Artists Alley Information Thread

Selling at Cons is best during the...

Spring	12.0%	[ 80 ]
Summer	30.2%	[ 201 ]
Fall	6.8%	[ 45 ]
Winter	5.4%	[ 36 ]
Any time!	45.6%	[ 303 ]
Total Votes:			[ 665 ]

[Nyawyn]

I agree, $3.00 sounds like a good price.

[Fiammetta Rey]

Trying to think of a game people can try for a discount off my stuff... maybe like a Jeopardy style thing? Choose 5 series, ask questions of varying degrees of difficulty, and if someone gets it right, they get 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25% off something I have for sale? That would be cool, maybe...

[shiroiusagi]

Starre257

Trying to think of a game people can try for a discount off my stuff... maybe like a Jeopardy style thing? Choose 5 series, ask questions of varying degrees of difficulty, and if someone gets it right, they get 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25% off something I have for sale? That would be cool, maybe...

That sounds cool. XD Though is it going to be quick or slow to get through those questions, even though it's 5 questions. Or there is another alternative have a board making it like jeopardy, but instead of asking a series of questions there would be just the one question and then a discount to it if they get it right. The discounts would be randomly spread out through the board regardless of difficulty. >w< But then that would kind of piss someone off getting a hard question and get a low discount. XD But hey it's a gamble right? >w<;; The only other easy discount thing I can think of is that thing full of balls and you turn and a ball comes out of a certain color corresponding on what was won. razz

[Vicemage]

As an alternate to that, sometimes what one of my usual cohorts and I will do at our tables (her more than me) is to have a "random box/object" game (I used Easter eggs when I did it, she usually uses origami boxes she's made) you sell for $1, that contains some cheap items (ie. Candy) so everyone's a winner, and occasionally an extra thing like a free item. You could do something similar for discounts, just scatter them in randomly in some little eggs or boxes and give people a chance, when they're buying, to pull one out for a chance at a discount.

[Fiammetta Rey]

I was thinking they choose a category (which would be one of a few specific series, other anime, or non-anime, which would be about movies, Broadway shows, etc.), and a difficulty, and they get to answer one question. So if they chose a hard question and got it right, they could get up to 25% off (is that too much?), and if they chose one of the easiest ones, they'd only get 5% off.

Now the trouble is coming up with questions...

[Kitsune_rei]

Vicemage

I'd say, probably not at this time. ^^ They're not really something with a hugely wide appeal, especially for original characters. So if anything, compile them for your own reference, but don't worry about trying to sell them. (I'm actually compiling some of my own references, and will be getting them printed up, but the likelihood that I'll sell them is pretty much nil. ^_^ )

Regarding the Otakon thing... Disney, Gaia, and Ragnarok are known companies to NOT do fanart/art/craft items from... I haven't heard anything anywhere about the others, though. But fanart is being progressively reduced in a lot of AAs, whether it be due to industry pressure, or due to the organizers wishing to get to a more "original" quality overall in the Alley.

I'd say selling character sheets would depend on how well your other art sells. I think people would prefer lineart for coloring over that. I like looking at character sheets, but I don't know if I'd buy them.

Disney is notorious for that. I didn't know Rannarok was, I guess that's why I don't see fanart from that as often anymore. I'd assumed because it wasn't as popular anymore.

Gaia isn't that bad unless they've changed. Last I checked their policy was it was ok so long as you weren't doing something they'd already done or copying official art, or super mass producing them. Like I think it was last Otakon Is saw a girl with a booth selling tshirts and stuff with Gaia avatars where all she'd done was save the avatar images of various people and get them printed. She totally deserved to get in trouble. I could see them also maybe having a problem if Gaia fanart was ALL you sold. I don't really see people selling Gaia stuff that often, most people have stopped selling the hats since Gaia has come out with their own.

I'm guessing the pressure to reduce fanart is a bit of both. Artist Alley has gotten to be a big deal versus the days where a couple amateurs would be at some tables in the corner hoping someone liked their drawings. People don't want the art and crafts to start encroaching too much with the dealer room. I get the impression some dealers have made rumblings of dissent to this nature.

[Kitsune_rei]

Starre257

...I could try that. Thanks.

Anyone want to help by critiquing my setup? Test run, please excuse the mess behind it.

On the shelves I'm planning on having some jewelry displayed... I think the displays are coming tomorrow.

On the flat panels facing out, I'm going to clip pictures up like I did a little there.

I might lay shiny garlands over the top to draw attention.

These will be farther apart on the actual table, which is 6 feet... this table's about 4 feet.

Looks good to me. I think those wire cubes are the way to go if you can stand to carry them. I've been meaning to buy some, my friend told me he got them at Target.

I think a little bit of decoration can help spruce up a table. Even just having your own tablecloth helps you stand out. (Unless the con happens to pick the same color.)

[Kitsune_rei]

Seijaku_Ishida

How much do keychains usually go for?

I found these really nice photo-insert keychains that are $1.50 each. They're durable, and the plate that snaps in to keep the photo in has yet to come off after all these months for the keychain I made that my g/f stole for her keyring, and she drops and throws them a lot. >_> With the cost of the prints in addition to the keychain, I couldn't sell it for less than $2, but I was thinking $3.

I think I have those exact same keychains, I think I got them from Walgreens. For prints for those I usually set up two images of that size for a 4x6 photo print and then cut them with my little paper cutter. That way the printing part is super cheap. Its more expensive to get weird sizes than just use the 4x6 as a template. I use both of the images so its double-sided.
I charge $4.50 for em and sell them on occasion. I don't have a really big selection so they may sell better if I did. I based it on keychains and stuff like that usually sells for like $5-6 in the dealer room last I looked. $3 is quite reasonable. Go by how well you think they'd sell, you can always raise it a bit if they sell well.

