Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
And now, Part V . . .
AT THE END OF THE SHOW
You have had a great day (or maybe not) and now it's time to pack up.
Never pack up early. Just don’t. It’s rude and it might be in violation of your contract with the show. You are tired and want to get home, but you have already spent so much time setting up, why not take full advantage of the opportunity. I almost always make a sale at the end of the day that makes it worth my while to have stayed. I have on many occasions sold things out of the boxes I was packing up. I had one show that I was still selling at an hour after it was supposed to be over. Now, I don’t recommend that necessarily, either, but the person in charge stopped by, saw that my stand was still extremely busy and told me she was locking up, but I could stay as long as I liked (it was outside.) You never know who might walk in at the last minute and make your day worthwhile.
After the show basically follow the same steps of setting up, but in reverse. (See Setting up and do the steps backwards!) Pack up everything before bringing your car over. I think it is nice to thank the director of the show. They work hard and many times for next to nothing, if for anything at all. Plus, you would like to be invited back. They may ask for your feedback about the show. I am always honest giving feedback, but in a positive way and never in a complaining sort of way.
When I get home I count my money and make sure it matches my receipts and run any credit cards that I need to. I also have spreadsheets that I plug information from each show into. I would suggest doing that at that time, too. (I admit I don’t.) If you have an online store that needs to be updated because you sold things, do that right away as well.
Unpack your car and relax. You will probably be exhausted. It is tiring loading a car, unloading and setting up, tearing down and reloading your car and unloading your car again. Not to mention dealing with all the customers all day long and whatever else you have been through.
I like to send an email thank you to the organizers of the show, especially if I didn’t get the chance to do so in person.
OTHER TIPS:
It is really important to stay positive even when you start to get tired or it isn’t going well. Try to think of each show as a positive even without the sales. For example, maybe sales were slow, but you met someone opening up a store and they may be interested in consigning your items. Perhaps you found out about a really great show to do in the future. At the very least, you figured out that this show isn’t right for your product.
I had a show that was super windy and it was so frustrating to me. People kept giving me ideas to fix my stand and all the while my boyfriend and I were trying things and it just was miserable. I finally kind of lost it and broke into tears. I had it. Generally, I am sensitive, but usually refuse to allow any negativity into my stand or business. No one was going to buy from me out of pity for the poor crying girl and I needed to get over it and move on. And I did get over it almost immediately and we rigged up the stand for the day. I have since revamped my stand to withstand the wind.
There is something positive to be learned at each craft show.
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The final Part in this series will be tomorrow and it will be all about tips for setting up at a weekly market.
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