Show me your sales or demo booth

[swedefiddle]

Tanks a Lott!!

[ThomasPowers]

How about "Self Propelled Artillery"?  Ask around Fort Sill to see what's available---just remember that ammo costs a LOT these days.

[Frosty]

Hey Das, how about a pattern welded tank?

Fuel tank for a Harley of course. What DID you think I was talking about?!

Billy: Tell the better half the cannon barrel is a perfect boom to lift ad move equipment.

A pattern welded belt buckle would be a seller, you could even make some Cowboy size.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Daswulf]

Ah well TW, we can at least dream big right?

Frosty, if I had the means I might try, but even that is a taller order than I could do and still do other stuff and make some money. Won't say I couldn't, but I won't. 

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

Billy: Tell the better half the cannon barrel is a perfect boom to lift ad move equipment.

Lol I’ll try but she’ll Probably just point out I already have other machines to do that…

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

How about "Self Propelled Artillery

Lol I’m pretty sure she won’t go for that either… she knows what a self propelled howitzer is because there’s a couple setting outside the Lincoln Arkansas armory that we pass on our way to the antique stores over there…

Daswulf, I haven’t gave up the dream! I just gotta find someone willing to swap me for something I already got instead of buying one! Lol

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

A friend of mine picked up a couple of Shermans a few years ago. He also had a few British Ferrets, and other fun toys.

[ThomasPowers]

Emmert Studebaker used to have a Studebaker weasel made during WWII by the Swedes under license---working too!  They used to drive the Studebaker collection out of the builds and line them up outside back when Quad-State was held at the Studebaker Family Homestead.  (Emmert died at 95 years old and still did a bit of forging into his 90's!)

[DavesIron]

This is how mine looked last November, I thought I did a good job but you guys just gave me a whole lot of ideas. It was VERY cluttered. 

I'll be doing more crafts fairs in the next few months so I'll show how mine look with all your suggestions taken in mind. 

I have never done any demonstrations but it's something I would like to do eventually. 

[George N. M.]

Yes, pretty cluttered.  I suggest a minimum of a 6' table.  Also, some items go well on a display board that shows them to customers semi-vertically gets more items displayed in a minimum of table space.  

I have a sign with 2 uprights on the ends of the table with a horizontal arm across the top which holds a sign saying "Westmarch Forge" and it gives a place to hang items such as ladles, S hooks, spatulas, etc..  It is put together with bolts and wing nuts so that it tears down for transport.

Also, I think it is a good idea to have pieces marked with prices rather than having to repeatedly answer the question, "How much is this?"

There are a number of things besides ironwork on your table.  What are the multi-colored tubes and the upright brown blocks behind the chalk board?

BTW, if you bend the double headed mail swords slightly you can have a saber or flatten the end a bit and curve it and have a pirate cutlass.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[DavesIron]

I'll definitely be displaying items vertically next time, and I'll be using price tags also. I'll probably be using two tables next time too as I'll have a lot more stuff this time around. 

As for the brown blocks and multi colored tubes, the blocks are a coffee scrub soap I made and the tubes are chapstick. The tumblers my sister asked me to sell because I'm "better at selling things." 

I do a lot of soap making along with ironwork, so there's always a variety of items at my tables. Something for everyone. Though it's a bit of an odd combination. 

[Daswulf]

When you are limited on table space utilize it all for what you are selling. The cash box can go on a seat next to you, or I keep that stuff on a tote beside me behind the table. Along with bags to put items in once I make a sale. It is surprising how people can miss seeing things on your table. Vertical is a good thing as long as the items don't get lost visually in the background.   

Use tags for the metal work. For bulk items a small pricing sign will work fine but keep the sign to the back or a small sign in front. You don't want the signs blocking the actual items. Tables are low so people are looking down and in at them. Price signage could lay flat. 

Best advise is once you set up, go around the table and look at it from the customer perspective to see if some tweaks might help. 

Attention drawing items are good to draw people in for a closer look. The roses are good attention grabbers and could be center on the table as a visual highlight. 

 

 

[Frosty]

I've never sold products at other than demos but I have a thought or two. I can't help it the voices keep whispering things.

The products other than iron should have an area of their own, even different metals. Deb used to do fold forming and asked to put some on my table at a demo. Giving it a corner of it's own drew attention to it where being amongst iron pieces got it over looked or detracted attention from the iron. 

A small table low enough to slide under your display table is a good place to keep incidentals like bags, cash box, receipt book, sketch pad, etc.

