How To Present And Sell Your Beadwork At Art Craft Show

So you think you can bead! Now what? Show and sell, of course! There are millions of ways to do that. After experimenting for several years I can share my own experience, thoughts, and observations. You are free to follow and experiment, or suggest your own ideas.

To sell or not to sell?

The first question is, of course, whether you actually want to sell your art. I know many people who create for their pure enjoyment and never even consider selling it. I started making jewelry for myself and just like these people, didn’t think of selling it because I was wearing it. You probably won’t be surprised, if I tell you that at some point I created so many pieces that I couldn’t possibly wear them all. At the same time, one of my coworkers expressed an interest in buying a couple of my necklaces. Do you recognize the story?

First illusion almost every artist has ever fallen for is the illusion of demand for art that has only received compliments. Compliments from you friends and relatives don’t promise any sales from people who don’t know you. Even several first sales can’t promise you will always sell your jewelry. I successfully sold two necklaces at a very good price and kept my promise: they were unique and I never created anything like it again. However, selling to a person you know, is not the same as investing in a display, market space, and a web page. Selling to someone you know is risk-free and “investment free”. Try this first!
Then move to the next step: sell to people you don’t know.

Definitely, Sell!

I am absolutely sure and I insist that every jewelry maker dreaming about a small design business should start selling at shows. Why?

You’ll never know if your jewelry worth buying if you don’t try.
Shows requires less investment comparing to physical shops or even web shop businesses
At shows, you will gain irreplaceable experience at selling to people that don’t know you
At shows, you gather a lot of information about your customers (what they like, don’t like and so on)
You will learn how to present your jewelry
You will see other people art and get inspired
You will meet other artists and learn from them
You can make money to buy more supplies
People will know you exist, you create art and you are here to share it!

First Show

Getting ready for your first show can be a challenge if you don’t prepare. If you don’t know anybody who has an experience selling at shows, search online. At least, that’s what I did and found plenty of information. Being a perfectionist and try to meet all possible expectations is not necessarily the approach leading to success. Don’t get overwhelmed by suggestions and, especially, by expenses you might consider important. I looked at my first show as an experiment and only met minimal requirements: some decent displays, business cards, card reader (to accept credit cards), some nice packaging materials and a fire retardant table cloth which was required for that particular show. Over years, I noticed that people who tend to purchase from handmade industry, are very friendly to artists and don’t demand more than essentials that help run the business smoothly.
Every show rules and agreements might be different, therefore, I suggest to spend some time choosing your first show. I read Marketing and Selling Your Handmade Jewelry by Viki Lareau before I decided to try. I looked through 10 different books on this topic in a bookstore that day, but I chose this one because it sounded more realistic. If every business required no investment and relaxing work days, like many books promise, each one of us would be a millionaire by now.
After you have registered for your first show, check all the details with the organizers to make sure you know as much as possible in advance.
Then move to the next step: create a list of things you need.

First Show Checklist

Since I used my online research to get ready for my first show, you might consider it useful, too. Here are some examples:

Checklist #1

Checklist #2

Checklist #3

I keep my list about the same. After the first show, most of the items remained packed in dedicated boxes labeled “Show”. Before each show I just check for missing items and continue focusing on preparing the new collection of jewelry.

Major investments, in my point of view, are a good tent and lighting, but it all depends on where the show is going to be and what conditions you are expecting to work with (such as cold, darkness, too much sun, artificial light, hot and so on). Considering these environmental aspects of sale, make sure you create comfort for yourself. No customer will enjoy talking to you, if you are irritated because you are hungry, frozen, hot, dehydrated, bored, sleepy, edgy or annoyed for any other reason. In other words, love yourself and your customers will love you, too.

Pricing

Pricing beadwork is a rather challenging and there is no unanimous decision on how to do that right. I stick to my own simple rules:

If I repeated somebody else’s design I charge for my time and materials only.Decide how much you want for an hour of your work and record the time it took you to complete the piece. When following a particular design, make sure you have permission to sell your items. Most of my designs include such permission, which means, you may not reproduce it in large quantities, but making one or two items is totally fine to sell at art and craft shows.

