Last weekend I attended a local art event as a vendor. This event popped up on my Facebook feed in January looking for vendors and I thought, why not! I filled out the application without really knowing what I would bring. About a week later, I got the email saying I was approved. The fee was $50 and I got a 8 x 8 foot table with free reign on how to set things up.
Expenses for the display.
Here are some of the items I purchased to help come up with this display: Vinyl sign and business cards from Vistaprint ($66.87), 2 6” and 2 8” table top easels from Walmart ($13.92) From Amazon I got an 8x8ft table cover (17.45), 12 x 16” dry erase magnetic board stand ($11.99) , 9 x 11” pocket chart to display stickers ($11.99), Square card reader ($10.60). All that comes out to $132.82.
I am not at all discouraged by this amount and I hope that doesn’t scare anyone from trying. You don’t NEED any of these items to start, but this is an investment in yourself and in your business. I had a vision for how I wanted to display things. I have a ton of materials I already had at home to use and most of those purchases can be used again the next time I go into an event, plus….
Expenses for the art/products
I have been selling my own art for years now in a variety of ways, so I’ve accumulated lots of little things. I have a printer and cardstock at home, so I just printed the price lists on a sheet and cut them out.
I did buy all these magnet canvases, but I got them all on sale. I paid $1.50 for a pack of 4 canvas magnets and $2.50 for the square magnets. Even at regular price they’re not bad, and these babies sold well! Other than that, I already had the other canvases and paints and stickers. I even brought some prints, but decided I had so many other options, I decided not to put them out.
I sold all the round magnet landscapes and the cat. :) I also had one 4 x 4” round canvas disco ball that sold too!
I sold a couple of these Zine packs. I printed the labels on some cardstock at home.
I had these clear bags from many moons ago and used them to package these zines.
happy accidents happen
The day before the event, I was in a little bit of a rush thought “I should try to sell some prints! So I thought, I’ll just print out 3 4x6” images on a sheet of paper from the local office supply store. I saw the first print and gave the okay to do more. When I got home I realized they were not the right size. So I decided I can’t sell these, so I just set them on my table and gave them out for free to anyone who said they liked them.
Aren’t these cute? They were printed on a stiffer paper, like a glossy cardstock. They’re kind of like positive affirmations cards. :) While I didn’t sell these, I love the idea of them so I am getting prints made of them in the correct size.
In sales, I made $197.44 + $60 in cash = $257.44. So if I take my cost of supplies, including vendor booth that’s 188.32, so at the end of the day I walked away with $69.12.
That’s so great to know! And as I mentioned earlier, I purchased some stuff I know I will be able to use again in another event so my profit margin will be much bigger next time. That’s really exciting to me to know these numbers and to have done this event. I do want to change some things up, like how I displayed my stickers. But I am really excited to make new art! And I’m on the lookout for other shows I can vend in my area. I have a potential event in April, which is an outdoor event so I’ll have to check back in with ya’ll about how that goes.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading. :)