Lesson's Learned & General Feedback - My First Convention Vending Experience


Published On: 11-25-2011 10:27pm

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Category: Tips & Techniques

The weekend of November 19th-21 was my first convention vending experience.  I've vended at various arts & crafts shows in the past but the most popular local sci-fi/fantasy convention can be extremely difficult to get into, is very expensive, and I really haven't had enough stock that would make it worth my while in years past.  Since my newest creations have sprung from my desire to make Steampunk/Victorian inspired items, it seems only appropriate that my first convention vending experience was at Steamcon II. 

The experiences and tips that went into my previous post served me very well.  I need to add the following caveats:
  • If one gets the opportunity to set up the night before it's good to remember to bring the cash box because of all the items you store in it.  Either that or start storing those items in a separate box.
  • I need to start looking into more storage/transportation options since I've got a lot more display items than will fit into one Rubbermade box at this point.  I also need to consider ease of packing and transportation of items.
Just to make things more interesting, I was actually managing two side by side vendor spaces:  My own space and my friend J's space (Feral Sky Studios) as she was the head of Operations for the convention so was quite busy all weekend.  This was planned and agreed to in advance and mostly worked out well.  She was more harried on the last day of the convention and so next time it would be good to arrange for other friends to help me with breaks as needed on that day - someone willing and able to sell things while I'm away from the booth.  A mutual dear friend, Ed, was willing to help out as he could for which he has my deepest appreciation!

As expected, I didn't really have the energy for much after the Merchants room had closed for the day.  I was good for some socializing and dinner and that was about it.  If you've never vended or otherwise worked customer service/retail, you probably don't fully realize how exhausting it can be.  For a convention like Steamcon, it is also important to be in costume as well as present.  It's basically a costume convention and dressing the part is not only expected, you'll stick out like a sore thumb if you don't make some effort at dressing to theme.  The challenge, for me, is to manage that in a way that still allows me to wear the orthopedic footwear I need wear when I'm going to be on my feet most of the day.  Fortunately, my current pair of orthopedic shoes are black ankle boots so they work better than some have in the past.  I tried wearing the more stylish ankle boots (that I might wear to an evening event) on Saturday, but I had to change out of those shoes halfway through my day.  I have flat feet and lower back issues - orthopedic shoes are necessary if I don't want to be in severe pain at the end of the day, much less the end of the weekend.  With my orthopedic shoes I managed to be fine even after three days of mostly standing and walking back & forth over the 3'-5' space I covered while manning both tables.

Making sure to have healthy food to eat, taking my vitamins, supplementing with Emergen-C, and frequent hand washing/hand sanitizing meant I didn't come back with con crud (otherwise known as whatever cold or flu might have been making its rounds around the convention crowd).  I'd like to say I got plenty of sleep to but that just didn't really happen for a variety of reasons.  This leads me to a new tip:
  • Plan to take the Monday after a weekend convention off as well - you will be much happier if you give yourself a day to recover.
Why?  Well, mostly because giving yourself a day to rest and recharge is just a generally good idea.  Even extroverts need time to recharge after being their social selves.  Me - I'm fairly introverted.  While I'm really good at customer service, I'm absolutely exhausted afterward.  By 2:30pm on the third day of vending I turned around to the ladies vending behind me and said "When this is over I don't want to talk to anyone for at least 3 days!"  By 3:30pm (the vendor room closed at 4:00pm on the final day) I was utterly sick of hearing my own voice and was thinking if I never had to describe anything about my or my friends wares again it would be too soon!  That feeling didn't last but you get the idea; I was DONE!

