Your Results of This Year (2024) Craft Sales

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

1 hour ago, dgman said:

Had my two day show this past weekend.  I was hoping to surpass last years total, but did about even. I hade three tables plus the 6’ pegboard. In the past, Saturday was the best day, but this weekend Sunday was the better day in sales even though it was a half day. The pictures were taken before the show started, but changed as items sold. I have so much stock, that I can’t display everything at the same time despite having three tables. I even sold items that weren’t displayed! Between the two I made $3100.

Now that is a good show. You get up in take home $$ like that it was worth the effort. Love your work. very well displayed. Can I ask what the table fees were? That is always the big factor when doing shows. I usually take 2 (8 feet tables) Cost is mostly around $75 to $100. Can I also ask what was the big seller? You have a great variety and that also plays well. Something for everyone. Good job. 

[kmmcrafts]

13 hours ago, dgman said:

Had my two day show this past weekend.  I was hoping to surpass last years total, but did about even. I hade three tables plus the 6’ pegboard. In the past, Saturday was the best day, but this weekend Sunday was the better day in sales even though it was a half day. The pictures were taken before the show started, but changed as items sold. I have so much stock, that I can’t display everything at the same time despite having three tables. I even sold items that weren’t displayed! Between the two I made $3100.

Nice set-up and beautiful work.. Glad to hear you at least did what you did last year in sales and not have a decline in sales. 

[dgman]

19 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Now that is a good show. You get up in take home $$ like that it was worth the effort. Love your work. very well displayed. Can I ask what the table fees were? That is always the big factor when doing shows. I usually take 2 (8 feet tables) Cost is mostly around $75 to $100. Can I also ask what was the big seller? You have a great variety and that also plays well. Something for everyone. Good job. 

The table fee is $200. I don’t know what the regular fee is for a standard 8’ space. I pay extra for the extra 4’. The big sellers are ornaments, but all things Christmas always sell well. I had sets of gingerbread  families and the Twelve Days of Christmas ornaments that were popular, but all kinds of things sold well. I even sold stuff that hadn’t sold for years. The Reindeer and Sleigh set sold for $250 and the Dragon clock pictured on the back table sold for $150. Been carrying that around for about 6 years.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

1 hour ago, dgman said:

The table fee is $200. I don’t know what the regular fee is for a standard 8’ space. I pay extra for the extra 4’. The big sellers are ornaments, but all things Christmas always sell well. I had sets of gingerbread  families and the Twelve Days of Christmas ornaments that were popular, but all kinds of things sold well. I even sold stuff that hadn’t sold for years. The Reindeer and Sleigh set sold for $250 and the Dragon clock pictured on the back table sold for $150. Been carrying that around for about 6 years.

It always is amazing when old things you have had for years finally sell. That right person comes along. I use to retire things and just store them so I could get fresh stuff out and when stock got low I would pull some old stuff out and they would sell. then you start thinking should I start making them again. Funny thing shows are. Every year is different. That is a good price for that much of a set up. Glad you did well. 

[Rolf]

DGman that is some selection.! A lot of beautiful work. What are your prices on the compound cut birdhouses?

[barb.j.enders]

It surprises me, well, not really, at what others sell.  I think ornaments are one of the worst sellers for me!

[dgman]

1 hour ago, Rolf said:

DGman that is some selection.! A lot of beautiful work. What are your prices on the compound cut birdhouses?

Thanks Rolf! I sell the mini birdhouses for $10 or two for $18. I sold about 20. I will also deliver 50 to a bird food store for $5 each. 

[dgman]

1 hour ago, barb.j.enders said:

It surprises me, well, not really, at what others sell.  I think ornaments are one of the worst sellers for me!

Barb, I have a lot of regular customers at this show. They come just to see what new ornaments I have each year. All my ornaments are cut from hardwoods, never BB, and never painted. I have two price points. $3 each or two for $5 for the small ones and $6 or two for $12 for the  large ones.  I also have sets. One is a gingerbread family of four for $12 and and the twelve days of Christmas for $45. Of course I stack cut all of my ornaments. I have all the single ornaments on two separate Christmas tree that are lighted. This attracts them first. Once they see the ornaments, they see the rest of what I have to sell.

[kmmcrafts]

31 minutes ago, dgman said:

Thanks Rolf! I sell the mini birdhouses for $10 or two for $18. I sold about 20. I will also deliver 50 to a bird food store for $5 each. 

