Ladies, Puffin is taken. I'm sorry you had to find out like this. Hey Puffin! Congrats to both of you for running a successful booth! I'm sad to hear the end profits come to about nothing, but if it's subsidizing a convention visit, then it sounds like it's filling a solid role for you. In the past when I've imagined running a booth, that intrusive thought was met with dread, rejection, and vitriol. I am... not a people person. Not naturally, at least. It can be quite draining for me to engage with people, especially assertively in order to make sales (I would suck as a salesman). I fear I would go bonkers and start biting customers.
Breaking even twice is, like Puffin said, actually a net positive. Assuming they (she) intends to keep on doing this, starting out and figuring out what works and what doesnt, and subsidizing your conventionvacations without actually taking a loss is a win/win.
I once covered for a friend of my uncle's at a convention. It turns out... if you have no people skills, you really just don't bring any people in to begin with. They just kinda go past your booth, and the few who stop and look just move on if you don't know how to carry a conversation.
No, the thing you say about prices is absolutely true. It is so hard to drill this into artists' heads too. People don't buy art like they buy other things - they're not going to flock to your booth or your commission book just because you set a price way lower than everyone else's.
This is true, if I see a drawing of my favorite thing and it is $20 and next to it is a drawing of something I don't like but it's $5. I'm still not going to buy the $5 art for the simple fact I don't like it. The thing I like however I'll spend the $20 cause I like it and want it.
5:25 This is a good explanation for the differences between competing on 'margin' and competing on 'uniqueness.' Art is clearly in the second category, and the competition is over who has the most evocative and interesting art for a particular customer. Price is not as big of a factor.
Also, the crowd is probably diminishing at that point. If it’s, say, Fri-Sun, on Sunday afternoon, the majority of people are already on their way home.
There may also be the psychological issue of it looking like you are trying to dump product before the end of the con. Then the items become less valuable in the eyes of a potential buyer.
As a con goer, I often wait until Sunday to spend all of my "con money" for said discounts. However, the fatigue is therez and it's much harder to buy things because by Sunday, I am often emotionally, physically, and mentally drained. So it is a toss up, really. Also, if you keep in mind that all of those vendors don't want to pack up the remaining items and take it back, because they too are exhausted, then those items don't lose value.
Yeah, it sort of evens out. That "Cool Thing" that was just out of your price point (or was on your "if it's still there on Sunday" list) is now half price, but your wallet is also a lot lighter, and you and your group have been discussing dinner for the last hour.
I think two critical issues you didn't comment on are 1) Fan awareness and 2) Market analysis Now, this is a blind spot for me because I don't follow Puffin on other platforms, but did your or your GF's followers *know you had a booth?* A lot of artists I've followed very explicitly and publicly advertise what cons they'll be at and where they'll be. While it's a doubt that anyone's going to travel to the con just for the artist, considering the overlap in communities, odds are that even for an artist with a moderate following there will be a handful of people at that con who know of you (heck, in this very comment section someone said they could've gone!). Those folks will come - and they will be WHALES compared to casual shoppers, and they'll be more likely to pick up the artist-specific stuff that doesn't have as much broad appeal. Market analysis was kinda touched on in the "No one got the MTG reference" issue: who's AT the convention, and what do they like? Especially for a booth with limited space, there has to be consideration of what content is most likely to draw eyes and sales for the given market. Sure, there might be a lot of MTG fans at AX, but you're already taking a handicap because MTG isn't the least common denominator at AX - anime is. So, all else being equal, it's more efficient to bring the anime fanart to Anime Expo but bring more Star Wars art to Comicon.