Bringing my own water bottle was definitely a good idea.  I drank quite a lot of water - particularly on Saturday which was our busiest day.  The constant air conditioning makes the hotel air quite dry.  Fortunately, they had the hotel set up a water station right outside of the vendor room so it was quick and easy to fill my water bottle as needed.  Another new tip I learned over that weekend:
  • Sometimes hotels have portable refrigerators available for use, even if they don't generally come standard in a room, so it pays to ask about it when making a reservation. 
By the time I found out about the portable refrigerators they had all been allocated but I was able to put a few items in another person's refrigerator.  This is handy because even if a hotel has a restaurant, they are usually quite overwhelmed by large conventions and it can take a long time to get lunch.  The combination of having healthy snacks & sandwich items for during the day worked out very well for me.  Another suggestion I have is:
  • Bring an electric tea kettle with you.  If you don't have one - I highly recommend getting one!
My tea kettle is much faster to heat up than any coffee maker the hotel provides and, more importantly, I know it's clean!  I was able to make myself instant Cream of Wheat or oatmeal for breakfast, good tea, and good coffee at will and quickly.  Life is too short for bad coffee or tea!  The tea kettle also heated up a far greater amount of water in a short time so I was able to make more than one item at a time.

Because it can't be said often enough:
  • If you're showing jewelry and there's electricity available - bring your own good lights.  Do not depend on there being good lighting.  It's nice when it happens, but don't count on it.  Bad lighting can make your jewelry look flat and unexciting.  I had lights - life was good.
I followed another rule I didn't document before.  You've probably heard this rule before because it's based on a popular Kenny Rodgers song:
  • Don't count your money until the dealin's done!
You generally have a sense for when things are going well or not but it's best not to count the money until you're done and can do a full accounting - particularly if you, like me, were sharing a cash box with a friend.  There are a number of reasons for this but the biggest one is security.  Now, done can mean the end of the day in the privacy of your room or home if you like or it can mean the end of the event.  For me it was the end of the event because I had to do an inventory to figure out what part of the cash was from my sales and which were from my friend's sales.  While it may seem obvious I'll bullet point it anyway:
  • Take your cash box home/to your room each night of the event.  Don't leave it in the vendor area.  Period.
Some other friends had another vendor space in the room and one thing they learned this weekend was:
  • Make sure the people you have helping you with your booth are RELIABLE!
The women they had engaged to help them (because they have an actual store that needs to remain open & one of them also has another job) was at least 45 min late opening their vending booth the first day.  The next day she was even more late AND had the cash box with her!  Fortunately, my friend and I had enough petty cash to loan them enough to do business with until their "helper" finally got there - at which point she was (rightfully) sent home.  Seriously, do not offer to help someone out like that and then be irresponsible and late.  If you're working a convention or arts and crafts fair for someone you need to be responsible and reliable!  For many it's part of their livelihood and at the very least they had to pay good money to be there and not opening their booth on time reflects poorly on them and may cost them a spot at future events.

Something I did that I didn't mention in my previous post but which I'm glad I did:
  • I remembered to bring my camera and have it out where I could see it while vending at Steamcon.
  • The above enabled me to remember to take pictures of the lovely people passing by when I was able to.

