The Board Chronicles is an ongoing series of articles about the adventures of Mrs M’s Handmade as a vendor at community festivals & craft fairs. Mrs M’s subsidiary, Mr M’s Woodshop, has been approved to create this chronicle for the good of vendorkind.
A brief note about timing: I am BEHIND. This event happened last October; just getting to writing about oh so many events. My apologies to my loyal readers. Draw your own conclusions about why I’m so, so far behind. Meanwhile … from Castaic:
This event is sponsored by our Sherriff’s department, and is a fundraiser for a kid-focused charity.
Community.
Vendor fees help make the event happen, and the funds raised help our community. We’ve done the event 3 times, I believe, and know it well. It’s not a big money maker, but it’s a good thing.
My calendar is open.
I’m in.
New Ideas
- I’m solo this year, and it’s a Jeep-only set-up. Easy in, easy out.
Observations
- I think I’m doing this wrong. Suddenly … I don’t belong here. I think.
- They had a 13 year old young girl singing on the stage, and she sang “Black Velvet.” Lovely song, one of my favorites. But a 13 year old? Did the parents even listen to the lyrics?
- I’ve been doing this event now for 5 years. Love it. Love the charity … but I’ve outgrown this event, I believe. And this years results were too poor, unfortunately.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 24
- Booth cost: $25
- Food cost: $0
- Travel cost: $0
- Total sales: $95
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 0
- Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: 0
- # transactions: 3
- # soap & lotion vendors: none
- # woodworking vendors: Just me
- Returning next year? Nope
Boards sold: 3
- CNC Sign: 2
- Coaster Set: 1
Hi again Henry,
Sorry to hear about the Missus purse being grabbed. That’s a pain to get that settled down again. That’s the one thing I was nervous about at my show in the spring. I’ve decided to take a stab at Etsy. It’s another pain to get things photographed (good). I’ve cobbled up a barely acceptable setup. So far I’ve sold 1 pizza peel and maybe 4 animal banks and 0 boards. Despite all my efforts with titles and tags no boards have sold. I finally found a board several weeks ago it was on page 40 or so out of 50+ pages using an exact title I had in the listing. So I don’t have much hope that the boards will sell. I think I’ll get some more put up and then run a 20% off sale and see if that perks things up.
Enjoy reading your posts. Too bad I’m so far away in Kansas or I probably would’ve treked out to see you somewhere.
(I’m under foursonswoodworking on etsy 🙂 )
Take care,
Tim