The Holiday Season for RagsReborn's craft shows is coming to a close...three shows under my belt with only one more to go before the year's end. It'll be this weekend, Saturday December 12th, 2015.
**For those of you who can't come support RagsReborn at shows, I am also having a sale on Etsy (
www.etsy.com/shop/RagsRebornGifts)
. All of my tote bags have been marked down to $8 for your holiday shopping convenience.**
Please come out to the Holiday Handmade Show at The Crown Center. It's a
handmade show so you know it'll be a good one with lots of local talent. It'll be great to see everyone and close out the year by selling out of pillows.
I've been posting about my shows and experiences on social media (have you started following @ragsreborngifts on Instagram, yet?) but I guess I haven't formally blogged about how things are going. So here it is... laid out as unbiased as possible...other vendors take note if you're interested in participating in any of these shows next year.
The Craft and Vendor Fair at Triumph Family Worship:
Hands down this was the most fun show I have ever done. Even if my sales tanked, I would still say this was my greatest experience. (Luckily, I had the best sales of the year at this show!) From beginning to end, the church staff & event organizers went above and beyond to support the vendors. I will definitely be applying for this show again next year. I don't have any negative feedback on this show. Only good--
1. This was the only show where the staff thanked me for participating. The church (Triumph Family Worship... if you need a flock, I would recommend joining this one) recognized that the vendors and crafters are talented & have something to offer and we were sharing our time & talent with them. It was like the show needed us instead of the other way around. I'm not saying I don't need shows (because I do... so if you're an event coordinator reading this, please don't reject my upcoming application) but it's nice to feel appreciated once in a while.
2. Information was distributed to vendors early on (about a month before the show) and again the week of the show. Then as you arrived at vendor check in, a last minute check list was given. It was the same information packet over and over again but I liked the fact that it was available. I didn't have to ask what time set up was and if wi-fi would be available. I knew well in advance so I could plan appropriately and if I happened to forget, I was given at least two reminders.
3. The staff was great! I guess it's because the parishioners were helping their community. This wasn't a show where they were out to make money (the booth fee was only $20!) It was a church and they just wanted to put on a show & have a good time. Everything was reasonably priced, from the rent fee to the concessions to the items other vendors sold. (My mom bought a pretty large scented jar candle for only $3!) Everyone came by each other's booths and everyone was super friendly. I met a lot of other vendors and probably the entire population of the church. And to top it all off, everyone wanted to buy a pillow (^_^)
PC West Fest at Putnam City West High School:
This personally was the worst show I have ever done. I sew both pillows made from upcycled t-shirts and totes decorated with gently used t-shirts. I have brought both pillows and totes to my shows and no one gives the totes the time of day. I figured that it is because my main display is pillows and totes just get set aside in the corner. It's not that people don't want to buy them; they just can't see them. (Being my own biggest fan, I refused to acknowledge that maybe people just hate totes and I should stop making them.) To test this theory, I brought only totes to this show. And with that, I had to stop being in denial... my totes suck. I was there from 10am - 4pm and only sold 3 totes. Ugh. But that wasn't the show's fault. I know of at least two vendors who were boasting of high sales.
PROS-
1. The president of the Putnam City West Foundation (the event coordinators) was very nice & helpful. He was the only one of his staff who wanted to look out for the vendors. Kudos to Richard!
2. The vendors weren't monitored very well. This can be both good and bad, but for me, this time I liked the freedom. The staff was barely present. I didn't like the fact that I couldn't get help when I needed it in the beginning but as the day wore on, I enjoyed being able to do as I pleased. I'm not usually a rule breaker but I used electricity even though I didn't sign up for it on my application, I used a little extra space for my booth (the booth assignments weren't marked off with tape or chalk), no one cared about collecting taxes and a lot of people started tearing down early (although I stayed the entire time). These are normally rules vendors have to follow and if you don't, the show runners get mad at you. But, these people just did not care. I think the mentality was once you signed in, you were pretty much on your own to do whatever you wanted.
CONS-
1. The show was tiny. TINY! I think there was less than 25 vendors there. I expected a small show but not this small. I'd reckon there were only 18 vendors. And over half of them were direct sale (Avon, Scentsy, etc.) so in terms of crafters, there were only about 5 or 6 of us. I was the last booth and literally one out of every three shoppers looked around after seeing my booth and commented, "Wow, is that it? Really...no more booths?"
