usually with lower-priced items, especially if the purchases are for them to wear.
They can look at your merchandise and imagine accessorizing their wardrobe. They usually don't have to gain consensus with the spouse on these decisions b/c men have had it drilled into their heads that whenever the wife asks how something looks on them that they are supposed to agree. It's because of the classic 'does this make my ____ look big?' question. We all know that for women of childbearing years and beyond (18-?70), the only answer that doesn't cause you mental pain later is 'It makes you look great'.
Women are the largest attendees at shows. Spouses and boyfriends attend if there are guy items sometimes, but usually they are in tow or minding the kids, or looking for a beer if they are serving at the event. They attend b/c in general, they are expected to.
1)How many exhibitors are catering primarily to men at any given event? NOT TOO MANY... you got maybe a bow-tie maker or tie maker... a couple wood turners vending shave accessories and pens... the welded metal sculpture stuff and the balancing birds on a stick are home décor and not mens stuff primarily....
How many exhibitors are catering primarily to women at any given event? LOTS - usually 40% or more. And that's because the American Arts and Crafts show is now primarily a women's fashion and accessory show with an arts and crafts component
But, if we start talking about interior décor, wives and girlfriends generally involve their SO's. In this case for 2-d original art at least, there is a pattern I see over and over when woman and SO are involved in a decision for home décor.
1) If they both like it, it's sold, if within budget.
2) if she likes it and he doesn't, there still about a 40% chance it goes home provided it's within budget
3) If he likes it and it's going in the man cave and he spends his money on it, it has about a 50-60% chance of a sale. The exhibitor must never disagree with the woman in this scenario (doesn't matter the comment either) or the sale is scuttled.
4) If he likes it and she doesn't, and it's not going to the man cave, there's only a 10% chance more or less that it will sell
So, yes, Jewelry is the easier sell, even with all the other competition. I rarely, if ever hear a jeweler saying they didn't cover costs or make a profit. I do hear them complain that there are too many other jewelers and women's wearables exhibitors regularly... And that is because there are so many.
Its only in the top end shows that you get a better balance of traditional fine art versus women's wear. AND that is why they are so highly competitive to jury into for fine artists.
Alan you do not give yourself enough credit either. You were likely born to sell. I'd give you decent odds up against Zig Zigler selling snowballs to hemorrhoid sufferers in a snowstorm in a price cutting war.
2-d original art is a very different game. Much of an art show budget is spend on womens wear purchases by the time customers get around to looking at my work.... You may think there's too many jewelers at a show, but for 2-d original artists to compete against a 40% womens wear marketplace is a tough sell anywhere. This is why most 2-d artists sell prints. Many remark that this is the only way to stay in the game for them b/c selling originals is very difficult for them. Since most of my work doesn't translate to printed format b/c of the unique nature of the low-bas relief and texturing, prints are not an option and that's a reality for me that I have long recognized. But I am on my way to selling my 450th original in 10 years of doing outdoor shows. And that includes 5 very tough years in the financial meltdown period.
So with the exception of a few fine artists, the Blueberry Festival was not a good event for painters selling originals or prints; regardless of having the 'right' themes or price points. You and I both know that the majority of my work is priced at or under 175$. We both know I have won quite a few juried competitions in the painting category. But I have found that there is little to no predictability in selling 2-d original paintings. As many of us have said before, it's a crapshoot every time you set up for art... That's not the case for womens fashion and accessories unless youre at a Harley Davidson swap meet selling sun dresses or similar...and even then you might break even....
Wow. I have to fire back here. Connie - please forgive my candor, but enough is enough. A promoter's job is to deliver customers, and this show does that. I can say without a doubt that this crowd is affluent, and not afraid to part with the money. I can also state that these folks want to engage with the artist / crafter. We had several comments regarding the standoffish and negative attitude of some of the 'vendors'. I saw this reality myself. If you are not prepared to focus on and greet every visitor, don't do this show. If you aren't INSIDE your booth, you are NOT going to sell anything. We are in the SALES business, and if you are going to sit on your butt waiting for people to fawn over your amazing artwork, find another job. People buy stuff they LIKE from PEOPLE they like. My reference to the "Amish" that don't work on Sundays is personal knowledge of THAT family, what others do is irrelevant. I think they are actually Mennonites. They reserve Sundays for family. Try this - arrive early to a show. Set up as early as possible, preferably the day before. Have a positive attitude (and being positive that everything sucks does not count!). Make sure your offerings appeal to a large portion of the demo/psychographic. Keep a positive attitude. Look for the good in people. If you are alone in your booth, stay in your booth and on your feet (unless you are disabled, of course, but still IN YOUR BOOTH). When asked how things are going, the answer is a positive one. "Unbelievable" works in 100% of the situations! If you aren't selling when others are, get yourself a mirror. The problem is in your attitude, your presence, or your offering. Yes, we sell jewelry. Wearables. I don't buy into the belief that it makes it easy. It's tough to get in shows, and no one NEEDS jewelry. I have actually had a 2D artist at a show that sat on his butt for 2 days ask if we were selling drugs because of the crowd, while he was doing poorly right next to us. And he had nice stuff. At a good price point. And the right stuff for the market. Remember this - Jesus slew 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. Every day, at every show, hundreds of sales are killed with the same weapon.
