It is 9:30 on Sunday morning and I sit here amazed that my body and more importantly, my brain is still intact. It was a totally insane week (do I have any other kind) and now it is over. Well, except for having to drive over to The Professor and the Diva's school to pick up all of my unsold leftovers.
This is the first year that I've actually had anything left over so it's kind of a kick in the pants to me. A little disappointing but expected. After hearing the disasterous results from other arts and craft venues - sales down 70% or so, even with great promotion on all mediia. I was expecting the worse. It wasn't as bad as I expected but if the economy continues going down the toilet, I will seriously have to reevaluate whether it is worth it for me to devote so much time to crafting.
At past Art Shows, anything under $100 would fly off the podiums or the grids. People would not even blink at a $20 piece of jewelry or a $10 set of cards. This year though, people really, really thought about their purchases and usually ended up either putting the piece down or returning at the end of the evening to buy it. I don't think we had to call anyone to replenish their work this year because nobody sold out - well, except the people who had one piece under $50. We sold a lot of $12 necklaces but $18 ones did not move at all. I wonder if it had to do with the psychology of $12 being perceived as $10 while $18 was viewed as a $20 purchase.
I knew I would not sell any of the pricier dolls I do since they were $60-$80. I wasn't counting on selling them but was hoping to get a commission request. So, I had the kids pack them up and go home early. They looked so pathetic just sitting there on the ground. Like that really ugly puppy at the Humane Society that just seems to know it was never leaving the joint.
I have no idea how I did at the Craft Booth. I know I didn't do as well as past years because I have never had to pick up any unsold inventory. This year, I have to pick up my work. Again, I wasn't surprised about this since I knew that $30 was a lot for most people. However, I didn't want to undercut myself and sell everything for cheap.
What really sucked though was somebody ripping off what I do. The kids said that there were dolls just like mine but smaller and 1/2 the price. They said that people would pick up my dolls to read the stories, see the price then buy the smaller one. Since these rip-off dolls did not have any labels on them, I am concerned that people may have thought they were mine but the kids said you could tell they were of lesser quality than my work and not as creative. I hope the people who know my stuff bypassed these but it's hard to turn down something that is 1/2 the price - even though you know it is a fake. It's like buying those $40 tokidoki rip-off bags from the swap meet instead of the $100 real ones at Sportsac.
That adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery is cow poop. Let's just say that karma is a b-yotch.
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