Artists Alley Information Thread

Selling at Cons is best during the...

Spring	11.5%	[ 117 ]
Summer	29.4%	[ 300 ]
Fall	7.2%	[ 73 ]
Winter	5.5%	[ 56 ]
Any time!	46.5%	[ 474 ]
Total Votes:			[ 1020 ]

[LavenderMintRose]

I'm living with false hope

And my eyes just want to see a ray of light

I'm gonna find it in my fairy tale...

I got the Otakon table! I found out today, which is also my birthday... so yay!

I need a little help with designing my business cards, though... I'll post in the guild about it.

(+ sorry for double-posting but this thread needs a bump. If this is wrong, go ahead and delete this...)

[InstantOatmeal]

Happy birthdaaaay and congratulations! This was also my last day of high school, so it is certainly time for celebration!
8D

[muffin babie]

Happy late birthday, and congrats on the table! biggrin

I've also got (another) question for y'all. I'd like to start trying to get AA tables at other cons. Thing is, the only anime cons I've been to are Anime Detour and Kakkoi|Con, both of which I've already had a table at. [And am planning on getting one again, but that's another matter.] Would you guys suggest actually going to a con before getting a table at it? Or does it not matter?

I also have a question on ethics. I've been playing with clay recently, and I've been having lots of fun with it. I decided that I'd love to make some earrings to sell at cons. Thing is, my regular table partner does earrings, too. I figure that earrings aren't a "regular" thing like buttons or bookmarks, so this may actually be an issue. They'd be completely different from hers--hers are really beautiful wound wire things--but I'm still a little worried.

[Freiheit]

well, if they arn't the same, I don't think you'll be giving her that much competition but if it's bothering you so much, why not ask her directly? wink

[dark-guardian2526]

wow that coo

[Vicemage]

I agree, ask if it's a problem for her. smile My usual table partner/cohort and I both do clothes for BJDs, but the stuff we make is different enough that we never worry about it, and in fact often put those items on the bordering side of our tables so it's all visible together. (We did the same when we made some rag dolls at past events.)

[Kaxen]

My table partners and I are all doing prints. One is also doing DVDs. One is also doing decals. I'm also doing comic books.

...I have no idea how we're putting all of this on one table. x_x


Do people like 4"x6" or 5" by 7" prints better? I ended up deciding on doing some 8.5"x11" prints and something smaller...

...because I am too chicken to spend a lot on bigger sizes... and artscow gives me like 50 free prints...

Or at least, I'm not sure which design should be the big one... >_<' and 11x17 isn't perfectly proportional to 8.5x11

[Freiheit]

the bigger prints do tend to sell well from what I've seen at the con I attended, they were priced at 15 to 20$ and I know ka-blam prints them at 1,50$ the unit + shipping so there's enough profit to be made on that. Perhaps the fact they're not regular old printer size makes them look/feel more "special"?

[Kaxen]

That's true...

Maybe I'll do a 11"by 17"... if only I'd pick a design.

*headdesk* I'm too indecisive... I don't want to be ordering prints too late. I ended up deciding on doing like 6 designs or thereabouts... I have no idea how well I will sell... I want to sell well, but I'm pretty sure the artist alley is inhabited by a bunch of artists who can kick my a**. >_<'



Pretty much what I have so far (various levels of finish of course). >_<' The last one is kicking my a** right now...

Though my paranoia about whether or not I am good enough to sell has made me actually go ask for critique more than i usually do, which is good. sweatdrop

[[Kako]]

I very much like the center one, and the concept for the first looks awesome. 3nodding

On another note, to everyone in the thread: I'm staring up an Artist's Alley related blog, to help consolidate the information in this thread into a more easily read form. (100+ pages is kind of daunting, after all!) Would anyone be interested in contributing a story from their time in an alley?

[Nyawyn]

That sounds like a good idea, id be happy to share my own experiences.

I personally would love to see a site that collects input about all the different alleys, that includes the vital into such as price and rules to, personal reviews of the experiences.

[LavenderMintRose]

I'm living with false hope

And my eyes just want to see a ray of light

I'm gonna find it in my fairy tale...

Went to a scrapbooking store near where I live, to find small, cute things to put into resin jewelry.

And I found the Xyron 2.5" Sticker Maker.

I'm trying it out now. I'll make some stickers, put them on stuff to test them, and see how it goes.

Edit: Okay, so it doesn't put any kind of front onto the stickers, just an adhesive on the back. So maybe it's not any better than that matte sticker paper people seem to hate... I'll try it anyway, the adhesive on that wasn't so strong. This says it's permanent, so it may be stronger... I'll try.