Tonight I was reading a post by Kathleen Clausen on shoplifters. Shoplifters hit her neighbor's booth and then proceeded to her booth. The shoplifters were able to get some jewelry from both booths and who knows how many other booths before that. Luckily, Kathleen and her neighbor were able to recover their artwork.
Shoplifters don't take vacations or ask for permission before they strike. It happenes when we least expect it. Plus, we usually realize it long after the perpetrators are gone.
So, what do you do to minimize thefts from your booth? Have you had many thefts? Have you caught anybody red handed? Tell us how you combat this problem. Your experiences may just help another artists to protect themselves and their hard work. It is always good to be prepared.
Jacki B
Comments
Usually, theft is a rare thing at decent shows down here. Markets etc., it may happen more frequently.
It has only happened once to me - at a festival where I was sharing a booth with another jewellery maker and there were a few of the sideshow-style food vendors nearby. One of the workers from the hot potato stand in a red waisted apron wandered through and spent quite a bit of time at our booth and we noticed her because we had other customers in the booth that were constantly going around her - but they were keeping us busy so we didn't pay too close attention to her immediately. She left suddenly and it wasn't until one of those customers said a couple of minutes later - oh did you sell that bracelet? That we realised what had happened - as no one else had been in the booth.
One of us ran after her but she had gone although we knew what she looked like. We contacted security and managed to identify where she worked, in the meantime realising she had also taken a pair of earrings as well.
As our table was high, we gather she had leant against it and gradually pulled the items into her body and hidden them in her apron.
The security guard confronted her with one of us present but she denied it (of course) and she refused to show him her bag or empty her pockets. As he wasn't the police there was nothing else we could do. BUT we did go around to every single booth and told them who she was and what she had stolen so that they wouldn't be hit. We also periodically stood outside her stall and just watched her - and she saw us. Hopefully we at least psyched her out a bit!!
Since then, I've been more vigilant but try not to watch too closely as many of my customers deserve trust- they haven't disappointed me in the past. This thief wasn't a customer and had I picked up on her body language more it may have been prevented. I tend to watch younger people more as they are not my demographic at all.
For me, theft has been pieces, not cash. I think this is because (a) I always carry all my cash on me, in a money-like purse diagonally across my shoulder; and (b) my jewelry used to me more "out". Last year (2010) I had about 4 items stolen - all bracelets during a busy time. This year, most but not all of my work was under glass or secure - and sales went up as well as no thefts. I left enough out for people to touch/play with, and just made sure I was available for trying on things. Also, most of my sales are on credit, thank goodness - means not as much cash to be carting to the car at the end of the day! I mostly do larger urban/suburban shows, so can't comment on the difference vs. small towns; but I will agree re: teens. Never thought it, but looking back I think I know at least 1 bracelet stolen from me that was done by a group of girls...
I have a three things to contribute on this topic.
1) Having a cash register at an art/craft show is asking for trouble. You're much better off keeping your money in a fanny pack . There are MANY fewer people who will hit you over the head to steal your money than there are who will distract you and steal your cash box. In the case of my wife (the fine crafter) and me, we have one fanny pack we call the "money belt. We some times spell each other in the booth, and the money belt stays with the person running the booth.
2) Over the course of a 2 or 3 day show we will accumulate a sometimes significant amount of excess cash (that is, an amount over and above that needed to make change). At night, we transfer the excess cash into a money belt, which I wear around my waist under my clothes. Since we do shows in various places around the country, that solves a host of problems. (Who needs or can afford a bank account in every city in which they do shows?)
3) The following great idea works well at indoor shows. It comes to you from me, but it originated with the Verdiers, who own and are the promoters of the Sugarloaf shows. If any of the vendors is robbed or believes there is a shoplifter on the premises, he or she reports same to the "front desk" (the place where we check in and where there is always a staff member on site). That person then makes the following announcement over the loudspeaker, which can be heard throughout the building: "Artists, attend to your booth." That lets all of us know this situation exists so we can increase our vigilance. I have passed that idea on to the promoters of other indoor shows we do, and they have adopted it. (Thank you, Deanne and George Verdier!)
Dave Peterson
For the items that are not behind glass, we've increased the size of the jewelry cards that we hang on our remaining display racks. The larger the jewelry card the earrings or pendants are attached to, the harder it is to get away with. Our biggest difficulty is the finger rings, we have 3 styles that we make in multiple sizes. These are now on a stand at the back of the booth in between us. When someone lingers too long we always offer to help them find the right size or discuss how we can custom make one in any size, and offer to size their finger. Also, as much as we like having a corner booth, that set up is always prone to more theft than the in-line booth layout. For some of the larger shows that generate the very large crowds, we've quit requesting corner booths due to this very issue.
One more item on security:
This is something we learned from Amy Amdur - less is better. When we redesigned our displays last year (Amy had a ton of good ideas and Millie had very nice cabinets made that showcase everything) - we cut the number of items that anyone can pick up from about 15 to 5 in a tray. We have 4 cabinets and I can scan them and quickly notice if something is missing. I generally restock after each purchase but from time-to-time ladies will pick up an item and go immediately to our workstation to pay and leave. When that happens I'll say, just loud enough for Millie to hear, "did you just sell a Malachite bracelet?"
This took a lot of unnecessary monitoring away during peak shopping time, and like Amy suggested - with less choices our sales actually increased.
My wife (Millie) and I have a system worked out borne behind 10 years of getting pilfered by the masses - it started with little things like necklace pendants but when we got hit twice in the same year for wire-wrapped high end pendants (one Charoite and one Azurite), we did the following:
* Resdesigned our booth so that anything over $35 cannot be gotten without us taking it down from a display
* We now do a tag team where I'm out front greeting customers and showing them our wares and Millie is in the back doing sizings, repairs and making new things
* We went from a cash box to belly packs
* We have key words that alert me to watch a certain person or group (teenage girls in particular) and large crowds who form at our booth because we sell high end
I was very interested by the comment above about husband-wife teams. That's happened to me twice this year where the husband would engage me in a long conversation on stone cutting and polishing while his wife shopped and ultimately lifted a bracelet because I took my eyes off the displays. Since that happened just this Sunday in Grand Rapids and we lost a bracelet, I've changed the approach so that I'll excuse myself and go offer someone a mirror whether they need it or not.
Also, I've taken to carrying a couple of hand mirrors and give one to anyone who lingers long at a tray of necklaces or bracelets. It's a very subtle way of saying - I see you, but not in a way that will run them off if they're serious about a purchase. I also spend a lot of time holding mirrors for the ladies trying on our stuff so I'm right out front and it seems natural.
The downside is when we really get slammed (10:30 - Lunch; and 2:30 - 4:30 at most shows), it's impossible to watch everyone so I revert to silent prayer that shoplifters limit themselves to $15 items if they must steal from us.
As to catching someone red-handed and doing anything about - I'm clueless how I'd handle it but I'm also sure it's just a matter of time before we're tested.
I really like this discussion and look forward to hearing how other combat theft.
Rod R
Native Textures (dot com)
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