Good Day at the Show

Vaughn McMillan

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With the help of LOML, I participated in the 21st Annual Brentwood Spring Art Show all day Sunday. This was another del Mano show, in an affluent part of town, so it had a reputation as a good show for my kind of turned wood.

The early highlight of the day was a visit from fellow FW member Mohammad Madha and his lovely wife. It was a great surprise and a pleasure to meet them. Plus, now I can put a face to the name. :thumb: Of course, I forgot to get a picture, so I have no proof, but at least Mohammad and I know the meeting really happened. :D

Things stared slowly sales-wise. By mid-afternoon I had only sold two bottle stoppers and was starting to question my intelligence for paying to do this show. (This one day show costs as much as the two day shows I've done in the past - about $280.) After spending the first part of the day watching people pick up pieces, look at the price, set it down, and walk away, I decided I was pricing myself out of the market. So, I broke a cardinal rule (in the opinions of some show sellers) and started knocking 10% or so off the prices. If someone would ask how much a piece was, I'd look at the price tag, and say "Well, I have it priced at $120, but I'd let it go for $110." That seemed to be all the incentive some people needed. Purses and wallets started opening up. I ended up selling one pen, three bottle stoppers, six bowls, a platter, and one hollow form. I saw a few of my favorite pieces go to new homes. But I made over three times my entry fee, and nearly doubled my previous best show. Realistically, if I include my materials and time, I think I might have made about 25 cents per hour, :rolleyes: but the gross sales figures came out looking pretty good for a one day sale. (Plus, as I see it, my materials and time don't count, because I'd be paying for and turning this stuff regardless of whether I was selling it or not.)

And here's a bit of evidence, with my beautiful booth bunny dressing up the place:

Brentwood Booth 800.jpg

And a few of the pieces that sold:

Bowl 031 - 03 800.jpg Bowl 032 - 04 800.jpg Bowl 16b - 800.jpg HF029 - 03 800.jpg Bowl 025 - 11 800.jpg Bowl 041 - 05 800.jpg

The curly maple bowl in the last pic (from some of Robert Mickley's maple stash) was by far the showstopper of my booth. It seemed like nobody could walk by that big piece of curly wood without touching it to see if it felt as wrinkled as it looked. Literally, a few thousand people touched it today. The looks on their faces when they felt it was smooth as glass was worth the price of admission. ;)
 
Vaughn

Glad that you had a good day. Pricing is always a nightmare to judge. Sounds like your getting a bit more of a feel for it. I will often offer some incentive if somebody appears to be wavering. Sometimes its cash sometimes its product - "If you buy both the chairs now I can give you one of the footstools as a gift". Second option means that they feel they are getting more value and I feel I'm getting more cash. Who knows - one day maybe we'll both get good at it.:)
 
...I will often offer some incentive if somebody appears to be wavering.
I definitely saw that work at this show. One case in particular, the lady was wavering between two pieces, so I shaved the price a bit more (less than 2%) and she left with both of them. I wasn't trying to be a wheeler-dealer, but I just leveled with people and said I was still getting a feel for my pricing, and had a feeling it was a bit high, so I was adjusting them slightly. I get the impression that most vendors at these types of art show discourage price haggling, just because in the long run it cheapens the art, and makes it more like a swap meet.

And I agree with you that pricing is a nightmare. It's the second hardest part for me...next to finishing. I don't like finishing, because I seldom seem to get it right the first time. Sorta like pricing. ;)
 
...I get the impression that most vendors at these types of art show discourage price haggling, just because in the long run it cheapens the art, and makes it more like a swap meet.

I'm not a fan of haggling myself. If somebody comes on the phone and the first question that they ask me is the price I know that I am probably on a loser. If they start the buying process and say something like "I'll give you £xxx for it instead" then they are gonna get nowhere and we will both walk away empty handed. If they say something like "If I took 4 could you do anything on the price" then we will come to a mutually agreeable deal. The best I can say is that it comes down to whether they are showing respect for the work and trying to get a bargain which feels like we've all won or whether they are simply trying to look like they won.

Probably makes no sense but basically if it feels wrong it is wrong.
 
No, it makes perfect sense, Ian. As you said, when the person was showing respect for the work, I was much more inclined to try to reach an agreement.
 