I kept a pad of graph paper on hand for people who wanted a modified version of a thing or something specific. Nobody  knows just what size a mantle place or book shelf is. But you CAN make sketches and they can phone you dimensions. For something tricky take the measurements yourself. Or you can make two sketches, label what you need measured so when they call you can mark precisely what they're measuring. 

I LOVE graph paper it makes things easy to scale up or down fom a sketch and provides straight lines. You'll be surprised how few people can freehand a straight line.

Frosty The Lucky.

[DavesIron]

Alright guys, I took some tips from this thread and used them at my most recent crafts fair! 

I had prior obligations and couldn't make as much stuff as I wanted to, and couldn't spend as much time on displays as I should have. Regardless, I think it turned out well enough. Maybe this will give others ideas.

I used the roses as a "main attraction", and kept my metalwork on one table and my soap n stuff on the other. The roses were positioned so it would be the first thing people saw as they walked by, and the color from the copper incense holders were also an eye catcher. I shared this space with my girlfriend so she had a table opposite of mine. Saved money on the booth fees, at the cost of maybe not having the most efficient set up for my table, or hers. 

I also propped the bottle openers up at an angle so they could be more easily seen. I was going to make a firepoker set and have it displayed but things got in the way. I liked the leaf keychain display, but only sold one. 

This crafts fair wasn't really my demographic though, but I still made enough sales to make it well worth my time. 

Thank you to everyone who gave tips in this thread, I learned a lot. 

Forgot to mention that I put price tags on most of these items after I took these photos. 

[George N. M.]

Dave, a definite improvement over your last outing.  I don't have much to suggest except you might thing about hanging some items, e.g. pokers or dinner triangles, from the top of your booth to free up table space.

You cannot have too much inventory.  Whenever you sell one of X, replace it with another one from the box under the table.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Daswulf]

Many of us get busy and don't get as much made as we would like. Big time improvement! It is all clearly visible and marked as you said. An attractive visual setup. Well done. Every sales experience is different but keep notes of what does sell and keep those in inventory. Some shows some things sell fast while other shows other things. Still keep a good array of your work on the table. The notes will help you prepare for the next similar show. Also note the price it sold at and don't be afraid to jot down ideas and inquiries you get that show. 

I've even sold things as one thing and they gave me more ideas on either what it could be used for or what they intended. Customer feedback at a particular event is ideas and potential sales for the next. 

[George N. M.]

One interesting thing is how the same item can be used in different ways.  A leaf with a key ring is a key fob but if you put it on a thong or a chain it becomes a jewelry pendant.  

I have sold a lot of Thor's Hammers with my touchmark (Anglo-Saxon G rune) the back and when folk who have bought one come back to the table they are often wearing it touchmark out.  When I told them they are wearing it backwards they have told me they like it that way better.  I'd have never thunk it.

I always have a stack of business cards out but they have seldom resulted in a future sale.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Edited May 9, 2022 by George N. M.
typo

[Glenn]

You are already set up, so make as many of each item as you have stock to complete.  25 of each is a good number to start with.  Think of it as shelf stock ready for sale at the next demo.  Put each item in it's own box so you just need to grab a box and throw it in the vehicle.

Learn now to make each item more efficiently and more quickly.  Select one using the longest length for that project. Grab a hand full of that ONE length and start making the item.  As you make that item, you will find a method and rhythm so make a bunch of them.   Then move on to the project that uses the next length and repeat.  You will find that it gets easier because you have figured out how to make it and can now make it quicker.

Best thing is little or no waste as you use shorter and shorter stock.

With the roses, precut two leaf rods, and one flower rod.  Make the leaf on the end of two rods, and the flower on the end of another rod.  Put 3 pieces in a drill, and pull the trigger.  Instant twisting.   

[Scott NC]

  Sure hope I didn't miss it, but do you have an attractive, eyecatching sign or banner?  We did when we had a farm market stall.  It draws satisfied, previous customer like a magnet.  We were outdoors so we always had a canopy and could hang the sign up high where people could see it.

[DavesIron]

1 hour ago, Nodebt said:

  Sure hope I didn't miss it, but do you have an attractive, eyecatching sign or banner? 

I was going to have a neat table runner to help draw attention, but the person I tried to order from never got back to me. I'll have one next time though. Possibly a banner also, I'll make them myself if I can but if someone else can make one that looks much better then I don't mind ordering one. 

17 hours ago, Glenn said:

With the roses, precut two leaf rods, and one flower rod.  Make the leaf on the end of two rods, and the flower on the end of another rod.  Put 3 pieces in a drill, and pull the trigger.  Instant twisting.   

Thanks for the idea Glenn! I haven't considered using a drill for that. Would definitely have more uniform twists and save me a little time. 

