sdpotter@GTE.NET on wed 18 oct 00
Greetings,
Well, I'm doing it! I'm going for it...my first holiday sale.
I'm going to open up my studio to the public for the first time,
and I'm a little nervous. I've got from now until the weekend after
Thanksgiving(that's the weekend of my big sale) to get everything
ready. This weekend, I'm going to spend my time getting the studio
all ship-shape. I'm going to invest in wall board and insulation, it's
something I've been wanting to do for a long time. Now this is a great
time! Talk about moving around a lot of junk and stuff! Yes, I should've
done this when I first moved in, but the funds were quite low!
I'm wanting to move away from shows and just sell from my studio, the
pot packing is getting pretty old.
Do any of you have any pointers or helpful hints for a first studio sale?
Thanks in advance,
Steve Dalton
sdpotter@gte.net
Clear Creek Pottery
Snohomish, Wa
Judy Kanigel on wed 18 oct 00
Some suggestions that have worked for me:
~Send your invitations out two weeks in advance(too soon, they forget, too
late, they have other plans)
~Music,food,and wine(beer or cider are great too)all help to create a
festive atmosphere.
~Good lighting can make your pots glow. Overhead lights can be harsh.
~Be a good host and make everyone feel welcome.
~Set aside an area in advance for the sales and wrapping (and get someone
to help you with it)
~Have fun,it's your party
Judy in Cambridge, MA
>
> Do any of you have any pointers or helpful hints for a first studio sale?
> Thanks in advance,
>
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vince pitelka on thu 19 oct 00
> ~Send your invitations out two weeks in advance(too soon, they
forget, too
> late, they have other plans)
> ~Music,food,and wine(beer or cider are great too)all help to
create a
> festive atmosphere.
> ~Good lighting can make your pots glow. Overhead lights can be
harsh.
> ~Be a good host and make everyone feel welcome.
> ~Set aside an area in advance for the sales and wrapping (and get
someone
> to help you with it)
Judy gives excellent advice regarding a holiday sale. Make sure your
invitations are nice - eye catching, with all pertinent information,
including a map to the sale site. Develop your mailing list as
conscientiously as possible, and build it from year to year. Since this is
a holiday sale, really go for the holiday atmosphere - nothing tacky, but
have a few Christmas trees, and lots of Christmas greenery if you can get
it, decorated with strings of clear lights. If the entry to the sale
location is through your yard, then decorate the yard with Christmas
greenery and lights, but no giant illuminated plastic santas in sleds. The
idea is to get people into a festive Christmas spirit, which in our culture
unfortunately (but fortunately for you) translates to a Christmas
gift-buying frenzy. I might add a essential credo from my years as a studio
potter in Northern California - "Feed them and they will buy." That could
be extended to say "Feed them well and they will buy lots." That means good
finger foods, in generous amounts, plus spiked and un-spiked cider, clearly
labeled. I do not think beer seems right for a holiday sale, but I suppose
that depends on your clientele. With that in mind, I imagine our clientele
would have appreciated it, but we never did have beer.
We had a close friend who did catering, and we traded her pottery for her
labor, and paid for the materials, and she brought a hell of a spread. Our
holiday sale got to be something of an institution in the part of Humboldt
County where we lived, and provided a significant part of our income. We
had lots of friends who came to help out, and they always received pottery
for their labors. That item above about having a place set aside for
check-out and wrapping is really essential. Do not do gift-wrapping, but
obviously the pots need to be wrapped in newspaper. Have lots of bags on
hand, and plenty of wrapping supplies.
As Judy says, the lighting is essential. Clamp-on lights are far preferable
to the standard room overhead lights. Better yet, get or make spot-lights.
Best of all is track lighting, which can be expensive. We made our own.
If your studio is in or adjacent to your house, consider having a kiln
cooling the night before, so that you can unload it during the sale. Our
customers absolutely loved buying pots warm from the kiln. I could never
understand why it was such a big deal, but I certainly did not question
their enthusiasm at the time.
Good luck -
- Vince
Diane G. Echlin on thu 19 oct 00
Hey Steve,
Make up a simple printed flyer and distribute to your mailing list, and also see if
you can post them at local book stores, coffe shops, and art supply places. Offer
simple refreshments, and if you do functional wares, be sure to display them with
some food in them!
Good luck!
Diane in CT
sdpotter@GTE.NET wrote:
> Greetings,
> Well, I'm doing it! I'm going for it...my first holiday sale.
> I'm going to open up my studio to the public for the first time,
> and I'm a little nervous. I've got from now until the weekend after
> Thanksgiving(that's the weekend of my big sale) to get everything
> ready. This weekend, I'm going to spend my time getting the studio
> all ship-shape. I'm going to invest in wall board and insulation, it's
> something I've been wanting to do for a long time. Now this is a great
> time! Talk about moving around a lot of junk and stuff! Yes, I should've
> done this when I first moved in, but the funds were quite low!
>
> I'm wanting to move away from shows and just sell from my studio, the
> pot packing is getting pretty old.
>
> Do any of you have any pointers or helpful hints for a first studio sale?
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Steve Dalton
> sdpotter@gte.net
> Clear Creek Pottery
> Snohomish, Wa
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Paul Lewing on thu 19 oct 00
Steve,
Send notices to EVERYONE you can think of, even if you think there's no
chance they'll come. You never know who they'll tell.
Put up signs in the neighborhood.
But you might want to seriously think about serving alcohol. You may
technically, depending on where you live, be supposed to get a permit.
And people will be driving after they've had alcohol at your place.
We're part of a tour of sales, and we decided we really didn't want to
serve people and then encourage them to drive around on the tour.
Good luck, Paul
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