Wow! really? I sure wish I could sell ornaments all year long.. well actually I do sell quite a few throughout the year but not like I do from Oct. - Jan. I can hardly keep up with ornament orders.. I will say though that it's been getting tougher to sell the scroll sawn ones.. people really like the engraved ones.. so much so that I'm having to run two lasers now.. Amazon is killing me with orders.. not to mention the few I get on Etsy..

 

[dgman]

23 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Wow! really? I sure wish I could sell ornaments all year long.. well actually I do sell quite a few throughout the year but not like I do from Oct. - Jan. I can hardly keep up with ornament orders.. I will say though that it's been getting tougher to sell the scroll sawn ones.. people really like the engraved ones.. so much so that I'm having to run two lasers now.. Amazon is killing me with orders.. not to mention the few I get on Etsy..

 

I don’t sell any ornaments at my Etsy store. I make so many types of ornaments it would be impossible to list them all. Each and every one is different. I would have to spend days to take picture and list them!

I do get requests to personalize, but I don’t have a laser so I have to turn them down. I’m content with what I make and sell at shows.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

1 hour ago, dgman said:

Barb, I have a lot of regular customers at this show. They come just to see what new ornaments I have each year. All my ornaments are cut from hardwoods, never BB, and never painted. I have two price points. $3 each or two for $5 for the small ones and $6 or two for $12 for the  large ones.  I also have sets. One is a gingerbread family of four for $12 and and the twelve days of Christmas for $45. Of course I stack cut all of my ornaments. I have all the single ornaments on two separate Christmas tree that are lighted. This attracts them first. Once they see the ornaments, they see the rest of what I have to sell.

That is another thing about shows, the following. Over the years people just get to know you and trust you after seeing your work many years and at different shows. I use to have that too. I had one couple that every year they came down from NY to go to this show I did the week before Thanksgiving. It was one of the largest craft shows in NJ and the crowds were tremendous and in fact I believe they use to break fire codes with the amount of people in the building. But I basically supplied their house with so many items that they made an album and one day they showed me what they bought from me over the years. Many items I even forgot I made because I made them especially for them. They were my all time best customers. That is cheap pricing on the ornaments which probably a reason for good sales. If you can withstand them then why not.  What I also noticed was crowds attract others. people are funny. They are more apt to stop and look at a display if there is a crowd around than if there were no one. They think I will be a sales hound I guess. I just start bantering and making a joke to break the mood and people warm up. So if you have ornaments to draw the crowd is a great thing and then they can not look other projects over. It is actually clever selling tactics which you learn over the years as you do shows. 

[kmmcrafts]

17 minutes ago, dgman said:

I don’t sell any ornaments at my Etsy store. I make so many types of ornaments it would be impossible to list them all. Each and every one is different. I would have to spend days to take picture and list them!

I do get requests to personalize, but I don’t have a laser so I have to turn them down. I’m content with what I make and sell at shows.

I used to do my ornaments this way but as you said.. it gets to be a lot of effort for the online sales.. I even used to do different ribbon color options etc.. 

Just my opinion but for what you're doing your prices are way too low.. maybe it's just your location or what other competition is in the craft show scene but my starting point for ornaments is no less that $14 each.. and as high as $20.. Though at a craft show you likely aren't going to have a lot of people approaching for large wholesale orders either like I get online.. Maybe you do I don't know as I haven't been in the craft show scene since around 2010 but I never did back then. 

 

 

[kmmcrafts]

47 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

That is another thing about shows, the following. Over the years people just get to know you and trust you after seeing your work many years and at different shows. 

This is the issue I have with online selling.. while I like to get those repeat customers I can only take on so much work.. having around 78 regular customers come back and want that special personalized themed ornament of a memory of what their year was like takes its toll on time doing those few custom designs each year.. While there is something to be said about being a part of someone's memory tree each year it also gets in the way of production time..I tell you if you're able to 'make that special ornament just for them" people remember you and tell their friends and family.. they post it on their social pages and before you know it you have more people coming at you for that special ornament for them than you want or need.. 

I much rather do a wholesale order of 300 - 700 pcs of the same design than to create 78 different patterns for a 1-10 pcs order too.. I used to thrive off of doing these repeat custom orders and it's really what got me to where I am today with business.. but again I'm not able to take on the work demand for this type of work. Many have allowed me to switch over to doing the laser stuff.. a half dozen customers packed up and went elsewhere once they learned I went to doing some laser work.. I get it too.. but maximizing my time and profits is also important for business since there is more business out there than what one person can handle.

