QotW: What is your best selling item at shows beyond mugs?

[Pres]

Back in the 90's, I would do the Penn State Arts Festival mid weekend in July. This juried show allowed locals to jury in with actual works after viewing slides of work. Locals had a better chance of getting in in that manner. I did the show the first year with what I thought was enough, and ended up with empty shelves the first year on the 2nd or 3rd day. Lots of mugs, boxes and bowls went like crazy. I found out later while talking to other potters from around me and elsewhere that they believed you had to do the show with $10K in stock. The next year I aimed at that, and had pieces left over. I still found that my smaller stuff went off the shelves like they had wings! Mugs,-large and small, boxes of all sizes, and bowls. I did find that teapots would sell under strange circumstances, but another story.

QotW: What is your best selling item at shows beyond mugs?  Second part: What do you recommend a new potter doing a show start with in the way of work?

 

best,

Pres

[JohnnyK]

I've not done any shows, but my best seller at my summer veggie stand is bowls... 

[Min]

11 hours ago, Pres said:

What is your best selling item at shows beyond mugs?

Dollar wise or volume wise? Dollar wise it would be my (lazy) susan sets, volume wise my tiny prep bowls.

11 hours ago, Pres said:

What do you recommend a new potter doing a show start with in the way of work?

This is a really hard question! Perhaps it depends on the potter and where their style of work leads them. For functional work I would say a few styles and sizes of bowls and some less expensive small items like spoon rests, trinket dishes etc.

[Mark C.]

I never figured the number two item-Mugs yes on #1

Number two small stuff-like spoon rests  (maybe #2 in volume not cost) and sponge holders 

In terms of cost it may be  small to meduim bowls

all funtional wares and stick to smalls to start with (smalls being not large one of a kind items)

[Kelly in AK]

Volume wise it’s small bowls. Little bowls, like what you might put dipping sauce or chopped herbs into. Good as ramekins for crème brûlée. 

[neilestrick]

Sponge holders were my biggest sellers, often more than mugs. They were probably the most profitable, too. I only had about 5-6 minutes of work in them and sold them for $22. They always covered all my booth fees.

[GEP]

After mugs, it’s small bowls that you can eat out of (as opposed to bowls large enough to serve things in). Cereal bowls, noodle bowls, salad bowls, etc. 

[Mark C.]

small bowls are good Sellars-I make a miso size (small hand held size) and a ceral bowl that is larger. The Misos are popular to more people at shows but less in wholesale. That stuff matters meaning where and how its sold.

[LeeU]

I don't do shows/craft fairs anymore but when I did the best sellers, and the best return for my time/effort, were the catchalls (little bowl-shaped dishes for trinkets, a pile of thumb drives, small handfull of nuts, the morning's pills, keys etc.), decorative tealight bases, spoon rests, and small (maybe 5x7) shallow trays.

[Roberta12]

Most of my shows are holiday shows now.  So after mugs, would come ornaments.  No kidding.  They are kiln fillers (as @Mark C. says) and do not take up a lot of space.  Then spoon rests, small bowls, and earrings.  Earrings take a lot of time but.....customers will pay more for a pair of earrings than for a mug.  

How is everyone's summer going?  It has suddenly gotten warm here.  But not complaining.  At least not yet!

[LeeU]

On 6/8/2024 at 8:09 PM, Roberta12 said:

How is everyone's summer going?

No idea how it's going for "everyone" , but for me, it's been downright chilly for much of the months since the March thaw (upper New England).  Heat kicked on the other night.  A week or so ago it went from 46 to 85 between late in the night and mid afternoon.   Lots of rain too.  Hit upwer 60's today, be in the 50's overnight. However, I like it-that's  "hot" enough LOL! Don't care for heat  and I just bide my time until it snows again.❄️

[B.J.]

I'm just finished my second year at shows. I don't do too much functional wear, and hand build. My best sellers are wind chimes, and then airplant holders.

[Denice]

I don't sell at shows but I do sell at galleries.   I sell about the same amount of large sculpted teapots and vases,  for a small item I make kidney bean shape paperweight with hand carvings and unusual glazes.   They are really good sellers,  my husband even hid a few of them so I wouldn't sell all of them.   Denice