2. A lot of the vendors were just out for themselves. I don't think this is necessarily the show's fault (unless they purposefully selected jerks to participate in their show) but this is just a personal complaint of mine. My neighbor (a caricaturist) commented that this show was one of the most un-supportive he's done and he's been in business for six years. After talking to John a bit, I realized he was a pessimist who just liked to complain so I couldn't believe everything he said but I do agree with this.
Wes had to work on the day of this show so I did the entire set up of my booth by myself. I passed by a lot of people who asked if I needed help and when I started to say yes, they went on about what they were doing instead of actually stopping to help me. I made 3 trips to & from my car before the husband of a jewelry vendor actually got up to accompany me to unload. The event staff was at the sign in table chit chatting away and didn't even get up to open the door for me as I walked in with both hands full.
A vendor came up to John and myself and asked how our sales were going. When we told her not so well, she boasted about her sales (she actually gloated like a little kid who just beat up her younger sister). I have never had this happen. I'm not saying everyone should be nice and hold hands around the campfire but we are all vendors in this community together and that woman was just plain rude.
3. There was a personal emergency within the Friends of Putnam City West Foundation staff. This emergency hurt the show's organization & marketing. The president of the organization personally apologized to all of the vendors for this unplanned mishap but nothing was done to remedy it. Advertising was minimal and general vendor information was not given. I had to email the show a few days prior to ask if it was cancelled because I hadn't heard anything.
YMCA Arts & Crafts Fair at Earlywine YMCA:
This was another good show. My sales weren't as good as the Triumph Family Worship show but I still had a really good day. The YMCA staff was friendly and helpful. I met some new vendors and saw a couple of my old buddies from previous shows. My only complaint is that there was a lot of direct sale vendors and the show was advertised as a "craft show." I was sandwiched between Essential Oils and Zurvita Zeal for Life. A couple of things I really liked about the show:
1. The booth layout was really clean. It was held in the basketball court at the YMCA. It was a big space but it wasn't jam packed with vendors. The show only accepted 30 participants. There were vendors along all four walls and a couple in the middle. There was enough there for variety of products but not too much to where it was overwhelming. There was plenty of space to walk through with clear aisles and pathways.
This made it feel like the event organizers were out to select the best vendors that fit their show instead of accepting as many vendors as possible just to rack up on the booth rent fee. We had enough space to properly display our items and the shoppers could navigate through all the different the booths with ease.
2. It was at the YMCA... great location!! Everyone who was coming in to work out also got a chance to stop by the show. Many of the people weren't buying but I still got A LOT of traffic. The show stayed busy all day. Literally, all day... it started at 9am and there was a constant flow of people all the way until 3pm. No one packed up early because there were still shoppers. I believe the final count was 605 people (they had a volunteer sitting at the door with one of those clicker counting things).
I think next year I will try to find more craft shows being held at local YMCA chapters.
The Earlywine YMCA can't be the only one who does an annual craft show, right?? (If you know of any Oklahoma YMCA's that host craft shows, please let me know).
My booth rent is going toward a good cause and I felt like I was really taken care of as a vendor. Plus, all the shoppers were in a great mood. :D You know how studies say that exercising releases endorphin? ... I think that since everyone was going to the craft show directly after working out, they were happy & excited and in a mood to shop & socialize. Their attitude kept my spirits up all day and even if I wasn't making a sale, it was still nice to see crowds of smiling faces throughout the day.
Bought a pair of earrings right before closing time. I didn't even get a chance to grab the woman's business card because it was 3:05pm and I was her last customer.
So all in all, I think I've done well thus far. (Fingers crossed for continued success this weekend!) There's always room for improvement but I'm happy with my show experience. There were three other shows that I wanted to participate in on same the days as my November shows but I cannot be in two places at once.
The Central Presbyterian Church's Christmas Bazaar and Church of the Servant's Earth Glow Market were also on November 14th. I heard that Earth Glow was a good one so I will definitely be applying next year.
The Santa Market in Edmond was on November 21st; that is a huge show that is well known amongst the vendor community. I applied but got wait-listed. Oh well, there's always next year.
I thought about doing OKC Flea at the Centennial Building at the fairgrounds for their December show but I changed my mind. It's too close to Christmas and I think I've already worn myself too thin trying to do these four shows. I could do another one but I think I should probably rest and sit this one out. I will be going as a shopper to check it out because I know they have spring and summer shows, too. There's always next year! If you know of any good craft shows to participate in, please let me know. I am always looking for shows in and around the metro Oklahoma City area.
A huge thanks to everyone who came out to support me this year!! And if you haven't had a chance to come out to see RagsReborn, there is still time. The Handmade Show at The Crown Center is this Saturday!! Pillows galore and they are all good ones!
