This week I got a bit greedy with the scheduling. How could I not, though, it’s been a pretty meager season thus far, so get what you can right? Well, that’s not always the healthiest strategy. Not to mention that in this economy it didn’t pan out really either way.
Friday night, after a long (but satisfyingly productive) day at the day job, I packed up the car and drove out to a chamber of commerce event I did last year and had fun at. It’s a 4 hour gig (including setup), folks have paid to be in the room, and they’re having a good time with food and wine sampling and general schmoozing and all in all it’s a pretty nice crowd. Last year’s sales weren’t too shabby for a 3 hour sales window, so I was looking forward to this year. I made my table fee. That’s it, not a dollar more and in reality it was actually even less because that doesn’t take into account the tribute I send back to the state and the fee for the credit card transaction I accepted.
So, after all that I packed up the car, called ahead for a pizza, and hit the road. Why no dinner? Well, this is a solo show, so no back up; the short time frame doesn’t really warrant it. So you have three goals, nothing that’ll make you need to use the bathroom, nothing that’ll give you foul gas or breath, and nothing that’ll get stuck in your teeth and make for an awkward night. So what’s that leave? Not a whole lot really. I had a piece of coffee cake from Starbucks. I tried to get a Three Musketeers bar out of the vending machine on site before things started, but hit the wrong button and got some Nestle Crisp thing. But at any rate, I finally got home around 11 and had dinner and a little time with my wonderfully supportive wife. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much, the photographer at the table next to me didn’t even make the $35.00 table fee back.
OK, not happy, defeated, went home and had a glass of wine and hit the sack because I needed to be up at 6 am the morning for the next show, a 2 day affair I hadn’t done before but did recon on last year. This was about 35 minutes from the house and I needed to be set up by 9:30. Let’s see, typically you get there 2 hours before the deadline (7:30), 30 minutes driving (7:00), 30 minutes t0 get showered and dressed (6:30), and a few extra minutes to make sure you can get some coffee and a bite on the way (6:15). Woohoo, I got to hit the snoozebar twice.
Anyway, I dragged hiney out of bed and made it all the way up there. It’s a lovely drive to make in the fall, by the way because the leaves in this part of the state are gorgeous right now. Well, normally I’d say that, but it was a drizzly, gloomy morning with a chill in the air. No problem, when I visited last year it was still pretty well attended. Not packed, but not a ghost town either. I set up in the tent I had bought a spot in and was happy to see I was out of the rain and the organizers had propane heaters pumping warm air into the space. Not to bad, and there was a table already for me, and I had a corner spot. Not a bad deal. So I set up, the show opened, and I waited. And waited. And waited… There were some folks filtering through but not a lot. Then we started getting what turned out to be bused in tour groups. It seems several of the regional old folks homes scheduled outings. I don’t mind older folks, but they tend to be on fixed incomes, which means they don’t spend money on luxury items. In this economy, even grandma’s cutting back on gifts for the family, and my merchandise isn’t usually it. All told, I made exactly half of my table fee (before taxes and fees). Luckily day two of the show was to be warmer and hopefully better attended. Oh, and thanks again to my wonderful wife for acting as my support crew, bringing me up tarps I had forgotten to cover over the tables that night, and to offer a much needed bio-break. It wasn’t super busy, I could have asked my neighbor to cover for me (yes, folks will do that…it’s like a vendor code), but I don’t like to impose if I don’t have to.
Day 2…bright lovely weather, breathtaking views on the way up, and I got to sleep in a little later since I only had to set things upright on my tables. Ahh, a lovely morning. Increased signs of life onsite, wonderful! And, there were more customers today, it was great. I have to say though, up until about 2:30, I was only up maybe $31.00. After taxes that worked out to around $28.00. Things picked up some in the last couple hours of the show and I managed to clear over 200 for the weekend before table fees, taxes, and credit card fees. Factor them in and it whittles down to just shy of 90.00. Yep, if you’re thinking of doing this for a living, reconsider then reconsider again.
Don’t get me wrong, I know folks who do do glass for a living, and while they aren’t living in mansions, some of them are doing ok for themselves and their families. But they bust their humps day in and day out to do it, forgoing vacations, health care for themselves, and other various other luxuries, but it’s doable. Me? I’m still unsure as to whether I’ll still be in it come this time next year, but I’m committed through the season to various events that I’ve already sent in the non-refundable booth fees for. Maybe as the holidays approach things’ll pick up some, but only time will tell. Just to give you an example of what you’re up against, today I had one customer root around in my buck-an-item bowl, select three marbles and ask how much her purchase would be. I counted the three items in her hand, told her three dollars, and she put them back, “Hmm, I need to think about it, thanks.” True story.
In the mean time, I’m giving some serious consideration to destashing some of my shop; selling off a smaller torch and oxygen concentrator, as well as a couple different types of glass that I don’t work with as often. We’ll see, I haven’t fully decided yet. See, realistically it makes more sense to ditch the larger torch since it requires tanked oxygen, and therefore costs more to run. But I like that torch more, and doing blown ornaments and larger marbles isn’t really feasible. But…folks love to look at my blown ornaments but don’t love to buy them. I just don’t know.
Hang in there folks, I hope the season’s going better for you.