oh heck, ill be brave or stupid, and give real numbers...i had sales of 6,000.00 and it cost around 3,000.00 which included boothfee 2100. hotel 700.00 and gas to and back to chattanooga,tn. i dont count food because i eat wherever i go.
loadin was a breeze, and i did loadout monday 8am which was absolutely wonderful...i cant imagine sitting in the loading dock on sundaynite after the show, but i'd love to hear from anyone who did, if it was long hours?
in addition to the sales, i picked up 3 wholesale accounts which I was hoping for. also someone would like to do a production line of mirrors, (not really interested in that, i'd need a lawyer) and a guy from india wants manufacture some of my sculptures, and i dont think that is useful for me, right now.
I was hoping for a licensing(?) contract, but maybe thats at a different show.
I may do it again, if some residual sales come thru. Of course like most people there, we all want to leave with 10,000. in sales, and there were people there doing that and more, so i heard. like a double booth of cast pewter was at 30,000.00. not sure where the "one of a kind" was in that booth, not sure, but then the word on the floor about my work was that it was all machine made, HA i wish i sat in bed eating bon bons while a machine cranked it out.
i did speak with 4 people who lost money, all were new to the show. this is just a guess, but if you cant consistently sell at least 2-3,000.00 a month throughout the year, you might be in trouble at this show.
feel free to contact me if you have any questions i may be helpful with. denice
Well...I did a bit more than that...not much, but still...
WHen you pay me for 5 days to be there, I count the food because I eat from my less expensive refrigerator at home...
Oh yeah..PARKING. $170 to park my van. Add that to the top. I had a few sales after as well. Just not really enough. On top of the expenses is my cost of doing biz. my materials and labor. So for me its just not the actual expense of the show.
We had the option to sign up then for next year. There was no way I was going to do that without taking the time to get away from the hype of the show..and really add it up. I was offered a teaching gig...which is useful to me in the Winter months. All expenses paid.
But when I can really do more sales with less work and money and risk...WHY?
I loaded out Monday morning as well. THat was very easy.
THe comment about the double booth of Pewter..that's what I'm talking about. THere are VERY few "ONe of a Kind" there. More like "One of a million"
denice bizot > Marjorie S RawsonJanuary 2, 2011 at 5:40pm
yea ,im on the fence about going back. while there was alot of beautifully crafted original work, and there was a ton of production, which was a real eye opener.
Paul willsea > denice bizotJune 15, 2011 at 12:58am
I make glass from 50 to 1,800.00. Can anyone comment on high end sales? If i can make a few high end sales the rest usually adds up to being worth it.
denice bizot > Paul willseaJune 15, 2011 at 9:36am
i had one $1700.00 aluminum wall sculpture, it sold and made my show. i also sold 2 $450.00,
eveything else in sales were between $35-200.00.
the glass person across from me in her 15th year there, was selling nonstop, she said she did her best ever, came from michigan to do show. i am pretty sure she had nothing over $400 that was selling like the lower price points.... hope that helps
Paul willsea > denice bizotJune 15, 2011 at 10:07am
That is a big help. I have a pretty good price range. The difference will be if i can make a few sales in the 800 to 1500 range. Thank you!
This was my third year doing the show. The first year, I thought if I managed to cover all my expenses I would be happy and try it again. I did. The second year I did great: had nice sales at the show and some follow-up business that made it all worthwhile for sure. This year was tough. I barely covered my expenses and don't know quite what to think....was it the economy? Work not as exciting? Crowd different? Hard to say, but as a 2-D artist things can be erratic. That being said, some people I know did fabulous, others did poorly. It just depends. If you can stomach the huge risk in $$$ go for it. The show is fun, great people walking the show. Yes, sales seemed to be down but maybe next year will be different! This may be one of those shows that you will have to do a few times to figure it all out. I will certainly be going back.