18 hours ago, George N. M. said:

One interesting thing is how the same item can be used in different ways.  A leaf with a key ring is a key fob but if you put it on a thong or a chain it becomes a jewelry pendant.  

I always have a stack of business cards out but they have seldom resulted in a future sale.

I'll be making some leaf pendants for next time. Thor's hammer pendants are certainly a good item too. 

It's funny how the business cards don't always result in sales, seems like folks just like to collect business cards. Though, people liked the design of my card and I had some more shop favorites on my Etsy in the last few days that I think I can attribute to people looking me up. Which reminds me I should update my Etsy. 

Thanks everyone for the feedback and ideas, I'm glad I have a decent amount of inventory now and I can add to it and make more items. Dinner bells are something I've done before and that did well, but it slipped my mind to make any this time. 

I did take some notes and have a better idea of what to expect from different crafts fairs. The next one I plan on doing is during a weekend that celebrates my hometowns history, so I'll probably have flint strikers, blacksmiths knives, and wrapped eye tomahawks. Any other "frontier" type items I should make? 

[ThomasPowers]

California?  After the indigenous peoples it was settled by the Spanish; are you looking that way?  ("Southwestern  Colonial Ironwork" Marc Simmons and Frank Turley)  Otherwise I'd go with cowboy  and miner stuff:  chuckwagon open fire cooking, sticking tommy, etc.    I make an item that can be used as a cooking tripod; or  you can put it with the two U ended pieces driven in vertically and the O ended piece sitting in the U's to use it as a chuck wagon cooking implement with multiple pots hanging on the horizontal bar.

[JHCC]

3 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

sticking tommy

Also known as a miner's candlestick, FYI.

[George N. M.]

I've always heard the campfire cooking setup with 2 verticals and 1 horizontal as a "gallows frame."

I make something similar but with the tops as open spirals (think a turn and a half of a coil spring) so that they can be locked together as a tripod or unlocked for a gallows frame.

When my son, Thomas, was little he would pretend to be scared and run away when I was making "tommy stickers."

Also, I always sell miner's candlesticks with a candle in them.  Without would be like selling fire steels without a piece of flint.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[DavesIron]

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

California?  After the indigenous peoples it was settled by the Spanish; are you looking that way?  ("Southwestern  Colonial Ironwork" Marc Simmons and Frank Turley)  Otherwise I'd go with cowboy  and miner stuff:  chuckwagon open fire cooking, sticking tommy, etc.  

While Spanish Colonial inspired stuff sounds very cool, I think the cowboy and miner stuff would do better around here. I'm in Northern California (Burney area, Burney falls is our claim to fame) and a lot of people really love that "Oregon trail aesthetic", lots of people use wagon wheels as decorations around here too. So I'm certain that open fire cooking set-ups and anything that evokes that image will do well. Thank you for the book recommendation, I'll add it to my ever growing collection. 

27 minutes ago, George N. M. said:

Also, I always sell miner's candlesticks with a candle in them.  Without would be like selling fire steels without a piece of flint.

That's a good point about selling with a candle in them, I'll have to remember to make up some candles to go with. Tallow candles would probably be the more historically accurate choice I'm assuming. 

I've got a large amount of flint to go with my fire steels, and some char cloth too. It's very fun to start fires with flint and steel, even if it's just to start a BBQ. 

Thank you both for the campfire cooking recommendations, I've only ever made the tripod ones to sell but the gallows frame + tripod sounds like the best to make.  

[ThomasPowers]

Fire cooking also calls for trammels, S hooks, trivets, etc  Might have a couple of cast iron skillets you can sell with a "complete set up". (I keep finding skillets at the scrapyard sometimes with the last meal still stuck to them,)    I've done a couple of "gallows" set up using old weathered scrap iron.  Used a wooden hammer to do the bending and a regular hammer for the taper.  Made them look "old" some folks like that.  Nice to have a set set up both ways to "demonstrate".

[George N. M.]

My Thor's hammers are a bit different than everyone else's.  They are actually miniature hammers, kind of like the movie version, but the twist is that they are "Thor touched" because the wood of the handles is from a tree struck by lightning.  Some years ago Martha and I were camped in the Medicine Bow Mountains of Wyoming and a big thuderstorm came through.  The next morning we discovered a ponderosa pine several hunderd yards away had been struck and blasted off a piece of wood about the size of my leg.  I've been using it for Thor's hammer handles since.

When I explain how they are "Thor touched" at my sales booth many folk think that is very cool.  I probably sell more than if they were the usual inverted T shape.  I've been in the SCA long enough that I can do "creative anachronism" with the best of them.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."