craft shows

[raro]

I don't know if any (or how many) of you have done craft fairs? I did it years ago, and started getting back into it since I'm poor.
I've only done one so far, but I 've found some interesting things:

First of all, I'm surprised at how few real crafters there are. Most of the people there were selling Avon or Pampered Chef or other manufactured things. People seemed really surprised to see "real" handcrafted items at a craft show.

A lot of people who think they're not "crafty" try to buy cheap stuff from China and then sell it at a profit. I don't know how much money they make, but I found it...kind of sad that we rely on the Chinese to be the creative ones. I don't begrudge anyone the chance to make money, but I just found it very different from years ago when I did the craft fairs.

Even those people who crocheted or sewed things tend to stick with what they know rather than what they think will sell. For instance, there was one woman who sold crochet items. She had some pretty afghans, but stuck with the same exact pattern for all of them. She did toilet paper covers and baby bottle covers, but when I suggested maybe scarves would have more universal appeal, she politely told me that she stuck with the other things because she knew how to make them. Half the fun for me is working with different yarns, but she only used one brand and couldn't imagine trying something new.

The whole experience was kind of...depressing. I'm doing a few more as we get closer to the holidays, but I hope they are better than the first. People seemed amazed at the variety of things I had at my booth, but I really didn't have that much. (I do American Girl doll clothes and knitted socks and crocheted scarves and finger puppets). I don't know, sometimes I think the problem isn't that we no longer crochet or knit, but that we are slowly losing our creativity in general(I'm speaking as the whole country, not individually). Thoughts?

 

[abifae]

I don't know, sometimes I think the problem isn't that we no longer crochet or knit, but that we are slowly losing our creativity in general(I'm speaking as the whole country, not individually). Thoughts?

To reassure you:

XXXXXXXX

Plus, Steampunk and Lolita has the biggest "trend" going right now being a DIY. (Like punk, goth, and emo have been)

Also, working at call centers for years... a LOT of people crochet, knit, make chain mail jewelry....

So rest assured. People are creative


edited for rule: 9. Do not promote other similar websites that could be considered in competition to SufficientSelf.

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

I agree that the craft shows have been pretty sad. I'd really like to see some of them have restrictions that a large percentage of the items have to be hand crafted by the booth owner. I think I'd like to try out sell at a craft show. We'll see. I'm not currently working on anything that I could sell.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

A large part of the problem today is regulations.
Because of the new lead laws, the only things I can make and sell for people under the age of 12, can only be made from plain cloth or fiber. The time may not contain metal zippers, any kind of buttons or any embellishment.
If any of those things are added, then each part of every finished item must be professionally tested for lead and be certified as lead free in order to sell it.
For most companies, this would mean as much as $20,000 for on product line per year.

I will be spending this winter working on a little girls clothing line for my unused Etsy account. I understand I may use nylon zippers, but I will need to look at that a bit more though.
There is no way I can afford the 5 million dollar fine for not being in compliance.

 

[Britesea]

I agree that the craft shows have been pretty sad. I'd really like to see some of them have restrictions that a large percentage of the items have to be hand crafted by the booth owner. I think I'd like to try out sell at a craft show. We'll see. I'm not currently working on anything that I could sell.

I can tell you that this is a nightmare for most good art/craft shows. The lengths people will go to in order to bend the rules is amazing. For instance, at one show, we were required to include a series of pictures showing the actual process from start to finish of a sample of our craft. You would think that would be enough, right? One of the other vendors sold handcrafted glass beads, but admitted to me that he could only make the simplest ones, so he 'fleshed out' his stock with beads bought from other artists, as well as glass beads from India. The problem was, he was taking the artistic credit for ALL his wares, and charging 'quality art' prices for cheap imported c**p.

Another problem I would run into was people who expected me to make everything in my jewelry; ie: they expected me to cut and facet the gems, carve the cameos, draw the wire, and mine for the stones myself, and were disappointed when I said no, I just put it all together into a beautiful piece of jewelry. Hello? If I did all that, I would be able to turn out maybe a dozen pieces of jewelry a year (and we aren't even going to talk about how much it would cost to have all the different kinds of equipment) it seems to be an all or nothing kind of mentality.

 

[MetalSmitten]

i've done a few craft shows here and there, and i really don't like to. part of it is just that i'm antsy in crowds in general, and that i don't like being a "sales" person for my own work, but another part is exactly what you described. it really depends on the shows though, some of the juried shows are able to weed out the avon and chinese-reseller type items, but some of them truly don't care as long as their booths are filled. you really have to do your research on the various shows, to see if their normal patrons are the type to want real handmade or not, and whether or not they want and can generally afford whatever it is you are selling. when you find a show that "fits" your personal work, it can be awesome. otherwise, they can be total busts.

as a side note, a lot of the chinese resale items aren't creative.. many of them (not all, but a lot) are stolen ideas from the original artists. any time you go to a major craft show, you'll see it's a huge faux-pas to take photos (if not actually against their rules) because some of the big manufacturing companies were literally sending people in to take pictures of things that they could copy on the cheap. and then the original artisans have no recourse, because typically they're poor and there's no international copyright laws that are easy to enforce anyway.

bubblingbrooks is also correct about some of the more recent laws regarding handmade items, that make it much more difficult to sell. no soaps/lotions/teas/etc can claim any sort of medicinal purpose, for example (ie, you can't say your lotion will help with dry skin, can't say this soap will fight acne, can't say this lip balm will help chapped lips). and anything that could possibly be bought by kids is supposed to be tested for lead etc.

 

[MetalSmitten]

Another problem I would run into was people who expected me to make everything in my jewelry; ie: they expected me to cut and facet the gems, carve the cameos, draw the wire, and mine for the stones myself, and were disappointed when I said no, I just put it all together into a beautiful piece of jewelry. Hello? If I did all that, I would be able to turn out maybe a dozen pieces of jewelry a year (and we aren't even going to talk about how much it would cost to have all the different kinds of equipment) it seems to be an all or nothing kind of mentality.

the next time that happens, politely ask them if they would get mad at a 5-star chef for not having personally milked the cow or slaughtered the pig.

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

the next time that happens, politely ask them if they would get mad at a 5-star chef for not having personally milked the cow or slaughtered the pig.

 

[FarmerChick]

since shutting down the meats/eggs/produce we used to sell at the farmers market....I had to 'become' a craft vendor to sell my natural goat milk soaps.

we sell at farmer markets and not 'craft fairs'. Only handmade items are allowed. The inspection group comes to your home and checks out exactly how 'you make your craft'. If it is not handmade, then you don't sell. Simple as that. Of course you can buy pieces to make an item, but it has to be hand assembled and all that.

So maybe checking out the farmer markets that sell crafts. I make outstanding money and people are nice etc.

I love my craft fairs (only the ones at the farmer markets lol)

 

[Bimpnottin]

I just got back from a craft show today.

Here's what I've been seeing this year:

1. Pampered chef, tupperware, watkins, purses, avon
2. Potholders
3. Crocheted hats, afghans
4. Woodcrafts - think log cabiny
5. artwork
6. and the itsy-bitsy category of real crafts, that I fit in. I buy material, but everything else if my ideas from conception to display. (ok, maybe a few helps along the way) but it's all made by ME.

I charge fairly based on materials and on the time spent. At every show, there have been people who so undervalue their work that they make anyone who's trying to do this to supplement income priced out of the market. HOW can anyone charge $5 for a crocheted baby afghan?????? Even if you got the yarn for free, you should be getting $20 just for your time. But, unfortunately, that's what is happening at most of these shows. People want homemade for Walmart/Chinese crapola prices.