Beyond Art Fairs...other possibilities?
Eric Lindgren
>I have been doing "ART/Craft Fairs" for about 3 years as a functional potter.
... I have never enjoyed doing Fairs....I am wondering where to go from here?
>
If you like meeting and getting to know your customers go 'retail'.
Set up a showroom, have reasonable open hours (and stick to them), organize
seasonal special events, get a mailing list going, etc., etc.
I calculate a three-fold increase in profit from selling retail versus
wholesale, if I can keep my retailing expenses to about 15% of the retail
price. In contrast, when things go well at fairs or craft shows (which is
not always!), my costs are about 25% to 35% of the retail price.
As a bonus you build your own business momentum directly, rather than that
of the show organizers or the shop owners.
The part I miss is keeping in touch with other craftspeople at the shows.
Eric Lindgren
Lindgren Pottery & Huntsville Tile Co. - Huntsville ON Canada
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Don Jones
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi folks,
>
>I was wondering if I could get some input from you.
>I have been doing "ART/Craft Fairs" for about 3 years as a functional potter.
>Fairs. I have never enjoyed doing Fairs. Didn't like preparing the pots for
>the fair, didn't like hauling them to the site, didn't like sitting in the
>booth and really didn't like packing them back up again! So I am thinking
>of quitting, and doing something else. I apprenticed with a potter who does
>wholesale and really thought that was the pits too! Gosh this is depressing!
> I am wondering where to go from here? Have any of you gone through this?
> What did you do? Have any of you taken a sabbatical and come back to
>pottery? I am afraid that if I quit, I will never get started again. But I
>am not happy with my present situation and worse, feel uninspired.
>
>Tracy Wilson
Tracy,
Your predicament is similar to mine. I am starting to get burnt out with
wholesaleing and wishing I was doing the Smithsonian or Philadelphia show
every year. The only other option it seems is to get well known for making
3 to $5,000 pots that sell only in the most prestigious galleries in the
world. That way you can make only what you want and spend as much time as
you want on each piece. In other words, fame has its advantages.(not that I
have any experience there) I stopped making functional pottery decades ago
because it didn't suit me. I watched people struggle with boxes and booths
and newspaper at fairs and said "no way" I think finally tho that there are
trade-offs if you want to make a living at clay. There are bound to be
things that you don't want to do.
Don Jones
Let me know if you find out anything that helps!
http://www.indirect.com/www/index.html
Dan Taylor
Tracy,
Sounds like a break is what you need right now. If you don't feel inspired
to get back into clay after a rest, perhaps there is a message there. Apart
from that, I can say that maybe the potter with whom you apprenticed just
had some bad experiences with wholesale. As a production potter, I can't
think of a better way of getting rid of everything you make than selling
wholesale! If you want to discuss this further, drop me a line. But first,
go smell a rose. ;-)
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi folks,
>
>I was wondering if I could get some input from you.
>I have been doing "ART/Craft Fairs" for about 3 years as a functional potter.
> Started out doing local small fairs and graduated to doing really GOOD
>Fairs. I have never enjoyed doing Fairs. Didn't like preparing the pots for
>the fair, didn't like hauling them to the site, didn't like sitting in the
>booth and really didn't like packing them back up again! So I am thinking
>of quitting, and doing something else. I apprenticed with a potter who does
>wholesale and really thought that was the pits too! Gosh this is depressing!
> I am wondering where to go from here? Have any of you gone through this?
> What did you do? Have any of you taken a sabbatical and come back to
>pottery? I am afraid that if I quit, I will never get started again. But I
>am not happy with my present situation and worse, feel uninspired.
>
>Tracy Wilson
>
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Dan Taylor data...@mlc.awinc.com
Taylor Clayworks Ph: (403)527-1002
1340 - 10th Ave. NE Fax: (403)527-1032
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 6G3 "Life is what happens to you while you are
making other plans"
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