Also, I generally make one of each image finished in the keychain, and just bring extra blanks and cut prints to make another one once the first sells since they're pretty easy to pop together. That way you don't have to invest in having as many finished.

[Kitsune_rei]

muffin babie

Oh! I remembered my other question!

I'm planning on making little clay charms/earrings/cell phone jobbers/etc. Would you guys suggest buying colored clay, or just buying a bunch of white clay and painting it? It one significantly nicer than the other? How about cost-effective. Also, I was planning on buying Sculpy. Is that a good choice? I haven't done much clay work since I was younger, and I've never bought it myself.

Personally I prefer to paint, though with the colored clay you will know its completely colored properly. There's the chance of getting dirt etc. in the light colors as mentioned, and you have to be really careful not to accidentally mix it with the other colors when sculpting. Sometimes some of the colors may turn out differently once baked too. If you burn regular clay a little by accident paint will usually cover that up xd I guess it depends how comfortable you are with painting. I have a fairly steady hand and tiny brush. You can also usually dab some water and wash it off before it dries if you make a mistake.

[Seijaku_Ishida]

Kitsune_rei

I think I have those exact same keychains, I think I got them from Walgreens. For prints for those I usually set up two images of that size for a 4x6 photo print and then cut them with my little paper cutter. That way the printing part is super cheap. Its more expensive to get weird sizes than just use the 4x6 as a template. I use both of the images so its double-sided.
I charge $4.50 for em and sell them on occasion. I don't have a really big selection so they may sell better if I did. I based it on keychains and stuff like that usually sells for like $5-6 in the dealer room last I looked. $3 is quite reasonable. Go by how well you think they'd sell, you can always raise it a bit if they sell well.

Also, I generally make one of each image finished in the keychain, and just bring extra blanks and cut prints to make another one once the first sells since they're pretty easy to pop together. That way you don't have to invest in having as many finished.

I found them at Wal-mart X3 The blanks are a good idea if one image sells a lot better than the others. Hmm...

The place I got my prints from has uncut wallet sizes, 4 on a 5x7, for the same price as a 4x6 so that's probably what I'll be doing.

[Fiammetta Rey]

I got some nice, shiny purple and gold fabric for a table runner. I'm also planning on hanging some origami pieces around. If I can say so, I think it looks nicer already with just the jewelry displays up.

[Vicemage]

Kitsune_rei

Gaia isn't that bad unless they've changed. Last I checked their policy was it was ok so long as you weren't doing something they'd already done or copying official art, or super mass producing them. Like I think it was last Otakon Is saw a girl with a booth selling tshirts and stuff with Gaia avatars where all she'd done was save the avatar images of various people and get them printed. She totally deserved to get in trouble. I could see them also maybe having a problem if Gaia fanart was ALL you sold. I don't really see people selling Gaia stuff that often, most people have stopped selling the hats since Gaia has come out with their own.

Well.. honestly, I don't know how bad Gaia is, and I don't think anyone's as bad as Disney. But I do know that Gaia is usually on AA Blacklists (along with Disney and Ragnarok). I'll do commissions based on Gaia avatars or items, but I won't put anything Gaia on sale, myself.

Speaking of stuff on sale, I've got two ideas that I'm wondering what people think of... screen-printed bandannas (I know a lot of people who wear them on their head), and screen-printed bento bags (which can also be used for other things, since ultimately, they're a cute drawstring bag). I've got screenprinting know-how and supplies, bandannas to use as templates (and alternately, sources of blank ones), and a bento bag to look at for a template to make a new one. I'm just wondering if it's worth pursuing the ideas. ^_^

[Seijaku_Ishida]

I like the idea of those, Vicemage. ^^ they sound neat.

[shiroiusagi]

Vicemage

Kitsune_rei

Gaia isn't that bad unless they've changed. Last I checked their policy was it was ok so long as you weren't doing something they'd already done or copying official art, or super mass producing them. Like I think it was last Otakon Is saw a girl with a booth selling tshirts and stuff with Gaia avatars where all she'd done was save the avatar images of various people and get them printed. She totally deserved to get in trouble. I could see them also maybe having a problem if Gaia fanart was ALL you sold. I don't really see people selling Gaia stuff that often, most people have stopped selling the hats since Gaia has come out with their own.

Well.. honestly, I don't know how bad Gaia is, and I don't think anyone's as bad as Disney. But I do know that Gaia is usually on AA Blacklists (along with Disney and Ragnarok). I'll do commissions based on Gaia avatars or items, but I won't put anything Gaia on sale, myself.

Speaking of stuff on sale, I've got two ideas that I'm wondering what people think of... screen-printed bandannas (I know a lot of people who wear them on their head), and screen-printed bento bags (which can also be used for other things, since ultimately, they're a cute drawstring bag). I've got screenprinting know-how and supplies, bandannas to use as templates (and alternately, sources of blank ones), and a bento bag to look at for a template to make a new one. I'm just wondering if it's worth pursuing the ideas. ^_^

That's a pretty cool idea Vice. XD The bento bags sound cuter... XD But bandannas sound pretty cool too. X| Though the bandannas can have multiple uses. XD

[AEAcomics]

My prints came. I got the glossy finish, and those suckers are SHINY! The colors are beautiful, and while I wish the paper was heavier I've got no complaints on the overall quality.

Now I just need to have an epic trimming and laminating and comic-assembling session some weekend soon.