Finally, I have a few things to say to the folks who go to arts & crafts fairs and vendor rooms as a customer.  There are a few things to keep in mind that if you observe them will endear you to the vendors of the world:
  • We are much more interested in hearing your ideas about how we should make things if you're asking about having something custom made and are prepared to put a deposit of at least half down on it - particularly if it's the last day of a multi-day event.
I often tell people that I love my friends for the ideas that they give me.  I also love them because they have given me these ideas, by and large, for a custom order or at times when I'm not busy at an event.  The thing is that no one can be all things to all people.  I try to have a variety of items in a variety of sizes displayed but I am only one person and can only do so much.  Making bracelets, for example, is a real crap shoot because there's not a lot of margin to work with in what's going to fit well and feel good on someone's wrist.  Here's a few tips:
  • If you're not sure if the jewelry will fit you - ask the vendor what size it is and/or ask to try it on.
  • If the jewelry maker is a large women, chances are she will have things to fit you if you're large.
  • It's far easier to make things shorter/smaller than larger - so if you're Petite, refer to bullet #1 of this grouping.
No, really.  I'm a large woman with a 17 1/2" neck.  I started making jewelry because I had a hard time finding things I liked, in the color I liked, that were large enough to fit me.  The standard necklace size is often 16" and certainly was when I was growing up.  I also have a 7 1/2" wrist.  It's helpful for me to know what caught your eye and to know what the size range is for actual customers.  When I'm making things I'm mostly guessing.  I do what I can to leave options open as much as possible; like having longer (usually 24") chain lengths as my default.  It is a quick and easy job to make it shorter if need be and, in fact, I did just that for at least one item I sold at Steamcon.  I was able to alter a velvet necklace right at the table and have my tools with me at these events for the purpose of making items shorter if need be.  Sometimes beadwoven items can be made shorter fairly easily, if not quite as quickly as chain.  Unfortunately, that's not the kind of alteration I'm going to be able to accomplish right there at the table - I would at least need it overnight.  Another tip comes to mind:
  • While I can make a necklace shorter at a given event, I may not be able to make it longer because I may not have any more of that chain available or with me.
I generally buy chain in 24" lengths or longer when I can.  As a small business jewelry maker I do not yet have the budget to buy chain in bulk.  I have to choose between having a variety of chain or having a large quantity of a given style of chain.  For the most part, I go with variety because different items look better with different types of stringing materials be it chain, cord, a beaded chain, wire, silk, ect.  I buy from clearance bins when I can because it helps me stretch my budget and offer things I might not otherwise be able to afford.  For example, the chain on my beaded monocle piece.  That chain originally retailed for $.70 per INCH - so $16.80 for 24" and I only found it at one of the local bead stores.  The only reason I have anything for sale with that chain is because I found it on clearance - which still means the chain alone for that piece cost me $8.40.  Still, isn't it fabulous?!
  • I can't speak for everyone but I like hearing about what you like even if you don't have money to spend on my items at the time. 
I do listen to the feedback.  At the same time, I have learned to take it with a grain of salt.  I have made the mistake in the past, when vending at a multi-day event, of going home and spending the time and effort to make the necklace someone said they would buy if I had it available only to have them never be seen or heard from again.  I'm not going to do custom work overnight without a commitment and deposit - even if it's something I'm likely to sell eventually.  I'd rather use the time relaxing and re-charging.  I also have to consider overall interest.  People often suggest, for example, I make this or that into a brooch.  Guess what kind of items in my inventory I've sold the least of?  If you guessed brooches and pins you guessed right!  I love the brooches and pins I've made and do not regret making them but I'm not really likely to make any more, at this point, unless I get a custom order or (gasp!) decide to actually make something for myself.e

One last tip:
  • No, I can't make that fully beaded necklace longer for you - and certainly not there at the event.
Part of my spiel over that weekend was that anything on a chain or a cord (not beaded) could be made shorter if need be.  I wasn't offering to make things longer except if it was on a silicone cord (because I had a quantity of that on hand).  I'm a handmade jewelry maker - not a commercial jewelry store.  I don't have "extenders" on hand.  I may or may not be able to arrive at something but don't assume that's the case.  I cannot possibly carry all my stock with me to an event.  In fact, I'm one of the few jewelry makers I know that's even willing to *do* any kind of alteration at an event.  I may not have any more of the beads used in that piece and I'm not about to cobble something together that doesn't look good.  I have to buy in smaller quantities than a big businesses might and bead styles/sizes/colors/designs come and go.  Some items are more constant than others but some things go in an out of style and may cease being available for at least several years - if it comes back at all.  I've seen it happen.  When my friends like something I've made and want it in different colors, they place a custom order with me.

Overall my experience at Steamcon was a very positive one.  The merchants room was well organized by a fellow merchant (dbvictoria here on Artfire) who worked very hard to make sure our needs were met and is already making plans for an even better merchants room next year!  The customers who stopped by my booth were generally very gracious and wonderful to work with and, as tired as I got, it really was quite a lovely event to vend at.  It must have been, I'm already plotting and planning for what to make for next years event!

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