liambesaw Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 17 minutes ago, oldlady said: liam, i think that is when the tulip poplar trees begin dropping their flowers on everyone below. or am i thinking of the show under the black walnut trees that dropped bombs on everything below. some shows are dangerous. Yeah, but our tulip festival here in Washington is a crazy event with tens of thousands of folks coming out to see the miles and miles of tulips in bloom with big hungry appetites for handmade goods and foot long corn dogs. Don't think it'll have as much appeal with miles and miles of mounds of dirt And get this, it was suppose to start today and run through the weekend... And it's 70 and sunny out here in Seattle, would have been a STELLAR show I'm sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 I just got news that my summer farmer’s market can open with food, alcohol and live plant vendors only, and with lots of sanitation and physical distancing measures. Don’t know about the rest of the season yet. They hadn’t invoiced us for it yet because they knew it might be coming. All but one have refunded fully, and that one has been deferred. It’s running into issues because there has been some kind of family emergency with the organizer, and a family member has stepped in to sort out what to do with 2 markets and 5 consignment stores with over 100 vendors each. They’re trying to get our stock packed up so we can pick it up and do whatever we need to do with it, but it means they haven’t had a chance to sort out money. I’ve been going through an online marketing course that I bought a couple of years ago that has lifetime access. If online is the only avenue I have available, then now is the time to quit playing around and get serious about it. If anyone else is interested, Shopify has a 90 day free trial on now instead of it’s usual 2 weeks. Also, Mei Pak at Creative Hive has her Sale A Day course open for registration for the next week or so. It’s not the one I bought, but her philosophy is sound, and it’s actually geared towards sole proprietors doing handmade. I’d have spent on that one if I’d found it first. It’s a bit spendy at about 1K US, but it’s a year long course with support, and there is a payment plan and a satisfaction guarantee of some kind. She has a YouTube channel if you’d like to check her out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 Well the weather may be stellar but getting a crowd togther will not be. They will pay you back I'm sure -that show has a long reputation and burning the vendors will not get them another years worth for artists.Just be patient. If I do a show this year I will be surprized-thats my attitude . Most of my fees have been sent out long ago anyway so rteturned fees will seem like a paycheck. The other thing is do you want to do a show where there are NO people or a few light turnout. I do not want to travel 2-3 states away for a light turn out due to spooked people . There is a lot of factors here now. Is the show happening? -do I want to go? for a huge effort with low numbers?? The distancing at any show I do is impossible and expext a good result on the economics. Do I myself want to serve 700+ customers now over 3 days??Take the money and wrap the pots while talking to them??? Its a iffy deal anyway you loook at it.Oh I'm over 65 so that puts another burden on the thinking (I'm in good health with no conditions) other than being a potter with compromsied hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulk Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 SLO county Fall "open studio" event (mid October) has been cancelled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 Saw an uptick in Easter pottery sales at my 3 supermarkets and am getting many one off mail orders from existing customers reaching out from out of the area to ship pots two mugs here 3 glasses to Iowa 4 mugs 4 glasses to SF bay area-mug to Florida mug to MA. the beat goes on only its a rum rum rum beat. I cannot complain at all no matter how I do not like shipping a few pots a day. Galleries are all still closed although I did get a check today from one (consignment) that was for March 15th thru April 15 and was for mostly mail order from them.People still want pottery its getting it to them thru other channels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted April 17, 2020 Report Share Posted April 17, 2020 @Mark C. are you shipping them as you get the orders, or do you set up one or so shipping sessions a week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted April 17, 2020 Report Share Posted April 17, 2020 I tend to ship as soon as I can.I like to move forward as soon as I can. I either print a label thru pay-pal and put that order in our Jumbo Mailbox (for small 1-2 piece orders) of for larger orders like todays 8 glasses and 8 medium mugs in a larger box and put up my UPS flag out on the road the next day they stop and pick it up. Some come thru phone calls or my web link -via e-mail (not for ordering web site) I am trying to do clay one week and do other projects the next week-the orders trickle in a very random non pattern. Some want to only do texting some like e-mails and today my customers really enjoyed talking to me. Since its a slower time all this is fine now. I'm really trying to cut an order down into as few steps as possible .Many want to know shipping cost without giving me any info on where they live (this is a very common thing and requires another back and forth) It used to average 7 e-mails now I can get it down to 1/2 that if I really try hard but many do not give me enough info to get it done that soon.I have also trusted return customers to mail me a check when they get the pots (no one has yet to burn me). Some call with credit card(I process with a square ) some pay with paypal (I never transfer paypal money to my bank) as they charge to much for that. This will sound a bit off but I feel after I send out the pots its their issue to pay up.Thats for returning customers no new ones. You will be surprised that that you can get such a dedicated customer from that act. I learned it from another sucessful potter. Its a bit like my potter friends in New Zealand with an honesty pot in the studio /gallery for when they are away and customers just take pots and leave money. This country is a bit non trusting and nobody would leave their place unlocked here. My studio does not lock anyway. So yes its pots out whenever I can get them out which is as soon as I can.If its not on hand than I will make and glaze it and send later as long as its not a custom pieces I do not do that anymore. Wish I quit that earlier in career as its a time setback.No matter how you talk yourself into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.