My first Farmer's Market. . .

[christopher]

So. . .

I'll be doing my first Farmer's Market in Monterey, CA, this week. Any great hints from all you more experienced people around here?

I sell all of my stuff through galleries/bead shops. I've only been with my work publicly once, and it was when I was doing an all day demo for an art & wine festival, so I was hiding behind my torch most of the time. . .

After tuesday, I'll post pictures of the booth, I'll definitely need feedback. . .

Thanks in advance for the help.


Chip

[Greymatter Glass]

wear a wig

over price your stuff

yell at kids who touch anything

[christopher]

That's funny that you say that, Doug. . .I just bought a wig yesterday, and at the time I didn't even know why I was doing it. . .

[Dale M.]

Dont be too diasppointed... FM crowd is not really a "'glass art" crowd... Even Monterey....

Dale

[menty666]

Unless you were making glass veggies and fruit that is...

[Gibsons Glassworks]

hey man ive been doing markets for 2 years now and ive found the biggest seller ae 25-25$ round spiral pendants, all hung on black cord

display is crutial, have some nice velvet or fabric, a good light and dress up in your cleanest cloths. hhaha

its all about getting people to look and feel the glass i find, tell them a bit about yourself and how you make the glass a bit of info goes a long way for people. most of all have fun and talk to as many people as ou can, a diverse array of product always helps, not just heady bubblers!

cheers any questions shoot my way im glad to help

[steven p selchow]

A nice 8x10 or bigger pic of you working on the torch in a nice frame is a plus to...when they see a big ass flame and a piece in the forefront, they understand its not fused glass, I keep it on my front table, nice touch too.

[β]

all you need to succeed is some of my work...lol

don't kill yourself working tonight so that you can't interact with the customers tomorrow.
get some sleep.

-Cory

[murf]

I do both a farmers market and the Portland Saturday Market, but I sell woodworks. most glass people do fairly well to be honest. the better the work the higher the sales, not everyone that comes through is willing to spend big bucks, so there is a pretty good diversity of work being offered. my last time at the farmers market , there was a traveling vendor, who's glass work was just amazing, sorry didnt catch their name. But their work was the best I have seen in such a setting certainly selling in gallery settings as well. their sales went very very well. in both markets , there are no pipe sales allowed I believe, if you have pictures of you at work hang them in the booth, use vertical height to your advantage( keeps the kids from grabbing things) make bigger piece stand out in importance. paint on a smile and say a long pray to any god of your choosing.

[LaPlayaGlass]

What we have found works well for display is a long dowel with all of our hanging bead on it. We suspend it about adult eye level across the front of our display but back a little from the front of the table so as not to interfere with people who want to get to things on the table. Makes for 0 theft on beads. The ends of the dowel are just in stirrup affairs so it is easy totake the end off and slip a bead off.We have become quite fast at gathering beads into a bunch slipping the "chosen one"over all the rest and off the dowel. Also take along a decent mirror folks often like to check the way it looks.
Al

[dewman]

selchow has got the idea. i did my first craft show last weekend and i thought i did pretty good. i had 2 nice matted glossy pics of me working and a couple closeups of pieces in the flame. of course i still had people asking me if i made the stuff, haha. i also got two large pieces of black felt to display my stuff on. i made about $250 at my first craft show and i thought that was pretty good. i sell my pendants between $8-$20...$3 extra if they want the rope with it. i keep my stuff pretty cheap so it sells easier, but i also have a half-day job that i use to pay the bills, so glass is for my personal spending money. so yeah, i would just say to make a nice display that shows you're legit. if that doesn't work, then you either need to find a better crowd or make nicer glass. good luck!

-DEW