Mark it was nice meeting you and your wife. I was going to review the show but after reading your review I feel you have reported exactly what I observed. I have now experienced my second theft this year at shows. My trailer hitch might seem minor but when you are on an island and the nearest hardware store closes at 5:30pm it became an very urgent matter. On top of paying double what I would have paid at a large home improvement store I was pulled over and ticketed by the local cop sitting just outside the vendor parking area.
Three days of loosing money in the hot sun watching the people walk by and seeing more buy sell at the show than original work I was just about out of my mind. I must have had an angel in my passenger seat looking over me as I was venting very verbally to the officer. Lets just say I was close to getting thrown in the Chincoteague town jail if there is such a place.
I agree the Amish might not work on Sunday but keeping that in mind it sure seems to me that locating them anywhere but the middle of the show would have been better. The large 10 booth hole they left in front of my row of booths did create a very large dead space for the already poor traffic flow.
I live in the southeast and grated I have never been exposed to the Amish culture but it was my understanding that they do not use electricity. Which makes me wonder how they power the inkjet printer to print out so many photographs. They must have a computer with photoshop to print the words in the prints they were selling. When the Amish are selling framed prints way lower than I can produce with my inkjet printer myself then maybe that is buysell.
Over all I will admit that Sam Serio is a great promoter and cares about the show. I feel even if the show was all hand made fine art and crafts the crowd would not change. They are not the crowd you or I need to sell our work. For the most part the crowd was the airbrush t-shirt buying type of crowd. I just wish I had known that before I committed my time and money.
That's unusual b/c I see 'plain folk' who do these types of shows with Sunday appearances. But you are likely correct, because most of these religious communities have a fair degree of independence as to what is acceptable within their community standards with regards to practices and technology use. I used to have Mennonite friends who drove cars and did all sorts of stuff you wouldn't see in Lancaster Co., PA.
So, indeed they may have done well - they did pay for at least 8 spots, maybe 10... and left a huge hole in the show layout on sunday.
It was an inexpensive (relatively) show that ended up costing me a $600 loss overall.
Jewelry sold, sea glass sold, cheap buy/sell clothing sold...... and cheap Chinese import crap sold.. Blueberry Ice Cream sold really well. Food sold well overall. There was also crass veteran vendor behavior.
Concensus where I was located suggested Friday was a wasted day as the tourists were checking out, but had no $ left to spend... and the locals were not spending on art...and the next crop of tourists were checking in, but not in time to see the show - which closed up at the early hour of 4:30 PM.
Saturday appeared to be well attended, but mostly by parents and strollers and gawking locals who weren't spending on much of anything with a price tag over 10$ (the all you can drink soda concession with the 'collectable mugs'). But the themed art Alan referred to did NOT sell where I was at...
A fine artist who paints ponies and race horses both as originals and prints did not cover costs (and got his trailer receiver stolen while in vendor parking). He does excellent work IMO, and he got stuck all the way in the back corner of the event in the steamy hollow with me..
I sold very poorly compared to other beach show venues this year...and have the appropriate award-winning themes to sell well at beach-type resort events (shore birds, crabs, starfish, fish....).
With over 400$ hotel costs for 3 nights, (the promoter special at the local Best Western); 260$ booth costs (150 base, 50 addl for a corner and 60 for local town who jacked most of us for a local annual event permit (really? - thought you wanted us to come and be a selling point for the community and a destination activity-seems like were all just another revenue stream for the town)... Plus mileage, plus meals... plus all the time and sitting in a sweltering humid hollow behind the building.
The booth layout was designed to maximize corner spots, but insane for booth access and set-up. Despite the promoter's efforts to make this more than a flea market with a fine art component, it didn't happen for most fine artists at this event. To his credit, he did feature my work and that of other fine artists on the Facebook event site
But you know when the Amish wood workers leave a venue on the second day of an event, things aren't going well.....
This is part of the larger problem happening with so many shows these days. For fine artists, there are only a very few (relative to all the other events out there) shows out there which are consistent selling shows... but they are heavily juried, with an unknown number of slots for each fine art category, often a wonky weird totally opaque jury selection process, lots of grandfather slots.... and loaded with women's wearables/fashion of questionable exhibitor-made origin.
The thing which chapped my ass the most was a veteran vendor who kvetched all weekend that he wasn't making the amount of revenue he was used to... and then...... well.... He went into obvious full-blown breakdown mode about 1.5 hours before close... then 1/2 hr before show close, he somehow gets his vehicle onto the event site and drives to his booth to load out. There were still a fair number of customers on site. But when this fashion exhibitor broke down and then drove onto the site, that killed the last part of a show which needed every minute of time in order for the fine artists to make any sales possible... I politely called him on his poor behavior and got nothing but attitude in return. He then complained that show volunteers were supposed to help him load out... I have contacted the promoter about this issue and about the lack of site control. He promises changes for 2016.
However, barring fantastic changes in the customer demographics and buying behavior, I would not recommend that fine artists sign up for this event. My only silver-colored lining was that I had plenty of time to demonstrate my painting techniques to the kiddies who were being herded by parents across the site.......
Sorry you did not do well, Ray. It was nice meeting you, and I tried to qualify the customers in my review, fine art (and your boxes are beautiful artwork!) just does not move at this show unless it is themed or, honestly, jewelry. I was disappointed with at least one 'indoor' booth (the painted plastic toys and junk) and have shared that with Sam. Most of the other stuff you refer to is outdoors, and I really do understand the need to sell space to keep a show profitable. Sam spends a fortune promoting this event, and for those of us that do fairly well, the cost for the booth is not bad. Hope to cross paths again in the future!
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