I will say as someone who's been watching out for new Puffin videos, I went "oh, huh, they tried doing artist alley booths??" and I watched out of curiosity because I've wondered how indie creators do. I know I've more than likely had various friends, and I could ask creators I've met who do them (I think I'll look to sometime now), but.. I havent done that, so I watched the video And yeah, the merch item... if they were tokens for say, a Trading Card Game fandom, that allows custom merch, or say Card Sleeves... yeah they'd have sold more than likely
Legit though, I would absolutely pay for, effectively, memes related to PF's content. Like maybe something like that one where he's describing the conversation with the DM about Abserd's classes, and he goes "Oh, what classes are you giving him" "... ALL OF THEM!", or maybe some an action scene with some of his characters fighting off some entirely too adorable monstrosities like the Aboleth, the White Dragon from the start of the "Detective Clancy" video when he was explaining why he doesn't like playing rogues, etc
@masterloard As cute as those would be, remember it's her booth, not his. So she's selling products based on her interest and hobbies and he was helping her. 😅
@@MakeSureYouCleanUp that's true! they basically said, more or less that this is also them having fun with attending a con. they're not in it for the money. just because we can see how it could've been done more profitably doesnt mean it should've been done that way
Another important thing is to bring more product than you hope to sell. You don’t want your booth to only have miscellaneous leftovers, you want it to look pretty and well stocked.
Wife and I do con booths every year along with several smaller shows. We opt for the crafter booths that cost less at our local ones. This year was our 8th year attending and we love doing it. In the last couple of years we have expanded from a singe to a double table space. She does crochet Hats, plush and lots of other things and I do wood working. Between us she defiantly makes up nearly all the sales. I make wood deck boxes, D&D/Warhammer terrain, coasters jewelry and other knickknacks. Nearly every year our sales increase and we never know what is going to end up being the hot item. Sometimes we have things sit out in inventory for years and all of a sudden it will disappear. This year she made a hat that has historically only sold online and this year it blew up this year on both online and show site. My stuff, especially the knickknacks and jewelry sell better at smaller shows and my more expensive woodworking product such as deck boxes sell better online. A lot of it simply has to do with the expectations of customers at the even your going to. For instance I expect my woodworking would sell significantly better at something like Gen Con or Origins but those shows don't offer crafter tables you have to pay the same price as a vendor. Since none of our stuff can be mass produced. its harder to justify a space that can cost 2x as much if we don't expect 1.5-2x the sales. We also hit a limit on product because its all handmade as well. Since we both have regular day jobs, we can only produce so much product. My wife currently has tennis elbow from all the crocheting and currently has a ton of orders that need made that she is currently working on getting some local help to get them all out on time. The worst part of all of it is what it costs to produce. She made a dragon that probably took her 20 hours to make. We once had a person look at the price, make a discussed sound and throw it on the table. I "gently" explained to the person how much time it took and all the effort that went into making the product and that she didn't even make minimum wage to produce the item she just rudely threw onto the table. There are also people that understand the difficulty and time that go into the craft and are happy to spend up. We regularly sell to celebrities who are walking by in the early morning or after a show closes. Its also where I proposed to my wife during Geek Prom. Overall the experience is great but it is defiantly like have a second job that we use to support our love of cons, yarn, wood and gaming. Anyway if anyone wants to know more just let me know and I will be happy to chat about it. I just deleted half of this because Its already way longer than most people will read at this length.
I appreciate you sharing your experiences. I attend and work with a lot of craft-focused events and encourage you both not to get worked-up over people who don't like your prices, they are simply not your target audience. The absolute best customers, your dream customer, is the one that loves handmade goods and saves up to pay for them. They are also the most likely to come back and buy from you again. Building a business is slow work, but I hope you both continue to do it and grow every year! Thank you!
WOW just thinking about it i never considered how difficult it must be picking what to sell for the spacing purposes that angle never crossed my mind next time im at a con im gonna have to look at the booths and imagine them packing their suitcases and determining how much space they have to actually sell things and whats space efficient
Ben, an idea might be to set up a specific red bubble store front just for the con, and have a QR code for people to order their shirts direct. That way you don't have to carry a bunch around...
I can see that going both ways, though. It would be way easier to do the shirts that way, yet at the same time part of the appeal of the con is the instant gratification; the ability to put the physical item into a pile and look at the haul you got.
That's interesting, and digital items do sell well for some things. Shirts, probably not so much. But, games and books tend to be fine; if they are discounted for being digital only.
Thanks for being so open with numbers and impressions! This video was very interesting giving some insights to running a booth that I never would have thought about otherwise.
