Valerie Hawkins on tue 9 apr 02
The first saturday in May, Carolina Claymatters, a guild of area potters
here in Charlotte, NC will be holding their semi-annual sale. I will be
participating for the first time.
I'm just a nervous wreck. The prospect of having my wares judged by the
public and my fellow potters is completely unnerving. This will be the first
time anyone outside of my family and my mug exchange partner has seen my
work. I worried about pricing to high and not selling anything or too low
and winning the ire of the other potters. I'm worried about the
construction of the booth (attractive, portable, light but stable). I'm
worried about how I will handle selling. I hate to sell, I always have.
I would love to fear from any of you fellow beginners that would like to
share your stories or advice.
Wish me luck!
Valerie
Charlotte
Megan Ratchford on tue 9 apr 02
Valerie,
Ho Boy! This is great, I know you're a wreck but you will do fine.
For the rest of the list I want to say that asking your fellow potters
about what they would price their work at, and what they might recomend to
you for price in your area is a start. Do they take a precentage of your
sales? If they do then I would price the mug you sent me (I was lucky
enough to have had Valerie as a mug exchange partner,) at between 8-12
dollars depending on the sale price of others in the sale. The one I sent
you is a $12 mug in a sale that takes 10%. I add percentages on top of this
for the 40% shows and reduce it for shows where there is no percentages.
As to selling, be cheerful and say howdy alot. It's amaizing how much
more at ease people are when you say hello first. I know I feel shy as I'm
approaching another potters booth that I don't know. The ones that stand
there and just watch you intently (PLEASE BUY MY WORK PLEASE BUY MY WORK)
always put me off a bit, (especially since I rarely have the money to buy
their work.) But the ones that smile and say hello and chat a bit will
alway put me more at ease and make me wish even more that I had money to
spend. So don't hang back! From your mug I'd say you have every reason to
be confident in your work!
Megan
Dupre Mr Marcy M on wed 10 apr 02
Valerie,
I share your concerns. I also offer, "Do not take counsel of your fears."
I would attribute your anxiety to a combination of first-timer ignorance
(what to expect) and excitement over the prospects of actually having a
stranger like your work so much as to exchange coin-of-the-realm for it!
Worry more about having enough pieces to sell. Be a shame to show up with
20 pieces and be sold out by 10:00 am!
Relax and have fun with it. Look upon it as a learning experience. Take a
buddy along, for moral support and to watch the booth while you scout out
the other booths. See what others are charging for their similar wares.
Pick up their works and compare them with yours. You are the harshest
critic you'll EVER have! Go back to your booth and make adjustments if you
wish.
When the sale is over, write down notes of things you've learned. Go back to
your studio with renewed faith in your talents and a resolve to improve
them. As a baby, you crawled before you could walk, and you fell on your
fanny many times before you could run with the wind.
This is one of those experiences, which I have always counted as the best
teacher.
Knock 'em dead, Valerie!
Best of luck,
Tig in Springfield
The Sherman's on wed 10 apr 02
I'm a fairly new selling potter myself. Did 2 shows last year- will do 4
this. Before then I did one here and there. As a potter you realize that
if you want to continue to do what you love you have to figure out what to
do with all the pots you make or your home will be overrun, and your family
and friends can only absorb so much of it. The most important thing is that
you think your work is worth selling. Although students do make pots
similar to their mentors no 2 potters have exactly the same ware and your
pots have qualities that make them unique. That is what you sell to the
public. As to your specific concerns- here are my suggestions.
Attend a few shows in the area between now and May and get an idea as to
where others are pricing their work. Be discrete though, unless you know
the potter. Don't stand there and copy down prices but get a general feel
for price ranges of different items. If you feel comfortable (and there are
no customers in the booth) ask. Visit the booths of a bunch of potters and
at several different shows. When pricing stuff ask yourself how much time
and material it took to produce it. Adding things like handles or lids
takes more time per item and should raise the price. Try to develop a
system of pricing. I price my mugs at a buck an ounce and a dollar for the
handle (price includes sales tax). Casseroles, vases, pitchers, etc. are
priced by size or volume. It will take a little trial and error so keep
good records. Each of my pieces has 2 labels- a unique inventory number
which is removed at the point of sale and a price tag, which stays with the
item. I can then check off each item as it is sold so I know what color,
size, and shape is selling. If a particular item is moving quickly or not
at all it clues me in that I might need to adjust the price.
For indoor shows the display is not as important as the lighting. You may
want to invest in a couple of clip-on swing arm lights to improve
visibility. If you are concerned about the display tipping over use a
couple of sandbags at the bases. Also try not to have the shelves too close
together or items behind one another- breakage can happen when a customer is
trying to get an item out from behind another.
Outdoor shows- hope for the best but prepare for the worst. You can never
have too many tie downs or canopy weights. I also use stakes at the bottom
of my display shelves to keep them upright if I'm on soft ground.
Being a salesperson can be problematic to artists. Potters tend to be
solitary folks and facing a crowd can be nerve wracking. My sister is a
watercolor and pastel artist and is a terrible sales person but she does
shows to get her work out there and gets commissions from the public. I
tend to be more of a people person but it took work for me to get
comfortable selling my pottery. Make eye contact with as many people as you
can who walk by the booth. If they don't look away smile, greet them, and
invite them to look at your work. Talk a bit about the work- selling the
unique features- high or low fired, type of clay, food safety, oven or
microwave or dishwasher safe. I tell each person to never buy a piece of
pottery they haven't picked up. Having them touch the glaze, feel how the
piece fits in their hand probably sells more pieces than anything I say.
People are careful as well- I think I've had maybe one piece dropped and it
didn't break because it was on grass. Also I rarely sit down during a show
and don't work on anything unless I have someone else to do the selling (my
hubby is pretty good).
When you do sell make sure you have enough wrapping material on hand. I
don't use newspaper to transport pieces to shows but buy newsprint from a
local moving company. Then I have enough to securely wrap each piece as it
is sold and don't wind up with ink on my hands or ware. I also spent a few
dollars for plain plastic shopping bags. It irritates me to see
professionals send customers away with grocery store bags. I also include a
card with care instructions and my business info. I print them on my
computer before the show. While it took some time to create them (and my
business card as well) people appreciate them, esp. if the item is a gift.
Take a small cooler with drinks, snacks, sandwich. Finger foods work well
and can be eaten between customers.
Many shows have high priced and high fat foods. Save your wallet and your
waist.
I know this is long but I hope it helps. Some of the info I learned by
trial and error, some from other artists, and some from periodicals. I
subscribe to a few magazines. For show related info I use Sunshine Artist
and The Crafts Report. Any regional publications you might find could also
be good. Ask your suppliers or other potters if they know of any.
Good luck with you show!
Marcey Sherman
Zephyr Pottery
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Valerie Hawkins
Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 10:19 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: My first sale
The first saturday in May, Carolina Claymatters, a guild of area potters
here in Charlotte, NC will be holding their semi-annual sale. I will be
participating for the first time.
I'm just a nervous wreck. The prospect of having my wares judged by the
public and my fellow potters is completely unnerving. This will be the first
time anyone outside of my family and my mug exchange partner has seen my
work. I worried about pricing to high and not selling anything or too low
and winning the ire of the other potters. I'm worried about the
construction of the booth (attractive, portable, light but stable). I'm
worried about how I will handle selling. I hate to sell, I always have.
I would love to fear from any of you fellow beginners that would like to
share your stories or advice.
Wish me luck!
Valerie
Charlotte
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