I did this show for the first time this year. I have been in this biz for 15 yrs. And yes, made a living in the 'good ole days" and ...a-hem...NOT so great days...aka. NOW.
Anyway...I had discussed at length with the promoter my concerns about One of a Kind adding like 200+ booths this year...and that it had my "run away" radar beeping at me. I should have listened to myself...Ugh.
The show itself is well run and lovely. There was some amazing work and some real CRAP. Like pot holders, ironing board covers, ..C R A P. I could go on and on.....
THe show doesn't care. They don't. They think they are offering what people want. Cheap. I just made over my expenses. i was in tears. THat doesn't happen often. I am seasoned veteran at this.
There are many "Artists" there who are hobbyiest trying this out...So they have regular jobs or a spouse that brings in money. They don't charge nearly enough ...
I was in line at the Artist Check out/in at the end of the show. THere was a newbie there behind me. She asked how I did and was I going to do it again. My short answer . NO!.
I asked her how she did. She was an Esty arist. She paid $700 for the booth, plus Hotel, food, travel. Not cheap in Chicago. Lets just say....1500 for that to be conservative. She grossed 2,500. AND SHE THOUGHT IT WAS GREAT AND SHE WAS GOING TO DO IT AGAIN!!!!
Anyway...I just nodded and said "Good Luck."
I normally do pretty well. The person who said that there were loads of people but not carrying much was what I saw. I was blown away at the ammount of people who had paid to get in, park, eat..and NOT buy anything. Not just from me....but were there for entertainment.
I , too heard of some doing fabulous. Mostly clothing.
THe show has no plans to stop adding booths. We all know what that does. The quality suffers. As it has. And there is no end in sight at One of a kind.
I was SO impressed with some of the painters. I really was...There was some really amazing work there. i was very inspired. But..I just can't. I have to make a living. It was very very long hours, very expensive. I could have done a small church bazaar if I had too and cleared the same..or set up in my yard..no lie. It was very hard work, long hours and not nearly enough sales. One of those shows that you know COULD be good..if only...
I have grossed more at a one day show than what I did there in 5. No kidding. They would have to make some serious changes for me to go back..but what do they care? Despite my experience and Art degrees, we jewelers are a 'dime a dozen" in their eyes.
Replies
oh heck, ill be brave or stupid, and give real numbers...i had sales of 6,000.00 and it cost around 3,000.00 which included boothfee 2100. hotel 700.00 and gas to and back to chattanooga,tn. i dont count food because i eat wherever i go.
loadin was a breeze, and i did loadout monday 8am which was absolutely wonderful...i cant imagine sitting in the loading dock on sundaynite after the show, but i'd love to hear from anyone who did, if it was long hours?
in addition to the sales, i picked up 3 wholesale accounts which I was hoping for. also someone would like to do a production line of mirrors, (not really interested in that, i'd need a lawyer) and a guy from india wants manufacture some of my sculptures, and i dont think that is useful for me, right now.
I was hoping for a licensing(?) contract, but maybe thats at a different show.
I may do it again, if some residual sales come thru. Of course like most people there, we all want to leave with 10,000. in sales, and there were people there doing that and more, so i heard. like a double booth of cast pewter was at 30,000.00. not sure where the "one of a kind" was in that booth, not sure, but then the word on the floor about my work was that it was all machine made, HA i wish i sat in bed eating bon bons while a machine cranked it out.
i did speak with 4 people who lost money, all were new to the show. this is just a guess, but if you cant consistently sell at least 2-3,000.00 a month throughout the year, you might be in trouble at this show.
feel free to contact me if you have any questions i may be helpful with. denice
Well...I did a bit more than that...not much, but still...
WHen you pay me for 5 days to be there, I count the food because I eat from my less expensive refrigerator at home...
Oh yeah..PARKING. $170 to park my van. Add that to the top. I had a few sales after as well. Just not really enough. On top of the expenses is my cost of doing biz. my materials and labor. So for me its just not the actual expense of the show.
