I am currently looking a few months out and as always feeling cheap about booth fees. I have only been involved in shows full time for a couple of years and low cost local shows at least put needed dollars in the bank account.
When I eye a show a days drive and I pencil it out, using an RV and doing everything as cheap as possible I am at $500 expenses on a $200 booth fee. That means the first $175 I sell each day (4+ pieces in my case) are just the raw cash out. If I up that max booth fee to the $600+ I see a lot my risk is up to really more like a grand when you add in that extra meal out and such.
Are these high booth fees penciling out month in and month out for those of you that pay them?
I know plenty of artist have good shows that hit those magic multiples but does it hold up over the course of the year for full timers who just do shows (meaning little else to cushion losses)?
What kind of max limits do others put on booth fees?
Does anyone see these fees coming down in the near future or is it more likely that they are going to continue to grow by $50-100 each year?
Replies
Where are your customers? That is the main question. It's great if I can make a profit at a $100 show but I still have to put the display up and down (my least favorite part) and there are only so many weekends. It's great if I can make $1000 at a $100 show but if I can make $3000 at a $400 show I'd rather be there. Same amount of effort, larger profit. I will take a chance on a $100 show if I think it has promise but I do more research on the $400 show since there are expensive shows out there that are either not right for my work or they are charging on reputation alone. My booth fees range from $100 - $600. I paid $750 for one once and was very happy with the results. I'd go back in a minute if they would accept me again.
Lots of folks here have great experiences to share, I thought I would add my 2 cents... It's a really mixed bag out there for pricey shows! I have been branching out from smaller ($75-$150) shows (I still do one or two of these but not much anymore) to medium ($200-$350) shows and the return was pretty good. I took the next step up and started doing $400-$600 shows, thinking they MUST be better... but it was not always true. some of those $500+ shows were my absolute worst. Some would have been fine if they were $200 shows, but at the extra expense it was not worth it. How do you know? well... if you can go to the show before you book it. It means planning ahead, but that's the best way to know. what you sell has a huge impact on what you make at a show. some places were clearly looking for a specific style or price range. The big shows with the high price tag especially you need to know WHAT folks are buying there. You need to identify your market and look for shows that suit your products. I found that near a beach you need to have beach/ocean themed things. it seems dumb that I didn't realize that first, but it's positively true, all the shows near a beach are big on beach glass and dolphins and seashells and ocean scenes. it was not my thing so I did not do as well there. I sell best in cities where young people have jobs and are decorating their homes, I appeal to younger crowds. I do best downtown at a festival or at a theme-specific event (like a sci-fi convention). I still do some shows that fall outside my niche market, and I do OK. But the higher price tag on a venue the more certain you have to be that your work is what they want to buy! Paintings are super hard to judge. At a lot of shows I felt like the folks selling wearables did much better than the painters. Ceramics also seem to fare better than wall-art stuff. This year has been especially rough on artists at every show, I think, or at least that is my impression, and I wonder how much of it is that the political scene has everyone nervous and unhappy (like, no matter who you are supporting, you are very anxious this year-- this is not a political pro- or anti-anybody it's just what it seems like to me!) it makes everyone feel less inclined to spend!
Here's my thought though- a higher price tag on the show is NOT a magic bullet indication of that show's returns. I am beginning to get very skeptical about high-priced shows (like more than $500) because they seem too often to be taking advantage of artists rather than really working to create a good venue for sales. Some of the really slick-looking ones with the fancy flyers and giant spaces can be just as bad as the $50 church bazaar full of crocheted toilet roll covers. If you can see on their website the artists from previous years, I suggest you contact one or two first (preferably one or two with art that is at least related a little to yours) and ask them how it went for them. I have done this a few times and the advice from someone who went last year is worth a lot more than all the speculation of anyone who hasn't been at all! on the plus side you meet some folks that way and most of the time artists are very kind and willing to tell you if it was a good show or not. The worst case is they never respond or they are unhelpful, which has not so far come up for me. I am glad to have this website now to check for some of these shows! it is an uncertain way to make a living!
Great advice, Felix! Thanks for weighing in on this ... and Peter and Barrie and Chris and Cindy -- !!
I hope Stephen that you take all of this to heart. There are so many variables -- Barrie is right (don't make art to sell, make art -- that is the justification for even being in this business). If you are just making product to earn a living it can be very soul deadening, if you are in this because of your creative needs.
IN GENERAL, the theory is that if you pay more you'll make more. And then IT DEPENDS on so many factors. We always shot for the top shows because that is where the best work usually is, it has been promoted by the show as the best work, people listen to the advertising and know you are special and want to get a piece of you. You don't have to explain over and over what it is you are doing. They accept it at face value, that it is worthy of consideration because you are there.