Oh man, this reminds me of me and my wife. She makes crocheted and knitted stuffed animals, which are big and bulky haha, so we can only do things in driving range. We've been considering doing the large multi-day craft fairs but the cost has always thrown us off because at the smaller local fairs they never work out all that well. She makes back the booth fee, but not much more. My wife gets really discouraged that quite a lot of people actually do stop and look, and they gush about how cute something is, say they'll come back around, but then rarely do. We've always been curious if the foot traffic in the large well known ones would offset the hundreds of dollars to get in. Plus there is the consideration that if you make those kind of sales, it gets reported to the tax man who will want their cut as well. Was interesting to hear your take, I can really see the advantages of art especially the prints. For the stuffed animals my wife makes, they take ~10 hours of labor to make each and sell for only $30. To make a duplicate, it's another 10 hours. It never could be considered profitable if labor was considered. I've been trying to convince her to instead create a book of patterns for her custom designs.
My husband sells pottery at events and we have the exact same experience. It gets disheartening and there is one area we just won't go because of how bad it was to sell there
If she doesn't already have one, I'd recommend an online merch - or at least an Etsy - store for her merch. That way you can print up flyers or business cards to hand out at cons too, and stick a plug at the end of your YouTub vids for it so interested parties who don't/can't/won't go to LA or cons in general can still opt to get merch they like.
Etsy is a rip-off though. The site is flooded with drop-shipped cheap Chinese bs. It will be impossible to find you. They hoard the keywords. Stay away from Etsy.
@@ArDeeMee Can confirm. My most recent purchase was for an adult toy. It arrived and had a different company's name on the toy. Literally the etsy seller just ordered it from the chinese seller and had it shipped directly to me. Even though I got something like 40% off the etsy store price, I paid about 3 times as much as just buying it from the chinese seller directly.
Honestly was always curious about how running a booth would work, you gotta be smart with what you're doing as a small business and hope that your products are desirable! ngl I thought everything shown here was just really cute and adorable, wish I could have been there to buy stuff from your guy's booth!
I am reminded of the old Turtlewax pricing. When it launched it was for a dollar and no-one bought it. So because they lost tons of money they were trying to get make it back they put it on sale for double the price $2. It flew off the shelves. Perceived value also played a part. (The money amounts are illustrative this was from a long time ago.)
What is this? A Puffin video? A PUFFIN VIDEO NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO GAMES?! Woah, last time we had close to it thematically like that 3 years ago, when he was chatting with Zee about anything and everything. And don't get me wrong - I love dnd, mtg and other system/story-related videos. I'm basically here for them. But this streak of fresh air was so unexpected that it got me pleasantly surprised! Please don't shy away from making such life-stories, Puffin! And keep up the good work!
As someone whom has sold at conventions before...I can confirm there are ALOT of factors when it comes to making sales. I've vendored at a local 2 day con for the last couple years. I typically bring a variety of items, mostly anime figs, and try to bring what I hope are the popular characters. This is hard to do because what you think is popular might not actually BE popular. That's just one factor. Another factor is the other vendors. In my case, some had the same item as me, but their price was WAY higher. I mean over double for a figure out if the box...while the one I had was in the box. I can understand them wanting to make a profit with all their expenses but...come now. So yeah the price of what you're selling plays a big part too. Especially for similar items. These are just two factors I've noticed. There are more of course, but don't let these dissuade you from attempting to vendor at a con. If you're an artist, have some creative merch like puffin's gf does, it never hurts to give it a try. Just keep in mind..it's not easy..but...can be very rewarding.
Puffin I can't believe I missed you at anime expo TWO YEARS IN A ROW I kind of hope you bring your selves back to AX if you can announce your table at the convention it might help along with AX might just not be your convention (but the perks of being a artist alley artist are very sweet the over crowding is a big issue) magic is a little hard to sell to weebs but I'm surprised because well nerds dnd merch like CR and TAZ or classes charms/pins/stickers seems like a good bet most of the time with anime conventions also your right about prints and specially at anime expo prints are a big seller as someone who has jokingly poked fun to not con crunch after another artist who turned around one night and made a print and had it ready for the convention the next day prints are very handy and great for quick turn around
At Retro Con in Philly a few weeks ago, I believe one of the vendors was printing shirts on demand, so you'd pick your image and shirt size, and *boom* fresh print.
