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Post by HankRocks on Oct 28, 2019 7:40:24 GMT -5
First Show of the Fall this past weekend. Did real well, sold just over $100 in tumbles and just over $200 in Pendants. Polished Halves, Polished Geode Pairs and Quartz Crystals etc. were also good sellers. This was a Craft Show and there was one other person selling rocks, they were all re-sales of mostly polished healing rocks and not really much overlap with me and more expensive. I do like the venue as it's 10 minutes from the house and indoors and the entry fee goes to the local High Schools FFA programs. Show ended at 4:00 pm Sun and I was loaded up and at home on the Sofa with a cold Modelo Negra in my hands by 6:00 pm, can't beat that!! A few pics; I really do need to get some nicer table covers to help keep my booth from looking like an East Texas Yard sale!! ![]()  IMG_1933 by Findrocks, on Flickr My nicer pendants on home-made board, the wire wrapping is done by my good friend in New Jersey  IMG_1935 by Findrocks, on Flickr The lower price pendants  IMG_1936 by Findrocks, on Flickr Now to unload the truck and re-fill a few things for the next Show in 3 weeks. ![]() |
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Oct 28, 2019 8:32:23 GMT -5
Was this just a one day show? Do you sell at any gem and mineral shows or just craft shows? I tried one craft show years ago and it was a dud. You will have more competition at gem and mineral shows for sure but at least everyone coming through the door is there to buy rock related items.
Your pinch bail pendants are a bargain. Nice stuff at a good price point. I like the first picture of all the polished specimens.
Chuck
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 28, 2019 8:54:15 GMT -5
Glad you had a good show! Your set-up always looks nice. These are the table cloths we have for our tables that we got from Costco:
They come in a 2-pack and are $50 for 6 ft. tables. They also have them for 8 ft. tables. The beauty of these is that they don't wrinkle ever. We've had them for about 4 years now, I think. I washed them and they come out of the dryer perfect. No fuss, no muss. That's what I'm all about.
I'm sure you can find them online at other places.
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Post by HankRocks on Oct 28, 2019 9:05:03 GMT -5
Was this just a one day show? Do you sell at any gem and mineral shows or just craft shows? I tried one craft show years ago and it was a dud. You will have more competition at gem and mineral shows for sure but at least everyone coming through the door is there to buy rock related items. Your pinch bail pendants are a bargain. Nice stuff at a good price point. I like the first picture of all the polished specimens. Chuck Chuck, The FFA Shows I do are two days, setup on Friday, Sat 9 to 5, Sun 10 to 4. In theory I could setup Sat morning as the doors for Vendors open at 7:00am. Generally there are decent crowds, most don't come in the door expecting rocks. I did notice this weekend that there were several folks stop by and bought who had bought from me before. Always hand out a business card to anyone who asks with an e-mail and have started building a small contact list to whom I e-mail my next Show date. The list is growing slowly and out of the 15 or so cards I handed out this weekend I expect maybe 2 or 3 to e-mail me. Slow and steady. I did have one School teacher who came by and bought 30 tumbled stones and was going to use them in her teaching. I did give her my card and mentioned that if any other teachers ask, give them my contact e-mail. Maybe it brings couple in, maybe not. Still it's more slow and steady. I have done the Clear Lake Gem and Mineral Show the past 3 years and generally I have doubled what I bring in at an average Craft Show. As you say more competition, but a whole lot more folks looking to buy rocks. My pricing generally gives me a slight edge. That an I do have the Quartz Crystal advantage both in good prices and a large selection of the material to choose from. The one downside is that the venue is an hour from the house, and the booth cost is almost double. Another advantage I think I think I have is that I have collected a good bit of my material so I can talk about the specifics of that. I also cut, polish everything I sell. Again more knowledge to convey. The Pendants are rather low. The wrapped(by a friend) pendants are priced higher. I have also been improving my skill with selecting, grinding(more bevel) and such so i will probably add a tray of higher priced stones to go along with the lower priced ones The main benefit is that I get to talk to folks, I enjoy the whole pricing/selling/planning aspect, and it keeps me active mentally and physically. You can't put a price on that. Two more Shows this Fall, one in Nov and one in Dec and then off for 2 and 1/2 months. |
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Post by HankRocks on Oct 28, 2019 9:15:44 GMT -5
Glad you had a good show! Your set-up always looks nice. These are the table cloths we have for our tables that we got from Costco:
They come in a 2-pack and are $50 for 6 ft. tables. They also have them for 8 ft. tables. The beauty of these is that they don't wrinkle ever. We've had them for about 4 years now, I think. I washed them and they come out of the dryer perfect. No fuss, no muss. That's what I'm all about.