That said, those shows aren't perfect. We always tried for the top shows and then had a solid string of "b" shows where the audience knew us, the fees were lower and all the other expenses made them worthwhile. They kept us going until we hit the big shows, then we'd pay off the bills and start all over again. Only a few of us are getting rich here, but we're living a very rich life.
Hi Connie, yes I am/did. Great responses and wonderful advice. Ya know while it is about earning a living my studio time is fantastic. I am trying to find a balance of making and selling. If larger shows provide a lot more revenue then that makes the balance so much easier because doing small low revenue shows every weekend to piece together a living really turns into a 7 day thing. Not that enjoying a passion daily is really that much of a drag :-)
Mostly I just wanted to know the trend from the folks who have been doing it forever. The larger fees add a lot of risk as that extra dough makes life just that more dificult. Kind of a bird in the hand thing as I know a small 100-150 show will provide some positive cash flow that week and keep things moving forward. I've decided to just try and really do my homework and over the next year work in a couple larger venues and go from there.
I've been too busy dragging my butt from one low cost show to another to look at this website much anymore, but this morning's quick drive-by caught my eye with this topic/thread. I'm an old timer and I know this conversation would NEVER have seen the light of day years ago as most any artist could find their place in the show circuit and proceed with mostly good fortune. High brow, low brow, medium brow, everyone hung their hat somewhere because there simply was plenty of space in the market to accommodate every passion. I do two, maybe three, highbrow shows/year with my high brow work, and spend the rest of my time in the weed patch with under $100 stuff and quite enjoy doing so. Fortunately, I can do a variety of forms and media so I play in a range of markets. This feels less opportunistic and more like I'm getting a chance to do some art I had to forsake years ago due to lack of time/energy. The market has changed and the show cost topography has yet to change to match the times. It will eventually but it may take many years. I strongly believe we are in the early innings of a generational shift, a Depression, not a cyclical Recession, and we all will get used to it at some point. During the so called Great Depression 75% of the people still had jobs and it was during the 1930s that some of the first outdoor art shows were founded,...I'm thinking of Rittenhouse Square in Philly, Old Town In Chicago, and the Plaza in KC. These times can be oddly fruitful in the arts, go figure, but they are not boom times. The people with jobs can and will buy art, over the normal consumer crap, if it is PRICED RIGHT. I'm finding price point is everything and the prestige level of the show is far less important nowadays. Take their breath away with quality and knock'm dead with an attractive price and keep down the costs of everything we do and we will live to see tomorrow, not necessarily a brighter tomorrow, just a tomorrow.
One of the reasons I built my touring schedule with Florida shows is their relatively low booth fees. Compared to other regions in USA, Florida and the South East USA boast charging the lowest booth fees anywhere. So we'd do some Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina events as well in conjunction with Florida tours, but Florida was the main stomping ground for most of the shows.
A second factor in doing Florida shows is the prize money offered. Unlike everywhere else on the planet, Florida shows have gobs of prize money they'll be handing over to 20 or 30 artists each show. Even small events would be tantalizing artists with a two or three thousand dollar best of show and then several other levels of awards of $1,000 and $500 and $250 or something like that.
Right out of the gate the expenses are less for the shows, and the chances of winning free money are there. These are two great benefits that are tough to beat. So if an artist does some Florida shows and wins awards and develops a clientele, he or she gets spoiled to the expectations.
Looking elsewhere in the country, booth fees are double, triple, and quadruple, and award monies are half, one-fourth, and even non-existent. Shows out of the South East with big reputations never paid off in spades for me like I felt they should have. Paying a $450 booth fee and then winning one of the 10 or so category awards offered and collecting the $250 check for it was great, but it didn't help that much to offset the expenses of these "bigger and better" events.
Some Florida shows are the bigger and better events, like Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival held during March in Orlando area. Booth fee is $450 and awards given to more than 60 artists total $72,500. Best of show is a purchase award worth $10,000, and they have other levels consisting of prize monies gifts for $5,000 and $2,000 and $1,000 and $500. Competing in this field requires artists to do better art. But having better art doesn't always translate into making more sales. It often means winning top prizes, though.
Another reason I did Florida is that there's a show every weekend very nearby the one I just did. Sometimes they will be 100 miles apart, or 200 miles, and sometimes a little farther apart. But that distance is nothing. Some people say that because of this, Florida is over-saturated with shows. But it didn't hurt me. It all just got better and better for me.