I really enjoyed this look behind the scenes. It turns out it was pretty much what I expected profit-wise, but the perks were something I did not know. I'm glad it works for you, and I hope eventually it becomes profitable as well.
All praise the mighty and legendary puffin forest, I skipped my daughters birth waiting for the next upload, my extended family hasn’t seen me in years waiting for uploads.
As someone from the other side of the world who runs a small business and run countless stalls at markets and such. Some tips and notes. 1) I love that you are being this open and transparent about things like sales and costs, it's something that people serious need to consider more when looking to start small business or attend conventions. Keep it up. V good content. 2) something you need to consider when looking at the other stalls is what is the quality of their stock like/cost and also how long they have been in the game. It's easy to get disheartened when the dude next to you is packed, but you need to remember his overheads are likely MUCH higher than yours depending on stock, and also they have likely been in the game longer, so know what does and doesn't work. Where as you guys are experimenting still to find your niche. 3) I'm sure you already are, bur display as much of your character and charisma that you do here while you are in sale mode and no cap you will scale hugely regardless of niche. Not kissing are but you come of as quite charming as charismatic, and I'm unsure if that translates to your actual persona however if it does, you and your partner have nothing to worry about. Keep grinding and kill it. 4) try to incorporate the Chanel or your animations somehow, you already have a successful brand, if your partner is comfortable merging them is a VERY wise decision. Anyway, hope it goes well dude and glad you're enjoying it. I miss market days sometimes hahaha.
The only thing I’d add from my and friend’s experiences is: sort your taxes! Know what’s a business expense, and even if you’re not earning much what you are earning and how that connects to your income. It’s boring and probably more confusing than it should be, but it’s kinda the last thing you want to forget or do wrong.
MTG products (commander especially) would probably make go back to a table several times over the course of a weekend. Not sure how much deck boxes and custom card sleeves cost to produce, but stuff like that always gets me.
the main issue is again bulk, a decks worth of sleeves takes 2+ decks worth of space, and boxes? that's 4+ decks of space unless it's a build your own, and even then it's far bulkier than prints or stickers for similar profits
There's the issue of where they're selling. At another con they would probably have seen higher sales of Magic stuff, but at Anime Expo specifically, there might be more people who've played Yu-gi-oh than Magic, which reduces the potential market.
For next anime expo it might be a better idea to have like a pretty binder with designs you can order T-shirts of, and then like 1 of each size of shirt as an example of sizing. That way you can take individual orders and have them made once the sale is confirmed, just mail it off in flat-rate packaging at the post office! Make sure to get addresses for your orders though.
Before I watch the video: As someone who used to artist alleys.... *shiver* I'm just glad I had people to share the costs with. After watching the video: Largely the same experience. Except I _did_ see a slight uptick on final con days, because a lot of people are buying things from official sources or bigger names and want to save their money on "fan content" so they'll see something at an AA table and file it in the back of their mind to pick up later, knowing that people tend to discount on the last day. So something above a certain range will sell easier at the end while something inexpensive usually sold then and there, the lower the price the better, especially if it's so cheap kids can buy it with their own money.
My friends and I have been doing this for a few years now, and we agree, while we usually only break even it's still a lot of fun. Going off the story you said about mid-con print runs though... For one, relatable. For two, not relatable anymore, as we found that any print store that has that quick a turnaround (in our case, Officeworks in Aus) doesn't have good product. For me, GSM and print quality are almost as important as the design itself. I just find it disappointing to buy a print I love the look of, only to be handed it and it just flops in my hands because of how thin the paper is.
Hey! great video, I'll keep an eye out for you next year! I don't know if you've been doing this or not but I would suggest for next year to make an announcement video that you'll be there on your channel, even if its just a short. you have a large subscriber base, so even if only a really small amount see it, and even fewer are going to the con, at least people can come and stop by and as you may have gathered, that can boost sales. also, as you saw, sales don't really work, but quantity discounts are always a good way to entice customers to buy a bit more ( I know they get me every year). Some other things that might be good is to label what fandom each piece of art is aimed at, so there is no confusion on what is what and everyone who likes MTG or pokemon will actually look at the booth fully. that extra second of a glance can help a lot with sales. I agree the best thing to sell is prints, second best thing in my opinion is pins, though I'm unsure how costly they are, I know they are really popular and you can bring a large amount anywhere you go. I know you didn't ask for advice, but I hope you'll at least consider what I've said. either way, no hard feelings, hope to see you next year!