My hope is that they was able to find someone just starting out that does good work that needs that loyalty of a repeat customer and needs / wants the business.. There are a handful of scrollers that I feel do great work.. I've never recommended someone to my customers in the past if I cannot take on the work.. but this year I've already passed on work to a few people that I trust will do the customer right and I hope it's helpful to those others trying to get into some business.  I've got some repeat customers that I know I probably cannot do their work this year because of my allergy issues, I had thought long and hard about paying someone to do those orders for me this year and see if the new meds the doctors just put me on will allow me to go back to the scroll saw.. but then I think maybe I might just pass those customers onto some friends I have on here and FB groups that I think would enjoy the job.. some of these people I have in mind don't like fretwork and others don't like certain types of cutting so I think I'll likely be passing at least some of these to others. I just have a hard time "farming work out" I'd rather just turn that loyal customer to a friend that'll do go for them than paying them to do work for me. I can always pick up new regulars.. I don't seem to have any issues with gaining new repeat customers, LOL

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

33 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

This is the issue I have with online selling.. while I like to get those repeat customers I can only take on so much work.. having around 78 regular customers come back and want that special personalized themed ornament of a memory of what their year was like takes its toll on time doing those few custom designs each year.. While there is something to be said about being a part of someone's memory tree each year it also gets in the way of production time..I tell you if you're able to 'make that special ornament just for them" people remember you and tell their friends and family.. they post it on their social pages and before you know it you have more people coming at you for that special ornament for them than you want or need.. 

I much rather do a wholesale order of 300 - 700 pcs of the same design than to create 78 different patterns for a 1-10 pcs order too.. I used to thrive off of doing these repeat custom orders and it's really what got me to where I am today with business.. but again I'm not able to take on the work demand for this type of work. Many have allowed me to switch over to doing the laser stuff.. a half dozen customers packed up and went elsewhere once they learned I went to doing some laser work.. I get it too.. but maximizing my time and profits is also important for business since there is more business out there than what one person can handle.

My hope is that they was able to find someone just starting out that does good work that needs that loyalty of a repeat customer and needs / wants the business.. There are a handful of scrollers that I feel do great work.. I've never recommended someone to my customers in the past if I cannot take on the work.. but this year I've already passed on work to a few people that I trust will do the customer right and I hope it's helpful to those others trying to get into some business.  I've got some repeat customers that I know I probably cannot do their work this year because of my allergy issues, I had thought long and hard about paying someone to do those orders for me this year and see if the new meds the doctors just put me on will allow me to go back to the scroll saw.. but then I think maybe I might just pass those customers onto some friends I have on here and FB groups that I think would enjoy the job.. some of these people I have in mind don't like fretwork and others don't like certain types of cutting so I think I'll likely be passing at least some of these to others. I just have a hard time "farming work out" I'd rather just turn that loyal customer to a friend that'll do go for them than paying them to do work for me. I can always pick up new regulars.. I don't seem to have any issues with gaining new repeat customers, LOL

There is the difference between you and me. I would go absolutely bonkers if I had to do 700 of the same item I told the story here of a person who commissioned me to make 2 different ornaments and wanted 500 of each to start. I did 250 of each for her and told her to find someone else. I was not that person. My mind is more active than yours Kevin I guess. So I can not get bogged down with boring work. It was something I never could get use to. To me 700 ornaments sounds good but to me blood money. Everyone is different.  I can not make the same pen over and over now that I have gone into pen making. Just not built that way. I wish you tons of success with all the orders. We have had this conversation before. I am not a web site person and you are. I am a hands on show guy and you are  not. No one is wrong just different mindsets. 

Edited November 14, 2024 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

There is the difference between you and me. I would go absolutely bonkers if I had to do 700 of the same item I told the story here of a person who commissioned me to make 2 different ornaments and wanted 500 of each to start. I did 250 of each for her and told her to find someone else. I was not that person. My mind is more active than yours Kevin I guess. So I can not get bogged down with boring work. It was something I never could get use to. To me 700 ornaments sounds good but to me blood money. Everyone is different.  I can not make the same pen over and over now that I have gone into pen making. Just not built that way. I wish you tons of success with all the orders. We have had this conversation before. I am not a web site person and you are. I am a hands on show guy and you are  not. No one is wrong just different mindsets. 