Usually better art finds a market, no matter where it is showing. I have been fortunate with this, but it's still tough to stay in the black. Expenses have to be kept really low, meaning less eating out and more cooking in the hotel, staying in lesser expensive hotels, driving lower cost vehicles, ditching common wants and needs, and keeping expenses low at home. Lowering expectations is important, too. Shop in thrift stores. Don't buy the latest cell phone and ipad. Etc. I paid $5,000 cash for my van and it gets 22MPG. The last one I got for $2,600 cash. Maintenance costs are low, too since it's a mini van and not full size. I started doing shows in a two-door hatchback Subaru I paid $1,200 for, and early on I drove it into the lots up next to pickups with dually's towing 40 foot Wells Cargo trailers. I went home with a $3,000 best of show and made some sales. My expenses were dirt cheap compared to others. It's the art that counts.
My run in this biz has been based upon spending less on everything, including booth fees. I started with a $175 Easy-up and used it for 8 years. I got my show panels from a video store going out of business by trading a limited edition print for them. I won a $2,200 best of show and earlier in the day saw a sign on a ladies booth that said she's quitting the biz and wanted $500 for her Craft Hut--so I bought it during the awards ceremony. I have never tried Sausalito or Cherry Creek, and I live 400 miles from Denver. I have never tried those shows in Washington State that have such high booth fees. It seems utterly ridiculous. I did Ann Arbor original twice, the first year was great and the second was ZERO. So no more of that nonsense. I don't even like to spend $500 on a booth fee.
So there you have it. It certainly depends what you are selling. You have to get out there and discover what works for you. We all have different methods, different art, different needs, different everything. So good luck to you. But the best advice I can give is to keep going back to shows and letting people know you are there. Keep on truckin' and developing better art. Raise your prices and raise the level of art you have to offer. Don't feel like you should have something to satisfy everyone's pocket book.
By the way, I'm more interested in developing better art than making money. Sure, I need money to make the art, but the art is more important than the money. Money is common and expendable. Art is unique and revered.
One thing about the shows with the higher booth fees is the chance the promoter is more professional and will spend more on advertising.
But that never means everybody will do better because you can spend $600 on a booth only to find it's not your market and not meet expenses. It happens all the time at every show.
I'll spend $1,000 for a double space only at shows where I know the market and I know the promoter. But that doesn't mean I'll do whatever the magic times the booth fee is today because the more the fee, the lower that times number is. Back when the economy was good an expectation for a good fall show was 10X the booth fee. Today it's 5 to 6 times.
As an example I can do a $100 show and make $750 for the one day. But when I fork over $1,000 that does not mean I'll do $7,500. I may do $4,500. But in the end I still made more bottom line than that $100 show. And that's all my bank account cares about.
What it all comes down to is what is your comfort zone? If you're content doing the lower priced shows, why change? Everybody must find their own place, and just because a space is more expensive doesn't mean that particular event is for you and your work.
When you said you made more with the $750 one dayer is that because the 4500 had more than 2700 in expences along with the $1000 booth fee?
Why change? Well for me anyway the low booth fee shows mostly seem to be community parties with art/fine craft as one of many backdrops along with food and entertainment. They also mostly allow some crap booths and too many of those I think really changes the crowd. We did a huge show on the NW coast last year and most of the fine art booths were empty of customers even though tens of thousands of people were swarming the area (and the buy sell booths) and everyone was having a grand time. At events like this we are lucky clear a few hundred a day. It feels like doing it the hard way. The people that get pottery are great customers and the folks that don't think the prices are absurd. I guess I started this thread to see if I was just playing it too safe and, if the work is of professional quality, paying the $1000 booth fee really does get me in a position to have a 4-5 grand weekend.
I said I made more money at the $1,000 show. At that $750 show I made $650. Let's not go into the other expenses right now. At a one day show I commute. But at that $1,000 show I made $3,500. Sometimes I slept in the truck instead of a hotel, and my wife always made my lunches and dinners so I don't go to restaurants, so my costs might be less than yours given the same show.
Just because a show has a higher fee doesn't mean it's free of B/S. Go to a Country Folk Art show with the fees at $600 and you'll see a flea market. Literally.
What it all comes down to is you must find your niche. It may or may not be at a high end show. But you also must find the shows that have your market (customer). Paying a high booth fee will not guarantee you that you will even make expenses. That comes from trial and error, or a close knit group of fellow exhibitors you can network with who know you and your work.
When I started out oh those many years ago I made inlaid music boxes that sold for $100 to $750. Reagan was President and the country was happy, and when they're happy they spend money. Also the Boomers were buying their first houses and needed "stuff" to put in them. And we were happy to oblige.
Those days are g...o...n...e.
The smaller shows can frequently be a better bottom line return. Competition is less and even though the volume is less, as you said, you're not having to sell $800-1000 just to break even. It's what's left over after expenses that counts, not the gross sales. Try a mix of shows and see how they turn out.
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