And the show is over!

Wow!
What a weekend.  I ended up with 12 bears to take with me to the show as well as some jewellery.  Only a select few pieces as this show was more about my bears then jewellery.

I ended up making another little japanese inspired dog.

I carefully did up a sign and my swing tags.  I agonised over the prices and decided to put them at a decent price.  This would also allow for haggling.  I don’t mind haggling but I DIDN’T want to lose out by starting my prices low and then going lower.  I added 20%.

I packed everything the night before checking my list twice and attaching a note to the steering wheel for anything that wasn’t put in (money, phone etc.)

And then we were off.  I was quite pleased how I managed to set it up with the help of my eldest daughter Miss T.

I helped a fellow show person with setting up also.

And then we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

It was almost miday and I have to admit I was almost in tears.  People came up and picked them up and oohed and aahed over them and then put them down and walked away.

I began to question

was I too expensive?

was my stuff ordinary, like everyone elses?

was there too much (better) competition?

was my stuff just plain awful?

I was going to drive myself nuts, so I took a quick tour.  i was the only one with critters.  Everyone else had bears. very nice bears but bears not critters.  So it wasn’t because of competition.  there weren’t many bear sellers there really anyway.  Lots of doll stuff.

It didn’t help it just made me think worse about my stuff.  So I sat and thought.  What do I do?  And then the seller in me kicked in.

I pasted a bigger brighter smile, and thought about a spiel.

The next person who came along picked up Percival padfoot and showed him to her friend.  he is the big fluffy rabbit in the above picture sitting in front of the podle basket (tan and white).

They oohed and aahed and went to put him down.  instead I held him gently stroking his fur and told them about how it was the softest mohair because it is first cut kid mohair.  And she sighed and stroked him again.  Instead of waiting for her to haggle i took the lead.  I leaned closer and asked "I Can’t tempt you at all? 

She shook her head a little but her hand stayed on him "I’ve spent too much already."

"What if i offered you a discount?"

She looked up and I could see it in her eyes she really did want him. "How much?"

I told her and she leapt at the price.  i was thrilled to get the amount i did although not the ticket price it was the price I would have haggled to.

I sold 2 pendants after that and Tipsy the little Japanese do above.  i had alot of positive feedback about her and will make a few more of different types to take with me to shows.

The same technique was used with each item. When a person picked it up I didn’t let it go back down straight away.  i held it and touched it.  encouraging the people to handle it also.  Telling them all about it.  The deal was though they had to buy it then.  If they walked away the deal disappeared.

now 4 items may not seem like much but the money was good on them and i was really pleased.  these items all sold in the last 2 hours.  What made it even sweeter for me was when at the end of the day I was talking to other bear sellers i found out most hadn’t sold anything.  i was one of very few that did.

Lesson learnt though.

If you are not selling and have built in a haggle mount in your prices use it to tempt.  in fact I will continue  doing it in the future.  if the item sells at the ticketed price Bonus but if they are going to walk away then step in and take control.

People like a bargain they have trouble resisting something they like if they perceive a good discount on it.

I am looking forward to my next show and i will practice my selling technique again

But i will not do so many bears in such a short period.  i will concentrate on my animals they were a big hit.  the deal is to work on one bear a week.  Every week.  And unless I sell out in a show that should give me a decent number of bears.

I have discovered bear shows are every month so I am going to choose one each month and go from there.  I am not going to do one in December though and most likely not in January.  So February and that will give me a stack of lovely animals to sell.