Sounds like a great day, and I'm sure the more you go to these shows, the better the reception will be to your work! :thumb:

PS make darn sure you bring your Booth Bunny along next time, just in case ;) :D
 
Vaughn - Congrats on your good showing! Glad to hear someone can actually make money at this! I like your booth setup - not to crowded! Pricing does seem like it would be the worst part of doing a show. Think I would rather be sanding... at least I know what I am doing at the time! Congrats again and thanks for posting!
 
If somebody comes on the phone and the first question that they ask me is the price

Don't mean to hijack or change this thread but if someone comes to me 'on the phone' and asks me a question I politely tell them that when they are finished and can devote their full attention I'll talk with them. If they answer the phone in the middle of a conversation, the conversation has ended and will not resume.

Sorry, one of my pet peeves -- there should be cell phone etiquette laws!

Congratulations on a successful sale Vaughn -- It takes a while to get the hang of shows and how to operate them. Some shows are natural winners, some shows are born losers. Never know until you get there!
 
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Don't mean to hijack or change this thread but if someone comes to me 'on the phone' and asks me a question I politely tell them that when they are finished and can devote their full attention I'll talk with them. If they answer the phone in the middle of a conversation, the conversation has ended and will not resume.

Sorry, one of my pet peeves -- there should be cell phone etiquette laws!

Maybe an instance of two nations divided by a common languange - maybe just me being unclear.

I was referring to somebody who telephones me and starts the converstaion with those words. I wasn't referring to somebody starting a conversation with me while being engaged in another converstaion with somebody else. Sorry if I caused a confusion.
 
Congratulations Vaughn. It's a good feeling to have someone appreciate (and pay for) your work. My compliments to the booth bunny, she did a wonderful job dressing up the place. It makes a very appealing presentation that would really draw in the buyer.
 
Realistically, if I include my materials and time, I think I might have made about 25 cents per hour, :rolleyes: but the gross sales figures came out looking pretty good for a one day sale. (Plus, as I see it, my materials and time don't count, because I'd be paying for and turning this stuff regardless of whether I was selling it or not.)

Congrats Vaughn. I agree that materials and time don't count when you'd be doing it even if you didn't sell your pieces. I'm sure others that do it full time for a living would answer differently....Hope your have even more success at the next show.:thumb:
 
Yes indeedy, the meeting did take place. My wife and I did have the pleasure of meeting the McMillan's. When I first entered the booth, I thought Vaughn might recognize me from my old avatar picture. He didn't say anything, so I thought maybe he hadn't recognized me or he was simply being rude.:confused:

At that point I introduced myself to Vaughn and both of them met with us with great warmth.

We didn't stay at the show for too long because we had stopped by on our way to the Camarillo Outlets mall and the only thing on my wife's mind was "Shopping".

After looking at all the pieces upclose I had no doubt that Vaughn was going to have a good day.

Vaughn, I don't know why neither one of us could think of taking a picture. After all, I had my cell phone camera with me.:dunno:
 
Congratulations Vaughn!

I wish I had seen your curly maple bowl before! Most problably I would have bought it.

I have to look at your page more often. My apologies for that.

Isn't really rewarding to see people buying your pieces, even if the price is not what one wanted??

Keep up with this job quality and eventually you'll get what you deserve!!:thumb:
 
Thanks for the compliments, and kind words all. Mohammad, when you came up and introduced yourself, I had not even really noticed you were there, since I was trying to figure out where to put stuff. Not sure I would have recognized you from the old avatar pic...you're much better looking in person :p
hey out of total curiousity what did those bowls actually sell for?
Mike, they were $110, $125, $65, $125, $110, and $200, respectively.
 
Maybe an instance of two nations divided by a common language - maybe just me being unclear.

Nope, probably just me jumping the gun and jumping on my bandwagon! Cell phones in the hands of RUDE cell phone users irritate me to no end. Don't know what is like on your side of the pond, but over here most folks (NOT ALL) forget basic manners when they have a cell phone.

Sorry for jumping on my bandwagon, I tend to do that often!
 
Good for you Vaughn...so you knocked a few dollars off your work. Maybe the feeling of selling something was worth the few bucks? I know from past posts that you were often let-down at these venues. I am just glad you got your confidence back. Good for you Vaughn. I am really glad for you:thumb:
 
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