Did a county fair last month, got a ton of interest in the bolt actions. Had them in 3 types of camo, and in antler, cross cut zebra, and some faux ebony. Virtually everybody who stopped looked at them, but only sold 4, and had them priced from $35 to $45.
Had a lot more sales of the .50 cal, but use those as something of a loss leader, selling them for $25 (super easy to make, can use blank left overs because it only requires 1 1/8). Little interest in the regular 30 cal bullet pens (a big hit last year) or in the Civil War pen, but quite a few sales of the over and under Shotgun roller ball, one of the more expensive of my pens. Go figure.
Slims and Jr. Gent roller balls always seem to sell reliably, at almost every show I go to. Slims because people want cheap, and Jr. Gents in my opinion because they always look and write well, in virtually any nice blank you dress them in. Was shocked that I sold quite a few fountain pens, from mid grade to some pretty upscale ones with upgraded feeds and nibs. At a county fair !
Couldn't give away any wine stoppers, which surprised me because I sold quite a number at this fair last year.
Tons of comments on the beauty of the pens. That really makes me feel great. Cash helps too !
Any comments or advice on how you decide what types of inventory to bring to various fairs and shows would be much appreciated. I try to go heavy on what I think will be popular and bring a smattering of lots of other stuff, which works fairly well. But, I wish I could more accurately forecast the big sellers and leave the other stuff at home.
Thanks for reading, and for any advice anyone has.