All really good points, but it also depends on the TYPE of show you
are doing. If you are in an OLD, ESTABLISHED show in an area where the
general income is decent and the people have some style, then yes, by all means, leave the cheapy earrings and necklaces home, as it will demean the rest.

A new exhibitor, however, will most likely not have that sort of crowd, first time out, and will also need to feel your way in a new area. How discouraging to go to a show, take all your best and priciest work, and just have people walk away and not even make your rent. As for lowball and comparison shoppers, only if you have something to COMPARE! LOL My experience with this group is that you are all so wonderfully unique there's nothing to compare your work to, in most cases.

And there's always going to be a low-balling idiot come by, no one likes them, no one wants them there, but they'll show up and you just have to smile and get rid of them.

YES … like she says … SMILE. All the time. Til it hurts.

There are also ways to make inexpensive things that do not LOOK inexpensive, and with a fine looking, clean display, those items will not demean your best work.

I've done the gamut from gallery and museum shows, mall shows, high school auditoriums, send-away designer boutiques, outdoor festivals, fine arts shows, private exhibitions, trunk shows and trade shows. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have done way more than I have, and I'll be honest … I stayed between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The spending mindset might have had a lot to do with demographics. AND, I did know gals whose work sold for more, required more labor and who did have a clientele for it--- but, around here, that also took them years of shows to develop.

Me, I needed to get some income out of every show I did, didn't have the luxury of that sort of time. So I made expensive looking things, had a wonderful display, and things anyone could afford. Just the same THAT IN ITSELF MIGHT have been one of the reasons why my better things didn't go--I trained them to look for lesser expensive items. You are right, YOU CAN train clientele. You must also be patient. ;-)

And you have to decide.

Bottom line is, get all the info you can about the show you are doing, the area, and perhaps if you can, info on average jeweller's sales in previous years, including price range of best sellers. When I belonged to the OACG (Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild) they would furnish us a comprehensive list of all this information every year. If there is a similar guild in your state, you should explore joining it, as this info can save you from alot of effort and grief doing new shows that don't get the gate and whose promoters are clueless, just there for your rent and not there for you.

One last thing: She mentioned WIND. YEP, it can be bad. My advice is
don't buy a K-D Canopy. I've seen at least three of them take right off in
the wind, even if they were anchored. Get something with ZIP DOWN sides in the event it gets breezy.

LIGHTS: if you are inside, don't even bother doing a show with jewelry
without them. You'll probably only do half the sales at an inside show, displaying jewelry and not using lights.

...

The best sort of show, an invitational. It gets better, though, when it is juried, however. Perhaps you were automatically juried, the judges looking for new blood and discovered you. It happens and it's heady.

I think perhaps I've recommended THE CRAFTS REPORT to friends on this list and at Jewelcollect, before. I used to advertise in there frequently for wholesale reps when I had my line in THE CRAFTS REPORT, it was not expensive to do, they were very helpful and I did garner several decent ones who understood representing an ARTIST, not a company, while I did so.

But I digress....do you subscribe?

B'Sue