Thanks for putting this out. I'm going to be running a booth in a small convention in my state in a couple weeks, so it's interesting to see what you've been saying.
I thought about running a booth a while back, I was gearing things up, booking tables, getting a vendor license (which is needed in Texas), doing all the mental math and looking up pricing. I had two slated, one in May the other in July, I had 5 months before the May one and figured I use all that time to make designs and then spend the 4th month getting the bulk of it printed. However, this was at the start of 2020....Needless to say how that went down. Since then I still haven't tabled at a con. Though it is something I really should look back into doing.
That was a great feedback story. I recently had my first vendor experience. Only a $125 fee so less to recoup. It was launching my D&D tile system which I was scrambling to make as much product as I could before the event. I also did a 20% off QR code pointing to my online store that was only good for the event and following day. Kind of a "If you're not sure on this purchase now you can buy online tomorrow and save my stock here" Which did generate a few sales. All in all covered the event fee and production costs on the tiles. So broke even. Thanks again for this engaging story. Hope to cross paths one day at AX.
As a person who owns a magic the gathering store. I recommend if your gonna run a booth you run it at a magic con. Bring items that will sell in big quantities like shocks and fetches then bring some nesh things that will sell. Example is like boarderless expensive cards
Having sold laser cut dice towers at cons for years I could say this video is spot on. Especially how to price things. Don’t sell cheaper than others, just keep the price reasonable. I had a dice tower booth across from wormwood (when they were big) and not only out sold them, but they asked to trade a 150$ tower for a few of my 40$ towers! Because they liked them so much! On the profits, I made an average of about 2,000 per day at a convention which I would say is about middle of the road for what I sold. But above average compared to booths around me. So much so that I would sell wholesale to booths on other isles so they could profit from my products and my brand was even more out there. And when I sold out of a design I would send them to other booths that I knew had more of that design. Win/win.
Back when I could manage a table at VCON, selling my books, some years were definitely more profitable than others… often relating to whether I’d written a new book since last year. But VCON was a blast. Hanging with other nerds with a lot of similar interests. The vibe was phenomenal. It was home.
Use to do this type of stuff years ago. The is how I feel about it. If you only do it a few con's a year it is mostly about make the money back for the booth. The other perks make it worth the work. If you are doing it for 25 con's a year then the profit is much more important.
That was really helpful. I have these D&D spell cards that reduce the paragraphs to bullet points, organize the info, beautiful art that shows you inventive ways to use the spell, great for young adventures and for just staying in character (*cough* Critical Cards *cough*), and... it has been a huge, NOT profitable business venture. They're great. People love them. But do I sink even more money into going to Cons and paying for a booth?? Do I pay for a famous UA-camr to mention them for 1000-3000 dollars?! Truly, truly helpful. Thank you so much!
Hey Puffin! I'm a fellow con exhibitor (generally more RPG-focused conventions), and I've found that probably the best deal we've ever offered was a Buy 2 Get 1 free deal (whatever the cheapest of the three is free, obviously. You can't get 2 $1 items and expect to get a $40 item for free)). We find that if someone was going to buy just 1 item anyway, they see that they can now get 2 for the price of 1, so quite frequently they'll get 3 items. We sell our products wholesale to game stores and distributors at up to a 60% discount and make a slight profit, so this deal is at best a 33% discount and we move probably about twice as much product as we would otherwise. Not everyone utilizes the B2G1, and even those that do don't use it to its full potential (2 $20 items and a free $5 item, for instance). Our sales got a huge boost from this deal and our customers are happy to get more stuff for cheap. Everyone wins!