I'm sure you can find them online at other places.
Thanks for the tip. What color do you use, Black or White? I also have oe 5' table I use. |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 28, 2019 9:41:13 GMT -5
Glad you had a good show! Your set-up always looks nice. These are the table cloths we have for our tables that we got from Costco:
They come in a 2-pack and are $50 for 6 ft. tables. They also have them for 8 ft. tables. The beauty of these is that they don't wrinkle ever. We've had them for about 4 years now, I think. I washed them and they come out of the dryer perfect. No fuss, no muss. That's what I'm all about.
I'm sure you can find them online at other places.
Thanks for the tip. What color do you use, Black or White? I also have oe 5' table I use. We use the black ones. Thought the white ones would show dirt to easily. I keep one of those masking tape lint brushes in our stuff, so I can get rid of crumbs and lint every morning. It's amazing how much crud accumulates at a show.
I'm sure you can find a 5 ft. one somewhere. Costco only has the 6', 8' and a round one.
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Post by greig on Oct 28, 2019 10:37:34 GMT -5
Thanks for the tip. What color do you use, Black or White? I also have oe 5' table I use. We use the black ones. Thought the white ones would show dirt to easily. I keep one of those masking tape lint brushes in our stuff, so I can get rid of crumbs and lint every morning. It's amazing how much crud accumulates at a show.
I'm sure you can find a 5 ft. one somewhere. Costco only has the 6', 8' and a round one.
FYI - When I used to do trade shows, all of my table drapes were for 8' tables. It was the most common size table. If for some reason I was stuck with 6' or 4' tables (usually because the 8' tables were grabbed by others first) , I could use the same drapes by overlap them in the back...or put 2x4' tables together or make a 10' and not fully drape the back. As such, in my humble opinion - get the 8' drapes. As for dirt at the shows, oh boy I have stories, but probably the worst thing is the clowns who are drinking coffee and put it onto the table just before the table gets bumped. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 29, 2019 6:20:27 GMT -5
I like a story with a happy ending. I'm glad you get so much out of doing this. It isn't for everyone, so it's good to hear you enjoy it so much.
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Post by HankRocks on Oct 29, 2019 8:43:00 GMT -5
I like a story with a happy ending. I'm glad you get so much out of doing this. It isn't for everyone, so it's good to hear you enjoy it so much. Must say I am a bit surprised that I do enjoy the selling part. It helps that I keep it to 5 or 6 Craft Shows and 1 Gem and Mineral Show a year. It also helps that I have this great resource for info in the form of this Forum. Everybody here is willing to help with questions and offer good suggestions. Hopefully I will get to meet more of my fellow RTH'ers in the future. Henry |
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El JeffA
spending too much on rocks
Member since February 2016
Posts: 353 
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Post by El JeffA on Oct 29, 2019 21:52:31 GMT -5
Glad you had a good show! Your set-up always looks nice. These are the table cloths we have for our tables that we got from Costco:
They come in a 2-pack and are $50 for 6 ft. tables. They also have them for 8 ft. tables. The beauty of these is that they don't wrinkle ever. We've had them for about 4 years now, I think. I washed them and they come out of the dryer perfect. No fuss, no muss. That's what I'm all about.
I'm sure you can find them online at other places.
Thanks for the tip. What color do you use, Black or White? I also have oe 5' table I use. I get these on Amazon. Two black ones for under $13 with Prime. They fit a standard 6’ table really well and look very nice.  Sorry, 2 are slightly more but still under $15.  |
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