[Iyou]

This is my first time being in an artist's alley ever, and I'm at a bit of a loss. I have no clue how much merchandise I should bring to stock my table with! I don't want to run out of stuff early in the convention, but I don't want to bring a truckload of unsold plushies back to my tiny apartment either.

Do you guys have any advice or personal examples of how you determine how much stuff to bring to the AA each year? Have you ever sold out of all your merchandise before, and what did you you do? (I'm primarily a plushie artist, but the friend I'm sharing a table with is going to specialize in drawn art and prints, so advice of either kind is appreciated!)

This post has been edited by Iyou: 24 December 2011 - 05:23 PM

[Alysia]

Are you staying in a hotel room at the con, and do you have room to store stuff there?

If so, and it's not prohibitive for travel, bring a few extra of any big ticket items you have and keep them there. In my experience, small inexpensive plush items sell like hotcakes, so plan on bringing your entire stock and keeping them at the table.

The bigger ticket items sell more slowly. Keeping only a few on the table at a time will give prospective customers the impression that if they want something, they need to make the decision now, rather then hemming and hawing and planning to come back later. Most time they don't end up coming back, because it's easy to get distracted at the con. If it appears that the item is scarce, it will seem more urgent to make the purchase.

For prints, if you don't have any idea how well they'll sell, I would suggest you bring 5-10 of each design to the table, and keep an extra 5 in reserve in the hotel room. That way, they are less likely to get damaged at the table, and you have less inventory to shuffle. This also helps deter shoplifting, because it makes it easier to keep your stock counted.

KEEP SALES RECORDS! Consider giving receipts if you sell large ticket items. It makes decisions about stocking easier, and helps if you ever need to prove shoplifting and the like.

Free advice for commissions-make a signup list with contact info required (phone is better than email)and require a deposit of 1/3rd to 1/2 payment up front. Give out a business card when you take the payment. People are less likely to "forget" the commission that way, and you won't waste your time on deadbeats.

We've never sold out completely (we carry many different things, so it's unlikely.) When we sell out of something in particular, we make sure to note it and how soon it sold out so we can have a better stock next time. Prints tend to go in and out of fashion, so it's especially crucial to keep track of those to keep stock up to date.
Hope that helped!

[JujuFox]

Last year I thought I had enough... nope! I sold out of almost everything in the first day. Friday was our big selling day this year. Saturday had many sales too, and by Sunday we had barely anything on the table(so hardly anyone came over to us T__T)!

We sold more than just amigurumi and plush last year, but out of the 100+ items that we sold half were amigurumi and plush.

This year will be my third year selling in the AA, so I hope this year I have learned from my mistakes!

[Manifested Dreams]

Iyou, on 24 December 2011 - 05:22 PM, said:

This is my first time being in an artist's alley ever, and I'm at a bit of a loss. I have no clue how much merchandise I should bring to stock my table with! I don't want to run out of stuff early in the convention, but I don't want to bring a truckload of unsold plushies back to my tiny apartment either.

Do you guys have any advice or personal examples of how you determine how much stuff to bring to the AA each year? Have you ever sold out of all your merchandise before, and what did you you do? (I'm primarily a plushie artist, but the friend I'm sharing a table with is going to specialize in drawn art and prints, so advice of either kind is appreciated!)

I'm primarily a plush artist with a plethora of other things thrown in. I hunted down a picture of my table earlier this year. Different show, but essentially the same set up as ACEN:

http://i202.photobuc...e_Anext2011.jpg

I generally sell out of 80%+ of my plush and it has happened on more than a few occasions that I'll sell out entirely. I also have a small apartment, so I feel your pain(both of my couches? Covered in plush for my next show. They like watching tv, I can't deprive them)

What you need to do is divide your plush up into pricing tiers. You'll want more of the lower ticket items than the higher ticket, since the higher move slower as a general rule.

I generally shoot for 5 of each of whatever I have as a base number. Since I work with so many plush styles(and colors), it's sometimes just a guessing game. I know from previous experience that a certain color combination works best for one plush, so I double that number.

Ultimately, it's a lot of trial and error. Every show(and I mean EVERY) is different. What is or isn't popular will always change from show to show.

If you have examples of your work, post it on the forums and see what the response is like. Take a look at what people are cosplaying(if you do fanart) as this will be a good indicator of what fandoms are hot for this particular show. People who buy fanart will generally also be cosplaying one of their fandoms.

I'm not sure what your style is, but if it is possible to get pieces ready and then finish assembly on site, that is also a good option. Unfinished pieces will take up less space, but give you some wiggle room should an item fly off the shelves.

Hope that helps! :3

TLDR; It's better to have a really packed display, then it play it safe and end up empty a day in. People tend to pass tables that look sparse. If you plan to do more shows, just look at is as less work you'll have to do at the next show.

This post has been edited by Manifested Dreams: 27 December 2011 - 03:14 PM

[Iyou]

Thank you for the advice, guys! It really helped.