OMG Puffin! I went to AX, and if I knew you were selling stuff (and I paid attention to the Artists Alley), then I would have eagerly bought a t-shirt and a keychain (and asked to sign my DnD book). I'm gonna pay attention to the Artists Alley next AX.
i honestly never considered the fact that a lot of those folks were Artists. I just dropped like a hundred plus bucks before i even had a job on (high quality) unofficial fanart made by some rando artists that i apperantly thought good enough to warrant actual cash. makes me smile knowing i helped support artists. :) thx mate
Wow, thanks for the insight on running a booth! I feel like there isn't enough first-hand advice out there for people that have never done it before. I plan on doing an art booth in the near future so the info about "discounts" is pretty useful, even though it didn't sound like a good idea to me. Art isn't milk, lol!
I really appreciate this. Been thinking of going into the circuit for a while now, and have always been debating whether it is worth it. Still not sure... never had that powerful drive to make it happen, or someone competent enough by my side to help me make it happen.
T-Shirts are such a weird selling merch item. Back when I worked cons, sometimes T-Shirts would be your best seller by far and other times you'd be lucky to shift any at all. In the end, we used to put shirts in "lucky dip" bags to drive up the value we could claim for the bag as the justification to keep selling them but they were such a weird and inconsistent product in terms of sales that didn't appear to have a discernable pattern
For the shirts, the key isn't in your initial order, it's in your replenishment. This does mean you are potentially suffering a short term loss, but after a handful of events the rate of sale will clarify and you will be able to operate more lean. Fail forward! That's how you win.
As someone who's been going to cons since I was a kid (started in '05 at Acen) I appreciate the insight into the life of the dealer at the convention and breakdown in profits & such here. Also I always assumed the last minutes deals on Sunday were just so folks wouldn't have to carry stuff back but funds are pretty tight towards the end of the weekend usually unless I've been waiting until Sunday to buy things in the first place 😅
I understand now why booths sell what they do, but honestly the only merch I ever look for is mouse pads and t shirts because they're things I'd actually use every day and not just put on a shelf for a few years then throw in the trash.
As someone who went to Anime Boston Multiple times I sadly have to agree with this like for me 2011 was my first time and it was fantastic. Than I went back like 2014 and a few other times after that and it started getting boring. And I hate to say it but I hope other cons are not like this.
@@ryanadams0922I went to AB 2009, 2010, and 2011, but have never had the time or money to go back since. That being said, as much as I wish I could recapture the feeling of being in my late teens/early 20's going to a con, I don't think it would be nearly as enjoyable now that I'm in my 30's
This was very informative. As someone who enjoys hitting up the artist alley every time it's cool to see all the moving numbers. I'll try to pick up more bulky stuff to insensitive diversity
I can only recommend business cards to your online store. Yes, the snap decision to buy a cute shirt isn't made in the booth itself, but the online store can make them to order and only in the sizes that are already sold.
The major issue with prints is fan art sells WAY better than anything else. BUT all fan art is technically copyright infringement and if the owners want to they can slap you with a seise and dissist or just TAKE your profits or even sue you if they want to. And I know, tons of artists at cons do exactly this without issue every year, but remember, the original owners can crack down any time they choose and be legally in the right
Love the content Ben and this is a great insight on a con booth experience! I do have a suggestion, or maybe just a question... A sugguestion? on this topic, you mentioned that you had to go get extra prints during the convention and that space is a factor even bringing up that mouse pads take up the same space as a stack of prints, so why not order the prints from a print shop in the con's city and then pick them up when you arrive to make more room for harder to produce merch? I mean I know prints don't take a ton of space but it could still mean you can bring more of the charms or something else with you. Only thing I guess I could see being a benefit to bringing them is to check quality of the prints prior which IS important too.
I often find price to be the most compelling reason on whether the wife and I buy prints/stickers/etc. When we go to the large conventions(C2E2, Comic cons, etc), we buy a lot of prints and other things from the artist alley area. Hundreds of dollars worth, and there are a lot of times we will see a print we really like but the artist wants a lot of money for it, or they are doing Buy 2, Get 1 free, and they don't have a wide enough selection that we want three prints. Very rarely do we really have to have one specific print, but at the same time if someone is reasonably priced and they have like 8 prints in a genre we like, we will buy all 8 prints.
