This may be a huge can of worms, but I will go ahead and open it because I am curious. What is behind the resistance to actually stating your sales numbers at a show? I recently wrote a blog post about a show and stated my sales numbers. Connie Mettler said I was "brave" for posting such intimate information. I must admit that I don't really understand why this is brave. I have been reluctant to state my numbers only because everyone else seems to be reluctant to state theirs. I realize that a "good" show means different things to different people, but it really matters what someone means by "sales were terrible" or "sales were great". Someone may bring in $1000 over a weekend and be ecstatic (I know I was my first year!), but that same total could mean the show was a money-losing failure for someone else.
I'm not necessarily advocating that everyone post their sales figures. If you don't want to post them, that's fine, but what is wrong with posting them if you are comfortable doing so? I am just trying to understand why everyone but me seems to need to keep that information to themselves. Perhaps someone can help me understand why I shouldn't necessarily state my own sales numbers.
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This thread gave me the idea to create a form on google docs that can be emailed and also embedded on a local website I'm developing. Its a simple to use form that addresses the topics mentioned here. We'll be emailing it to other artists in our area, and with the information we can gather plus our own experiences & info, work to build a database for all of us to use; the information to be posted on the website (still under construction). I'm all about networking and working together to build our businesses. As I said, this is simply on a local level, but for those of us who are just now starting out, and for those who will be newbies in the future, this could be invaluable assistance.
If you'd like to see it to get an idea what might also work for you, just pm me or email me at jendonaldart@gmail. com. Oh yeah as always, suggestions are welcomed!
It's great strength was that it was information provided by artists only and not his viewpoint.
Typically, I don't like to share sales information because I don't want to feel responsible if someone does the same show and does less than terrible. There are a lot of factors that make each of us successful whether it's the art we create, how we interact with customers or the customer base, and the weather just to name a few.
My belief is that if something were set up like the old "Craft Fair Guide", more artists would be willing to share.
I'm one of those who can only do originals. My price range is going to be much different than someone who can do reproductions so comparing my sales say to photographer really doesn't help them. If you went ahead and constructed a polling method by medium that would be a help. But what is good is that when people who do just originals do well then usually you know the show was good for everyone.
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