It does get old doing the same cut several times.. however it also gets old to me to have to come up with design work that the customer accepts too.. sometimes you end up doing more time in the design work than cutting out 700 ornaments, LOL.. That is solely why I like the larger orders.. Some people are really tough to work with when they have something specific on their mind that they want but have a terrible time explaining it to me where they and I are on the same page so to speak.. I don't too much care for the designing part.. I'd much rather pay a designer to do the pattern work for me, LOL.. I am getting much better now that I have been forced to do it because of the laser and CNC.. you can't just tape several images together and cut it out with a laser and cnc.. LOL.. Still have a long way to go in the design part but now days instead of asking a designer to help me out every time I'm able to do about 70 - 80% of them myself.. 

[rjweb]

JT what ever the customer wants it pays the bills, RJ

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

2 hours ago, rjweb said:

JT what ever the customer wants it pays the bills, RJ

 I will point out customer orders can be a pain and over the years I steered away from them. There is a thing called enjoyment. To me this is a hobby. 

I cleaned this reply up and want to stay away from this type banter. I want this to be about our crafters sharing their experience this year with craft show sales . 

Edited November 15, 2024 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[kmmcrafts]

2 hours ago, rjweb said:

JT what ever the customer wants it pays the bills, RJ

And that is the difference between a hobbyist mindset and a hungry person that wants to eat a good meal and run a business,  Just like how the immigrants come here and work the fields.. they are hungry and willing to work jobs that most americans wouldn't do.. Nothing wrong with the hobby mindset, and nothing wrong with a business mindset.. Just two different people with different goals and ideas. I wish I had more of a artsy mindset sometimes, but being that way doesn't always pay the bills as easily so there has to be a tradeoff with the business mindset and do what the buyers want. Much harder to do production when you make one of a kind stuff.. there is a market for that too but it's tough to make it work unless you get into the high end art shows etc..    

Edited November 15, 2024 by kmmcrafts

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

20 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

And that is the difference between a hobbyist mindset and a hungary person that wants to eat a good meal and run a business,  Just like how the immigrants come here and work the fields.. they are hungry and willing to work jobs that most americans wouldn't do.. Nothing wrong with the hobby mindset, and nothing wrong with a business mindset.. Just two different people with different goals and ideas. I wish I had more of a artsy mindset sometimes, but being that way doesn't always pay the bills as easily so there has to be a tradeoff with the business mindset and do what the buyers want. Much harder to do production when you make one of a kind stuff.. there is a market for that too but it's tough to make it work unless you get into the high end art shows etc..    

Because you fall into that 2% . Kevin can we keep this topic to shows being done this season. Having a web site presents does not count . Good luck with all your sales. 

Edited November 15, 2024 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[scrollerpete]

I had my second show yesterday at a church venue, traffic not as much as last year, but everybody are friendly and the event is well run so I like to support them. Price of the table is only $60 for a six foot table and a little bit of space on either side. This is my last show this year and cannot complaint. Total take for both shows just over $1000. so now I have more room to make more sawdust. I was surprised that Santa’s going up the chimney did not sell, maybe to risky for a church?????

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Very nice work. What was your big seller? I like the baskets or bowls if you call them that. Nice patterns. Yea the Santa maybe a little over the top for some. Glad you made out well. 

[dgman]

21 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Very nice work. What was your big seller? I like the baskets or bowls if you call them that. Nice patterns. Yea the Santa maybe a little over the top for some. Glad you made out well. 

Nice setup Pete and nice work!

[scrollerpete]

1 hour ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Very nice work. What was your big seller? I like the baskets or bowls if you call them that. Nice patterns. Yea the Santa maybe a little over the top for some. Glad you made out well. 

Bird houses did very well

[jamieline]

On 11/12/2024 at 9:57 PM, dgman said:

Had my two day show this past weekend.  I was hoping to surpass last years total, but did about even. I hade three tables plus the 6’ pegboard. In the past, Saturday was the best day, but this weekend Sunday was the better day in sales even though it was a half day. The pictures were taken before the show started, but changed as items sold. I have so much stock, that I can’t display everything at the same time despite having three tables. I even sold items that weren’t displayed! Between the two I made $3100.

Dan, where was your show setting?

[jamieline]

Had my second show. Was a little disappointed with results for several reasons. The attendance was not what I expected. They had a preshow which was Thursday night for two hours. Very low turnout for this night. Sat was the best day. Large crowd. Friday and Sunday were low. Did make a little profit which is always good but the cost of the event was high. I usually avoid these types of events but took a chance. Took place in a large center that had what they called the ballroom area and then the arena. I along with another booth were kind of between the two and off to the side. We felt out of the way some. They did put up some signs pointing our way after we talked with them but I think the attendance was down.

Did sell puzzles and birdhouse along with nativity items.