well my grandiose dreams of selling out of all my inventory (actually that would probably be a nightmare) did not come true. not even close. but i didnt lose any money, i made just a little more than the fee to sell & im not gonna lie, i was a little disappointed, but im not going to dwell on it in a negative way. it was my first at that venue, it was a learning experience, & like the first craft show i did, i met some really cool people.
i was a little blown away by the response i got from shoppers & from other vendors... about my set.up & products. everyone was so positive & i was a little impressed by some of the crowds i had around my table (you know, "crowds" of like 7 people). i had a really good conversation with a couple of other vendors who told me that it was actually a pretty slow night. one of them told me they didnt sell enough to cover the fee & i was really happy he did... knowing that everyone had a slow night & it wasnt just me was comforting. they also said that it will pick up starting in march when all the tourists start invading visiting ob for spring break & then summer.
i know what sells well in my etsy shop, but in a market setting they might not be the best seller... i feel like these first few shows (at least) will be all about getting feedback, making adjustments, & fine tuning. for example, in my etsy shop i have some felt & stick arrows that havent really received a huge response. i think they are super cool & i love them, but i feel like as a product, they are not quite there & since there hasnt been a big interest in them, i wasnt sure if they were worth continuing to work on. so i put them out on the table on wednesday night just to see what would happen. i was super surprised at how many people loved them, but there is the issue of "what do you do with them?" & its a hard sell when the answer is something like "oh, you know, have them in your house to look cool." i was really open when talking to shoppers about them, explaining my issue & they all felt the same way... super cool, but needed to be taken to the next level. so now i know its worth working on.
in the end, i had a really fun time, i love the atmosphere, the music, the smells, talking to people, & im super excited to start working on some new stuff & tweaking some old stuff this week. plus when you have a view like this, how could it not have a been good night?
this whole trying to make it in the indie craft world is a bit scary & because of that i find that sometimes i censor myself a bit for some reason when it comes to talking about it. i dont want to appear pushy (like omg! all she talks about is etsy!) , i dont want to sound like i think im more creative than someone else, & sometimes i just dont want to put myself out there... then theres less chance of looking foolish. but ive been thinking about it alot because as ive been totally obsessed with crafting for the market, my blog has been a little neglected. so im really going to try & be a little more open about the whole process. i think it will help me organize my thoughts a little better & i really want to get more opinions on things... how can i do that if i never share anything? so if see an abundance of "feedback please," look where i was featured," & other types of posts long those lines, please dont think im being pushy or tooting my own horn or anything like that... im just sharing my process with you.
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