[Jeff]

Don't forget to end all your prices in .99

[thatreevesgirl]

Jeff, on 02 January 2012 - 11:27 PM, said:

Don't forget to end all your prices in .99

Nooooo...never end your prices in .99, pennies are the devil. I hope that was a joke, but I always, always, always strive to have all my prices be even dollars. It helps sales, it really does. I even figure the tax in so that it comes out to an even amount(which is really a pain when you do cons in multiple states, because your base price of your product is always changing depending on the going sales tax rate). I don't even let my stuff be $1.50, because quarters get heavy in the money pouch. Very heavy. If you look around the artist alley you'll find that almost everyone has prices that are even dollar amounts.

[Valkyrie]

Manifested Dreams, on 27 December 2011 - 03:12 PM, said:

If you have examples of your work, post it on the forums and see what the response is like. Take a look at what people are cosplaying(if you do fanart) as this will be a good indicator of what fandoms are hot for this particular show. People who buy fanart will generally also be cosplaying one of their fandoms.

This. Just bear in mind, you may not get an overwhelming response - of the many twentysomethingish-thousand people we have at the con (going on more), only a very small fraction will visit the forums, and of those, another fraction of that will regularly view and post (and some may or may not hover toward specific forums ^^). But, even if people don't respond to your post(s), don't fret - use other threads and topics as character studies.

thatreevesgirl, on 09 January 2012 - 12:58 PM, said:

I don't even let my stuff be $1.50, because quarters get heavy in the money pouch. Very heavy. If you look around the artist alley you'll find that almost everyone has prices that are even dollar amounts.

God forbid someone decide to pay entirely in golden dollar coins. I've had to carry twenty-odd of those around my waist once. Never. Again.

[Manifested Dreams]

Valkyrie, on 09 January 2012 - 09:00 PM, said:

God forbid someone decide to pay entirely in golden dollar coins. I've had to carry twenty-odd of those around my waist once. Never. Again.

I have this evil plan of doing a pirate(or someone else who would use them) cosplay and taking $100 in gold coins to shop with.

But seriously, those are a pain to deal with. Coins are the devil at conventions.

[Jeff]

The .99 thing is a sales trick. See, human beings are bad at math. Consciously, we know that 4.99 is five dollars, but subconsciously, it feels like four dollars. Wouldn't do that at a con, though. It's easier for everyone to just pay flat cash.

[thatreevesgirl]

Jeff, on 10 January 2012 - 03:08 PM, said:

The .99 thing is a sales trick. See, human beings are bad at math. Consciously, we know that 4.99 is five dollars, but subconsciously, it feels like four dollars. Wouldn't do that at a con, though. It's easier for everyone to just pay flat cash.

Yep, it is a great psychological trick if you own a store, but at a con you don't want to go there. You just don't.

Also, coins take more time, and you want to get your transactions done quickly. This is especially true when there is a convention goer rush. Sometimes it can get really crowded in the artist alley, and if a person has to wait for you to make change for someone else for too long, they will just move on instead of buying something.

(Secretly I love getting the gold dollar coins though. People can always spend those at my booth).

[Sapphy]

This thread is incredibly useful! This year will be my first shot at ever selling my artwork much less doing artists' alley, and this helps to answer a lot of my questions. I've been working hard at making items to sell though I'm a little worried on how well my main draw will actually sell:

I make paper art shadowboxes of both an original character I ran a small comic with for a while as well as various fan art designs. Here's a small sample of what I do.

Adventure Time
Aku from Samurai Jack
Hatpire (original)

What concerns me the most with having my main draw be these boxes is that because of the cost of the frames themselves (to me) the price point for them might be a higher than a lot of other tables'. I do plan on offering cheaper things (small paintings and I might have a sketchbook with pen and inkwash sketches in it) to help fill out the table as well.

Would you guys think these would sell decently well?

[JujuFox]

Sapphy, on 11 January 2012 - 01:40 PM, said:

What concerns me the most with having my main draw be these boxes is that because of the cost of the frames themselves (to me) the price point for them might be a higher than a lot of other tables'. I do plan on offering cheaper things (small paintings and I might have a sketchbook with pen and inkwash sketches in it) to help fill out the table as well.

Would you guys think these would sell decently well?

Yes, definitely have some smaller lower priced items if the shadowboxes are expensive. It is a good idea to draw people in with the cool higher priced items, but you might be surprised how quickly they may sell. ACen has a huge amount of older adult type people, like myself, who would be inclined to buy the more expensive artwork. Just because it is expensive doesn't mean it won't sell! I love the Aku one you made.

[Valkyrie]

Indeed - my husband and I have both bought pricey art pieces at cons before. (In my case, I bought a beautiful Hellsing painting at AnimeIowa's art auction, the year before the fanart ban was put into effect. That sucker cost well over 100 bucks, but it's well worth it for the detail.) Having a nice balance can draw in crowds, as some folks will happily spend extra dollars for awesome artwork - especially uncommon types like shadowboxes - just as others may not have much money on hand, but will part with a few bucks for a cool sketch or three.

And as an aside: that Aku is AWESOME.

[Grimby]

What about hats? I'm planning on having a handful of hats/scarves and plushies at my table, and I'm curious as to how many would be needed at a big con like ACen. I normally can sell quite a few at smaller cons, so I don't know how many I should make for a con with 23,000+ attendees.... Any suggestions would be really helpful!

[Jeff]

People have a difficult time making decisions when they have lots of choices. It may be a good sales trick to rotate what is for sale between days. Also, make sure there is not a lot of clutter and that similar items are grouped together.