I charge more for the exclusive design.You designed a piece of jewelry and you will never repeat this. No, it is not ok to charge only for the time you spent creating it. I am sure, everyone, at least once, has bought a brand name item paying a little more for it than a generic company would charge. Well, design is always a part of the reason for a higher price.
I charge more for designer materials and less for mass produced ones.
Working directly with lapidary artists allows me to have some control over finished pieces of gemstones I use in my jewelry designs. Of course, this means I pay more for completing my requests, plus shipping and insurance for each of those stones. On the other hand, when I buy a calibrated cabochon, I only consider including the price per item plus partially cover some expenses for entrance fee or shipping, and time spent selecting it. Time, of course, gets overlooked very often!
I am realistic!
This rule includes so many details to consider that it might deserve a separate blog post. I work faster than some people I know and therefore, charging for time only gives me an advantage. When it comes to “per hour” amount, I still think artists deserves a bit more than a minimum wage. After all, my customer is free to decide, therefore no one is harmed by this practice.
However, if you were an engineer or a pharmacist, for example, before you started beading, you might face a realistic shock: there aren’t many people who will be ready to pay you $50 per hour for your beadwork. PHDs have nothing to do with a successful design. You have to earn your recognition without putting Ph.D. next to every artwork you present. I have two degrees and no one ever expressed any interest in them at the show. (Of course, I never expected them to, otherwise, I’d be in college now, earning my Ph.D.).
I don’t charge less.
Although it was my tendency, but when I got to know so many talented artists, I felt that our community deserves more respect.
Every time you charge less, you participate in an act of devaluation of art. You contribute to mass production industry success. You state your creative process is the same as an activity of a factory worker who mindlessly repeats same manual procedures for 8 hours a day. Would you call it art?
I know, you are afraid of charging more, and I was, too. Respect your customers as much as you respect yourself, let them decide if they would pay for your art the price you asking.

Selling!

When my first customer handed me the bracelet and pronounced “I think I would like to have this” I totally freaked out!
Before that moment I have never sold anything my life, never liked selling and never thought I’d have to do this for a living. Yet I was there standing in front of my first customer and realizing, she doesn’t care whether I like it or not, she wants to have my bracelet. After several seconds in a panic mode, I finally calmed down and processed her payment.
Artists who sell their own work will always be more emotional about the sale than any other sale person. Not only we hope for some money to sustain our art-making, we also fall in love with people who choose our art!
People vote with their money, and when they vote for your art, it is incredibly pleasing, no matter how small is the purchase.

No matter, how experienced you are at sales, the most important reason for you to be at your table or booth, is to help people making a right choice for them. A happy customer is the one walking away with a purchase made with a conscious mind and a loving heart. No discount can replace that.
I am still learning to sell and enjoy this process. So far I can assure you, there is no single magic secret for a successful sale! Wishing the best for your customers is one of the obvious strategies many successful sales authors share in their publications.
Over the years I observed other artists’ selling habits and experimented with them. My verdict is simple: what doesn’t feel true to you don’t feel genuine to your customers. If you are a talker, definitely tell your stories and entertain them with small talk. If you are an educator, share your knowledge, those who need it, won’t forget you. If you are an introvert, like me, let your work attract people and speak to them instead of you. Just be more mindful about your display and learn more about that part of the business.
When I was in Syracuse market shopping for fish and tasty Sicilian food with my family, I heard fishermen singing to customers with lovely opera voices. Unforgettable experience! Use any skills or talents you have, if you wish well for your customers, you will succeed.
Experimenting is part of learning experience. Don’t be afraid to try new things, say words you never said before, praise your art as well as complement others’ and dare to be different. Doing what everybody else does will not make people remember you. Be brave, your art worth it!

Learning From You Experience

When at the show, take notes every day! Besides writing down the items you sold, note each interaction, bits of information you collected, emotional highlights, all types of observations. Talking to artists, customers and generally being busy at your booth can distract you from gathering experiences and saving it for the time when you can reflect and analyze. When the time comes and you can finally think about your experience, you might need your notes. Try to evaluate your performance, your feelings, and goals. Look at your notes and consider answering following questions:

Did I like the overall experience?
If not, what went wrong?
What could be done to solve those problems in a future?
Would I do this show again?
If not, what has happened that was absolutely un-fixable? (Are you sure it will happen again and again?)
What can I learn to improve my performance?
And the most important question of them all: do I want to be more successful at my next show?

If you answered “Yes!” to the last question, start planning your next show. Use all the help you can get and all the information you can gather. Meanwhile I will be here, writing more about the details. Stay tuned!

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