We had the option to sign up then for next year. There was no way I was going to do that without taking the time to get away from the hype of the show..and really add it up. I was offered a teaching gig...which is useful to me in the Winter months. All expenses paid.
But when I can really do more sales with less work and money and risk...WHY?
I loaded out Monday morning as well. THat was very easy.
THe comment about the double booth of Pewter..that's what I'm talking about. THere are VERY few "ONe of a Kind" there. More like "One of a million"
i had one $1700.00 aluminum wall sculpture, it sold and made my show. i also sold 2 $450.00,
eveything else in sales were between $35-200.00.
the glass person across from me in her 15th year there, was selling nonstop, she said she did her best ever, came from michigan to do show. i am pretty sure she had nothing over $400 that was selling like the lower price points.... hope that helps
Geri,
This was my third year doing the show. The first year, I thought if I managed to cover all my expenses I would be happy and try it again. I did. The second year I did great: had nice sales at the show and some follow-up business that made it all worthwhile for sure. This year was tough. I barely covered my expenses and don't know quite what to think....was it the economy? Work not as exciting? Crowd different? Hard to say, but as a 2-D artist things can be erratic. That being said, some people I know did fabulous, others did poorly. It just depends. If you can stomach the huge risk in $$$ go for it. The show is fun, great people walking the show. Yes, sales seemed to be down but maybe next year will be different! This may be one of those shows that you will have to do a few times to figure it all out. I will certainly be going back.
I did this show for the first time this year. I have been in this biz for 15 yrs. And yes, made a living in the 'good ole days" and ...a-hem...NOT so great days...aka. NOW.
Anyway...I had discussed at length with the promoter my concerns about One of a Kind adding like 200+ booths this year...and that it had my "run away" radar beeping at me. I should have listened to myself...Ugh.
The show itself is well run and lovely. There was some amazing work and some real CRAP. Like pot holders, ironing board covers, ..C R A P. I could go on and on.....
THe show doesn't care. They don't. They think they are offering what people want. Cheap. I just made over my expenses. i was in tears. THat doesn't happen often. I am seasoned veteran at this.
There are many "Artists" there who are hobbyiest trying this out...So they have regular jobs or a spouse that brings in money. They don't charge nearly enough ...
I was in line at the Artist Check out/in at the end of the show. THere was a newbie there behind me. She asked how I did and was I going to do it again. My short answer . NO!.
I asked her how she did. She was an Esty arist. She paid $700 for the booth, plus Hotel, food, travel. Not cheap in Chicago. Lets just say....1500 for that to be conservative. She grossed 2,500. AND SHE THOUGHT IT WAS GREAT AND SHE WAS GOING TO DO IT AGAIN!!!!
Anyway...I just nodded and said "Good Luck."
I normally do pretty well. The person who said that there were loads of people but not carrying much was what I saw. I was blown away at the ammount of people who had paid to get in, park, eat..and NOT buy anything. Not just from me....but were there for entertainment.
I , too heard of some doing fabulous. Mostly clothing.
THe show has no plans to stop adding booths. We all know what that does. The quality suffers. As it has. And there is no end in sight at One of a kind.
I was SO impressed with some of the painters. I really was...There was some really amazing work there. i was very inspired. But..I just can't. I have to make a living. It was very very long hours, very expensive. I could have done a small church bazaar if I had too and cleared the same..or set up in my yard..no lie. It was very hard work, long hours and not nearly enough sales. One of those shows that you know COULD be good..if only...
I have grossed more at a one day show than what I did there in 5. No kidding. They would have to make some serious changes for me to go back..but what do they care? Despite my experience and Art degrees, we jewelers are a 'dime a dozen" in their eyes.
p.s. In response to the "high quality". I'll say...Not really. Its too hard to find the quality 45 booths mixed in with the junk.
I'm sorry...I've seen to much..To many really great Artists to agree with the High Quality statement. It breaks my heart actually.
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