I've just been doing Arts and Crafts shows for about a year, so most of you have much more experience with this that I have. I've been reading blogs, talking to people at shows and making my own observations. At every single show I've done, from 1-day church fundraisers to big, well established, juried shows, people have consistently complained that business was 1/3rd what they had in previous years, or less. Forums are full of show reviews complaining of lower attendance, and thoughts of doing fewer shows. Artists complain that there are too many "bead stringers" or buy-sell, or "crafters", that standards seem to have dropped. I think all these things are related, and are driven by the same thing- THE ECONOMY. The economy has made people generally more cautious in their spending habits, especially for non-essential items. This means that the "typical" revenue artists could expect to earn for a show has gone down on average. But the fees for entry have either stayed the same or gone up. This means the artist is bearing the brunt of changes in the economy. Promoters may say that their expenses have gone up, so they cant reduce booth fees. But artists' costs for supplies, etc have also gone up. So artists continue to pay booth fees and hope they will earn revenues sufficient to justify them. Some- perhaps especially new artists soon conclude that shows are not profitable, and they either stop doing shows, do less shows, or quit doing their craft altogether. This reduces the pool of artists for any given show, increases the likelihood that promoters will accept lower standard artists, etc. I think eventually promoters are going to realize that they will need to reduce booth fees or face a downward spiral of fewer applications, lower quality crafts, lower attendance, lower revenues, and even fewer applications for the next year. Of course some artists still do just fine, but I'm thinking the average is going sown, the average spending by show goers is going down etc. Until promoters reflect this reality in their booth costs, and share the impact of this reduced spending, the downward spiral may just continue.... What do you think???
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I agree with David.
The economy is an easy target but I don't buy it for a second. GRANTED - I've only done art fairs for 3 years so I was not around for THE GOLDEN AGE and I suppose if I lived in Detroit I would have a right to complain but I live in Wisconsin.
What I see is the people at art fairs that complain about the economy have nothing new to offer. Been there done that seen it. It's like if you sold the same cars for 10 years and your sales are slumping, BLAME THE ECONOMY!!
The people I see struggling are the ones that sit there and try to let their art do it's own selling. Maybe that worked in the past but now you actually have to talk to people, make contact, HAVE FUN!!
While I type this I'm listening to "Who is Buying Art" (I have to keep stopping and replay parts LOL) and I agree so much with some comments.
Side note - I have seen greater attendance at all my shoes this year.
We are not in a DEPRESSION, folks! (Thank goodness) No matter what, MANY people are making money in all markets . Even in a strong economy there are many businesses (not just artists) that do not do well. It all stems to personal marketing, knowing your product/customers, self-promotion, having the right product and being positive & active in your own success. Bad economy or not, there ARE plenty of buyers and a great deal of sales to be made.
Once the economy improves, there are going to be artists blaming "Global Warming" for bad art sales ... Excuses are easy ... Finding solutions and acting on them is difficult but more rewarding.
In the past 2 years, my profits have gone up. It didn't come by accident. These are some of the practices that work for me.
1. A business plan - each Jan. I look at the previous year, analyze what went wrong and what did well. Then look ahead and adjust. I weed out any shows that introduce buy/sell or flea market quality stuff. Just because I don't do as well as expected at some shows, if I feel the quality is high and everything else about the show is good I will go back. There are some shows that just keep getting better. I keep getting repeat customers and they bring more customers, year after year. Some of my slow start shows are now my best shows.
2. The middle is dead. I have concentrated on high end and some smaller items but not too many small things are displayed at once.
3. I am always in my booth. except for a quick bathroom break, if needed,
4. I am always pleasant and converse with potential customers.
5. I never read, eat, or complain in my booth. I leave any complaining, which is rare, for the car ride home and it's short.
6. I will bend over backwards for a customer to get a sale, but I never lower my prices at a show. If I feel something has been sitting around way to long, I will discount it before the show.
7. I never put sale or discount signs in the booth.
8. I have a cut off point where I will not spend over $400 for a booth fee. most are around $300.
9, I am cheap. If I can, I camp, bring my own food, stay with friends (my favorite thing), and don't travel too far. A couple of hours is about as long as I drive.
10. Good or bad, I find something positive about each show, whether it's the money I have at the end of the show, some great food, pleasant people, or some awesome artists I met. I leave each show with good thoughts.
11. I often, after packing up, will find a nice place to sit, put my feet up, and have a cold beer with my husband. I seldom do shows that require a long drive, so one beer is not going to wrap us around a tree.
I have noticed that our sales have slowly dropped over the last two years. I do hard shelled gourd art and while it attracts a lot of people my sales are down. My first couple of years I did great and while I'm at least making some money, this year was barely worth the effort. Most of the artists I talk to say the same thing. I'm not sure what we're going to do because it's expensive to do the shows and I can't survive on just little sales. Even the shows in the more affluent areas didn't do well this year.
We have been doing art shows for 11 years (functional glass) and actually have had our 2 highest grossing shows ever in the past 3 months. I agree with folks who say that there are definitely areas where the economy has remained more robust and/or is rebounding more quickly. We too have seen some different buying patterns and have adapted accordingly....
Just curious as to how you have adapted....
We started doing more smaller and mid-size pieces for shows and added some additional lower price items. Our sales have actually increased though we are selling more volume vs. large ticket items. We also have become more frugal/efficient in our use of materials which has certainly helped the bottom line.
I agree with David that you have to be at the top of your game to be successful. I am focusing more on local farmer markets and galleries because I was breaking even and making small profits at the few art shows I did this year. I expanded my photography business into having high school seniors and am doing pretty well in that area for a newcomer. I haven't had much time to work on new art work for the fall/spring circuit in Florida, but I'll be back and with larger pieces to reach those affluent customers. I realized early on to make more money in other areas of photography, you need to target households making 100k or more because they would have disposable income. Same thing goes for the art fairs, I did a show in Bartow and the weather was bad, but the city/area isn't filled with wealth. My best show in the past year was in Delray Beach and I did very well because I interacted with the customers and didn't hide in the booth.
Whenever I see an artist hiding in the back of their booth and they have a don't take picture sign on their booth, I take out my phone and pretend to take a picture to see how long it takes them to come out and say something to me. Most of the time, they don't budge. I can understand staying in the back when it's 85+ in Florida and you have no shade, but there's no excuse not to be interacting with customers when the weather is gorgeous. :)
I've been doing this for over 30 years and I have seen good times and bad times. I have made 6 figure incomes and poverty incomes. Right now it's nearing the latter. Here in the northeast shows are terrible. Now some may say they're doing great here in our part of the country, but to them, a $1,000 show may be considered great. And then they go to their "real job" Monday morning.
Young people aren't attending the shows as they feel they can get all the art they want at Pier 1 Imports. They do not understand the value of well made/well done work.
Exhibitors are getting out. When money was fast and easy, everybody and their brother was an artist/crafter. Now that we actually have to work for a living, only the true exhibitors remain. Those of us who do this because we love what we do, or can't find a "real" job.
Promoters, who became fat and happy charging $500 plus for spaces have a lifestyle and can't lower their fees because, like everybody else, have personal debts from the good times and are hoping we will pay them. And if we don't sign up, they will do what they must. Sell real estate.
There are exhibitors who can cater to a class of buyer that will still spend. And I say "Good for you!!!" But this country is hurting. Personal bankruptcies are at record levels nationwide.
I'm not playing "gloom and Doom" I'm just stating the cold hard facts. We can't put our head in the sand and say it isn't happening. If that worked, MSNBC would be saying everything's all rosy and good.
We are in a downward spiral. And like the housing market, we must hit bottom before we can go up again.
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