Another factor in having a booth is which type of convention it is. Anime con-goers are more likely to purchase quickly if they find something they like as some items are hard to get in the US and if you don't grab it when you see it, there may not be a second one. Furry people are willing to spend a lot on artists if they can find or have made what they are really searching for. A lot of sci-fi/fantasy artists survived the last economic downturn because of the dedication of furries in supporting the artist community. That said, they are often looking for specific characters or poses which is hard to match without print on demand ability. Gamer cons tend to have people shop carefully, then drop cash on the perfect item or set of items. First day sales may be anemic, but climb as the weekend progresses. So it's important to stay relaxed and just be chill and converse with them. Hope this helps some!
Decades ago I was talking to a tailor who earn her money making robes and mantles for Catholic Churches. She also had a side business on her sewing. We were talking about honest pricing hand crafts and she had this formula. 1. Price of Raw material * 10 percent 2. 10 percent tool replacement cost. So that leather stamp you use to punch “A” into the belt is 25 cents. 3. Your expect hourly wage * hours to make the product. 4. Total price of tools used and tossed. This would be like sponges, needles, dye, etc. 5. Total of 1 to 4. 6. Multiply 5 by 2. End of Formula. Tshirts are a gripe item for vendors. Either everyone is selling them. Or the size problem you mentioned. But if you going to do this as business. The total price to, at, and from the con is a business expense. Good luck.
I wonder if having some items (especially the Magic ones) on display would be useful. Perhaps having a sign to indicate that a certain section of the table is for MTG products, and some deck boxes sporting the mana stickers to show how they could be used.
It's a nice way to learn marketing principles, nice and cute way to learn. It is nice too that you don't hide any "mistakes" but present them in a funny way. 😁
By the way, you should try playing FIASCO with yiur friends. There is a 50/50 chance that it may not be a good experience, BUT if it sparkles on your friends it will leave you with stories as good as abserd
Everyone's different, but if I'm at a con for the weekend and something I like but don't love is on sale on Sunday, I'm more likely to buy it. If the info is at all useful, I mostly buy prints. (This is due to space concerns in my own home and the fact that I hate dusting and clutter.)
Hey Ben as an economist you may also need to factor in depletion of con go-ers budget as the con goes on. Say, day 4 X% of Con attendees may have spent almost all of their available funds leaving you far fewer potential customers to take advantage of your sales. You may want to offer your discount sale on Day 3, especially if most booths focus on Day 4 discounts
Okay, I need that Dim Sum Seals print... why you no offer this to us, your adoring fan base? Seriously though, I totally want merch now... this is where your t-shirt market can take off...
As a magic player, those color stickers sounds super fun. Are they still available by a chance? I bet a few of your local TCG stores might be interested! Please lmk if you have an email available if you’d like to discuss them?
Ladies, Puffin is taken. I'm sorry you had to find out like this.
Hey Puffin! Congrats to both of you for running a successful booth! I'm sad to hear the end profits come to about nothing, but if it's subsidizing a convention visit, then it sounds like it's filling a solid role for you. In the past when I've imagined running a booth, that intrusive thought was met with dread, rejection, and vitriol. I am... not a people person. Not naturally, at least. It can be quite draining for me to engage with people, especially assertively in order to make sales (I would suck as a salesman). I fear I would go bonkers and start biting customers.
Gentlemen too, and all others.
Ah dang it…
Breaking even twice is, like Puffin said, actually a net positive. Assuming they (she) intends to keep on doing this, starting out and figuring out what works and what doesnt, and subsidizing your conventionvacations without actually taking a loss is a win/win.
Guess it's time to take down that Helga Pataki-like shrine of Puffin I keep hidden in the closet. :P
I once covered for a friend of my uncle's at a convention. It turns out... if you have no people skills, you really just don't bring any people in to begin with. They just kinda go past your booth, and the few who stop and look just move on if you don't know how to carry a conversation.
No, the thing you say about prices is absolutely true. It is so hard to drill this into artists' heads too. People don't buy art like they buy other things - they're not going to flock to your booth or your commission book just because you set a price way lower than everyone else's.
This is true, if I see a drawing of my favorite thing and it is $20 and next to it is a drawing of something I don't like but it's $5. I'm still not going to buy the $5 art for the simple fact I don't like it. The thing I like however I'll spend the $20 cause I like it and want it.
