This weekend was a toughie when it came to how I felt about my personal skill, and brought into question how I'm going to get where I want to be.
As some of you know, I like to attend art markets as a vendor whenever I get the chance. I've only done about 5 or 6, so I'm fairly new to the game. So far, I've loved it. It puts me in a good position; people who attend art markets and craft fairs are expecting to buy art, so they will usually buy art. In this way, the customers come to me. However, there's a large risk in art markets. Without going to much into detail, the profit that you make (if you make any at all) is dependent on things like the market hosts, the location of the event, the time of year, and even the time of day! SO MUCH goes into whether or not your vending experinece will be successful without even considering your own contributions.
Knowing this, I still get pretty down when I don't do well as a vendor. Typically, I can get other vendors to empathize with me when I say that it's hard not to take these failures personally. However, at my last market I was sat next to Hunter Sax Photography (@huntrr.sax). They shrugged at my comment and said, "I don't take it personally. I mean, what can you do? Some things are completely out of your control."
They were completely right. But I'm still trying to separate what is personal and what is business.
Or...should they be separate? I guess I'm working on that, too.
A lot of things were out of my control this weekend. The host of this market did a FANTASTIC job organizing the last event that I attended in October. It was my first ever market. I went into this event with high expectations because of it. The vendor fee was more than 2x the size of the last time I paid, so (again) expectations were high.
I got to the venue and I was immediately deflated. It was located at a teeny warehouse in a warehouse lot, far from any other business or high-traffic areas. This meant that the only way anyone would find us is if they saw the fliers or social media posts. But, I set up and tried to make the best out of it. The other vendors around me were upset, too. The vendor fee was HUGE in comparison to what was expected. By the end of the event, the host was hiding upstairs so as to avoid commotion with the vendors.
Despite all of that, I still felt at fault. To help myself see the bigger picture, I made a simplified summary of my market finances.
Here are the stats for previous markets:
Market 1: (outdoor)
Gross profit: $353.79
Net profit: $168.18
Market 2: (outdoor)
Gross profit: $466.57
Net profit: $249.51
Market 3: (indoor)
Gross profit: -$108.26
Net profit: -$108.90
Market 4: (indoor)
Gross profit: $567.00
Net profit: $192.94
Market 5: (indoor)
Gross profit: -$98.86
Net profit: -$98.86
Market 6: (indoor)
Gross profit: $114.30
Net profit: -$106.16
There are no distinguishable patterns when it comes to profit, income, etc. (The only things I've noticed are that indoor events haven't been good for me.) But I do want to be able to sustain myself on these events, and when the numbers dip into the negatives I take it pretty hard. I start to question my own skill, whether my inventory (or myself) is attractive enough, and whether my goal can even become a reality with all my efforts.
I can say this, though: if we add up all of the NET profits (money made while accounting for all expenses), I've made $296.71 since my first event. This isn't a lot. But it's POSITIVE. And considering the fact that I'd just starting doing these events at the end of October, I'd say I'm doing alright.
I still have my part-time job to help me fund my endeavors (and to build savings), so we'll see where I can go from here.
I hope it's somewhere nice.
Gillian Mark
Goosey Art
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