First off, I want to say thank you to my customers today. I hope you enjoy the glass pieces you purchased as much as I enjoyed making them.
But I have to say to everyone else, it’s rough out there folks. Today was 5 hour show, I had 7 sales, amounting to just slightly more than twice the booth fee (which was only 40 dollars). I have a reasonably nice display, I have a good spread in my prices, but every sale is being hard won. Today one of my customers, who bought a very lovely marble, hemmed and hawed over a 10.00 item, and this person has a job.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in the “needs” business, I’m in very much in the “wants” business. No one needs a pendant. No one needs a marble, particularly one for 50 dollars. I’m very realistic about this and fully realize that I’ve cut back on my own purchases in the past year or so. I’ve even trimmed back on my raw glass purchases dumping two orders recently, including one order for some experimental color. Have I mentioned I have a weakness for rare and odds? In case you’re looking for a Christmas gif…wait, back on topic. I dropped these purchases, and frankly I actually felt slightly guilty for it because MY purchases help out others in my circle, but unfortunately it’s all sliding downhill these days, and raw glass is the previous step in the chain.
This was a show that I did last year, and we all know how well last year was for sales. Attendance was definitely down this year inside the craft fair area. Outside, where there were other activities going on, looked pretty well attended, but inside the craft sales area it was definitely off.
So what does this mean? Well it means it’s going to be a lousy sales season. But it also means that everyone’s going to have to step up their game. The good news about today’s sales was that several of them were my marbles, which is a more creative end of my inventory. Things like my pendants and wine stoppers, however, got some traction, but weren’t winning the bulk of the sales. This means I have to learn and adapt to help drive the market myself. If I’m going to convince people to part with their money, it’s going to have to be a really wow item. I have a few designs in mind, but like most folks with a couple of years of boro time under his belt, sometimes my ideas outstrip my ability, but those who know me know that won’t be enough to stop me from trying.
The excellent news of the day? Not a single sale from the dollar bowl. Either this is a good sign, or it was picked clean last weekend. I’m going to go with both those theories.
update: I added the booth fee.