I'm with Lance about not lowering your prices just to sell something. Now, if theyre over priced to begin with-- perhaps its time to rethink things, but I don't think thats the case with your items.
Mike and I are somewhat in the same boat-- we're just getting started on the show circuit and trying to find out what shows work best for us. We did an outdoor show this weekend & the gals across from us (heck I forget what they sold lol) said that they even track how much sells at what time of the day to what type people-- and they STILL don't come up with any patterns!! The things that sell well at one show, don't at another.
But we got a lot of what you said this weekend too--"I'd just lose it". My answer to that has been, that my 19 year old son has kept up with his pen for months now and that we've had customers to tell us they HAVE to have a unique pen-- that way they know its THEIR pen on someone elses' desk, IF that ever happens after purchasing a one-of-a-kind pen!
We also encountered a retired man who specialized in scroll work with a side line of pens-- which he sold dirt cheap. How cheap? Slimlines for NINE dollars! SETS for 18!! I declare, how MUCH does he value his time??? What would that work out to (we're talking acrylics here, not wood he picked up off the ground) be if you figured an hourly rate? 15 cents? or less? But his larger pens (cigar & Atlas) were in line with ours, while his flat tops were a whopping 15 bucks. Another crafter said he lived alone, went for days w/o talking to anybody & he loved doing the shows just to get to talk to someone. Yes, that makes me feel for him--but I STILL think he should value his time just a WEE bit! Perhaps he thinks no one would spend over ten bucks for a 'thin pen', yet he had $40 or so on the others. He also had keyrings for FOUR dollars and compartment keyrings for 6 or 7. But, even with his low prices, we still did ok, just not what we had hoped for a 3 day show.
I would think your main problem with this show, was that it was a small RV show, not geared for any crafts at all-- or at least it seems like it may have been an 'after thought'? Was it a show IN an RV park, or a show that sells RVs? I guarantee you'll have good sales at the next show-- the sheer numbers are in your favor! And DON"T lower your prices-- keep them at what you feel is right. "Perception of Value" is something Mike has learned from IAP. Be friendly, ready to show someone how the pen works, how to refill, etc etc. Mike even kept samples of refills at the back of the table for pens & perfume applicators to show customers how it 'works'. For those more interested in the wood itself, he had more detail as to how he finished them, how long the process to 'cure' and such was, etc etc.
Keep us posted on the next show. When is it? is it indoors or outdoors? Our next one is in Dec- our first INDOOR show lol And I'm like you-- I wish we had more 'new' stuff--but we're alreayd taking notes for NExT fall as to what we'll add! GOOD LUCK BEV!!!!!!!!!!