Hi all - so I thought I'd post a review of the show I did this weekend - the Highwood Last Call Art Fair, an Amdur show in Highwood, IL. This is also connected to a question about discounts...will get to that in a moment.
The festival was on a street in downtown Highwood - a cute suburb with little shops along the side, and a couple of good restaurants in this strip. Nice location, artists' parking was really close (maybe a block away tops). We set up Friday night, late - almost missed check in - but we were able to pull right up to our booth space and set up, no problems. Quickest break down EVER - was out within an hour because my booth space was next to the Walgreens' parking lot and so we parked there to load up. Crazy easy.
Saturday was a bit cloudy at first, then cleared, then cloudy again. No rain over the whole weekend, but some wiind. The worst part was the temperature - it dropped in the late afternoon - luckily a friend of my family who was visiting lives nearby and actually had her husband deliver fleece coats to us! Sunday was nicer temperature-wise but windy. As for traffic? Both mornings were SLOW. NOT a lot of people out. Afternoons picked up a bit.
There were fewer artists here than advertised - I think Amy was aiming for 130, I think if she was at 100 I'd be surprised. I was near the south end of the fest, but there still seemed to be quite a bit of room - I'm sure that's why Amy was still advertising that there was space for artists up to the last minute. This is my first season doing shows, so I have no idea what to expect from these regarding traffic, etc - but am starting to get a grasp, and it seemed light on attendees and light on artists. I was only able to walk around the whole strip once or twice, quickly - but it seemed the level of artistry/craftsmanship was slightly lower than the other festivals I've done - not a huge drop, but thought I'd mention it. Some "regulars" from the other Amdur shows I've done were there, and some people I'd never seen before. Display quality was all over the place - from really nice and professional, to slapped together. Personally I think I'm somewhere in between those 2 extremes, so I probably fit in ok. :)
As for sales - Saturday DEFINITELY was a better day for me. 2/3 to 3/4 of my weekend sales were from Saturday. Sunday, the attendees' attitudes about things seemed to change, and I think this was based on the marketing of the show as a "last call"/discount show. Which gets to my question: we were given stickers that were color-coded to mean 10/20/30/50 percent off. I had NO idea how to mark things down in a "fair" sense, or be consistent with others in the show. Also, I will be doing a gallery show in a couple of weeks and some holiday-time shows, so I am not trying to get rid of all my inventory...so I started out with a few 10% and 20% stickers. That seemed fine for Saturday, people were not really concerned with getting a "deal" so much. Also, I tend to think my pieces (I am a metalsmith/jeweler) are reasonably priced, and as soon as I talked about my work, people tended to buy full price anyway. Sunday, however, was a different story. EVERYONE wanted half off. EVERYONE wanted an "extra" discount, or to haggle. I walked around and noticed some booths where they had a sign saying 50% or 30% off everything. I added more 20% or 30% off, but felt like unlike Saturday, people were just looking for discount stickers and did not want to talk about my work or any details! When you are a jewelry person, and there's other booths there that are selling more constructed/beaded things that took less work/less expensive materials and they are selling them for less, some people don't care and just want to get the same kind of price, even if the piece I made is all hand-done! It was a little frustrating.
So my question (finally) - even if marketed as a "last call" fair, how low does one have to go? How do you not feel a little taken advantage of? The haggling in particular really got to me, because I feel like my profit margin is already not much because I want to keep my prices reasonable. At least half of the pieces I sold on Sunday were at 50% off, which I did NOT want to do but felt pressured to in order to make any sales on Sunday. I felt a little sick to my stomach about it. Am I just being over sensitive? My sales were good considering the cost of the fair (I'm from Chicago so not a lot of expenses other than booth), but the lowest of my season. Ultimately I did have a profit overall, for sure, but where's the line between offering a discount and knocking stuff down so low because of desperation/whatever? How do you get over the icky feeling of people thinking you need to sell them things for almost nothing? I felt a little pimped out, for lack of a better term. ;-)
All in all - not a bad show, but battling this major question as a "newbie". Any feedback would be great. Thanks!
Replies
I do several Amdur shows but not this one because of the discounting. For me it isn't a good fit since I don't discount my work (except for special offers to existing customers) and I also have a wholesale line so I don't want to be at a show discounting my work (I'm also a jeweler). Plus I rarely have excess inventory that I could "get rid of" at this type of show.
For some I think it is a great opportunity to move some of the older work, excess inventory, seconds, etc. and I know some artists that have done well.
As with any pricing issues, you need to figure out how low you can go and still make a profit and feel good about the price you let it go for. And yes, there are always going to be those that want something for nothing! But, maybe there is another angle to "discounting"... buy a necklace, get the earrings free, etc.
At just about any other show we were always strict about our prices and at those you have every right to feel icky and even insulted. None of us are getting rich out here, we price our work at what we feel is a decent profit and hope to be treated the same way we would want to be treated.
Thanks for the report.
I guess my main question would be: where is the line? I had roughly 1/3 of my items marked down (maybe almost half) anywhere from 10-30% off (most were in the 10-20% off range), but that didn't seem to be "enough" for some of these shoppers. They wanted half off, or maybe even more! I was comfortable enough doing the 10-30% (30% was a little at the edge for me, but I bit the bullet and did it), but it just seemed as if the crowd was expecting something like 50-75% off...it completely baffled me. For a "last call" show, what's average % discounting? It was all over the map. Since I may very well do this one next year (especially if, as you mention, I have extra inventory and more experience in the future), I'm trying to figure that out. Thanks.
Now as to haggling over prices. I am a 35-year-vet in the biz--here is my input. You know going in that this is a "markdown" show. People expect deals and expect to haggle. I love it when somebody wants to haggle with me, that means they want to buy the piece, which is better then nobody being interested. You just got to learn how to land the big fish. First off, go with prices inflated, knowing that you are going to be selling for less. When they make an offer, immediately come back with a counter-offer close or in the middle of the two prices, If ypu can keep them interested in dialogue, you will usually get the sale. Remember, get the money first, you can always make another one. This is just very practical sense, especially in these times. Don't feel offended. This is one big marketplace right now. Be thankful you can make money, because there are lots who aren't doing anything. This is my third recession, and I am still standing tall. Aloha, Nels. Read my show blogs, I give a lot of helpful info.