Worst Craft Sale in the Past Couple Years

[W.Y.]

Set up for a 4 hour sale in a little country village and hardly anyone showed up. Beautiful warm sunny day so maybe they were doing gardening and yard work. Came home with $213.00 clear after table rental and gas to get there and lunch .

Oh yes, one $29.00 camo rifle cartridge pen was stolen so I had to figure that into my expenses as well . First time I have ever had one stolen (that I know of) . A person needs eyes in the back of their head when some of those young punks purposely distract you at one end so their buddy can steal something at the other end.

But I shouldn't feel too bad about it. One lady selling her sewing stuff didn't cover her table rental and another person with three tables full of real nice scroll sawed and fretwork items only sold one $8.00 item.
My sales were a mixture of things and another reason why variety is so important .
One $15.00 corian pen, one $39.00 circuit board pen , a hummingbird pyrpgraphy oval plaque , a key ring, a rolling pin, a toothpick holder , a couple spin tops and a couple bowls.


Spring time is a bad time for sales around here . I will do much better at the 4 hour Sat morning farmers market in town when they start up again for the season, They varied from $300.00 to $700.00 last year .

When I got there I saw that the tables were only 7' long instead of 8' and I knew right away all my "stuff" would never fit on them because they were not real wide either. . So I rented another table and they put it around the corner at the far end.

Here's some pics. The whole display area plus closer up ones from left to right

 

[Jim15]

Sorry about the bad day. You have a great variety of things on your diplay.

 

[Glenn McCullough]

nicely prepared table, sorry so few showed up for the meal!

 

[Gary Max]

Heck William you should be happy. We lost that much money at our first two shows this year.
If it happens again next weekend I ain't going to be a happy camper.

 

[Rchan63]

I just did one yesterday and I cleared about $100.00 after 8 hours. I only sold 6 pens, one key ring and a bird house. I hope these shows pick up.

 

[W.Y.]

Heck William you should be happy. We lost that much money at our first two shows this year.
If it happens again next weekend I ain't going to be a happy camper.

I am not all that dissapointed Gary. It's just that I am not used to such a poor turnout and such a low return on a four hour sale. It was out in the sticks in a little village 3/4 of an hour drive from any populated area .
My take home was way more than anyone else there and there were only about 15 vendors . It was basicaly a bunch of very elderly retired people that showed up for the lunch and coffee they were serving for a very low price.
Sat morning outdoor farmers market/craft sale right close to home will be starting every week end of May or early June and I always do well there.

 

[Rfturner]

I like the set up sorry about the bad show, I have been to shows that I did not even cover my own expenses, hey really suck when that happens

 

[HaroldD]

You've got some very nice items there William. Better luck at your next shows.

 

[W.Y.]

Thanks to all for the remarks and sorry for my slow response.
Have not been in my shop for about ten days and have been going through some extensive medical tests and more to be done in the next few weeks.
Have not had much time on the internet lately.

 

[Mark]

I really like the variety.

That just burns me up when people steal stuff like that. It's so commonplace in today's society.

 

[mervyn]

Sorry to hear that William, put it in your black book so not to go there again.
Over here in the UK is just the same, we done a show a few months ago that was heavily advertised by the Guild of craftsman and I only took £10.00 all day it cost me £20.00 in diesel and £25.00 cost of the table hire, I'm not bitter about it William it's a learning curve not to go to that advent again, and when people in the village say "OH but there's nothing ever happens in our village" well support you local events then!

Merv

www.ukpenkits.com

 

[RAdams]

Your Display and selection is top notch! I hope all your medical testing goes good for you!

I had some people that were trying to steal some stuff at my very first show. Luckily for me, I was able to pick up on what was going on. I gave the punks a look similar to my avatar, and they got the idea! I was lucky to only have one table to worry about.