MY PRAYERS FOR A PUFFIN FOREST VIDEO HAVE BEEN ANSWERED! HALLELUJAH!
Tell me why
Um.. to what god?... What did it cost 😅
@@drakox9603 Ain't nothing but a heartache.
@@paulhammons7077 It cost my first born hatchling, but he'll be fine. Probably.
@@paulhammons7077like 6 Jiwari scuttlers
5:25 This is a good explanation for the differences between competing on 'margin' and competing on 'uniqueness.' Art is clearly in the second category, and the competition is over who has the most evocative and interesting art for a particular customer. Price is not as big of a factor.
On the issue of end-of-event discounts, I wonder if the fact that most folks will be running low on money by that time is having an affect too.
Also, the crowd is probably diminishing at that point. If it’s, say, Fri-Sun, on Sunday afternoon, the majority of people are already on their way home.
There may also be the psychological issue of it looking like you are trying to dump product before the end of the con. Then the items become less valuable in the eyes of a potential buyer.
As a con goer, I often wait until Sunday to spend all of my "con money" for said discounts. However, the fatigue is therez and it's much harder to buy things because by Sunday, I am often emotionally, physically, and mentally drained. So it is a toss up, really.
Also, if you keep in mind that all of those vendors don't want to pack up the remaining items and take it back, because they too are exhausted, then those items don't lose value.
Yeah, it sort of evens out. That "Cool Thing" that was just out of your price point (or was on your "if it's still there on Sunday" list) is now half price, but your wallet is also a lot lighter, and you and your group have been discussing dinner for the last hour.
I think two critical issues you didn't comment on are 1) Fan awareness and 2) Market analysis
Now, this is a blind spot for me because I don't follow Puffin on other platforms, but did your or your GF's followers *know you had a booth?* A lot of artists I've followed very explicitly and publicly advertise what cons they'll be at and where they'll be. While it's a doubt that anyone's going to travel to the con just for the artist, considering the overlap in communities, odds are that even for an artist with a moderate following there will be a handful of people at that con who know of you (heck, in this very comment section someone said they could've gone!). Those folks will come - and they will be WHALES compared to casual shoppers, and they'll be more likely to pick up the artist-specific stuff that doesn't have as much broad appeal.
Market analysis was kinda touched on in the "No one got the MTG reference" issue: who's AT the convention, and what do they like? Especially for a booth with limited space, there has to be consideration of what content is most likely to draw eyes and sales for the given market. Sure, there might be a lot of MTG fans at AX, but you're already taking a handicap because MTG isn't the least common denominator at AX - anime is. So, all else being equal, it's more efficient to bring the anime fanart to Anime Expo but bring more Star Wars art to Comicon.
I will say as someone who's been watching out for new Puffin videos, I went "oh, huh, they tried doing artist alley booths??"
and I watched out of curiosity because I've wondered how indie creators do. I know I've more than likely had various friends, and I could ask creators I've met who do them (I think I'll look to sometime now), but.. I havent done that, so I watched the video
And yeah, the merch item... if they were tokens for say, a Trading Card Game fandom, that allows custom merch, or say Card Sleeves... yeah they'd have sold more than likely
Legit though, I would absolutely pay for, effectively, memes related to PF's content. Like maybe something like that one where he's describing the conversation with the DM about Abserd's classes, and he goes "Oh, what classes are you giving him" "... ALL OF THEM!", or maybe some an action scene with some of his characters fighting off some entirely too adorable monstrosities like the Aboleth, the White Dragon from the start of the "Detective Clancy" video when he was explaining why he doesn't like playing rogues, etc
@masterloard As cute as those would be, remember it's her booth, not his. So she's selling products based on her interest and hobbies and he was helping her. 😅
@@MakeSureYouCleanUp that's true! they basically said, more or less that this is also them having fun with attending a con. they're not in it for the money.
just because we can see how it could've been done more profitably doesnt mean it should've been done that way
Bro says they are doing it for fun. I don't think they were there to make bank.
As someone who has a significant other who is about to run their first booth at a con, this is both timely and informative! Thanks!
Another important thing is to bring more product than you hope to sell. You don’t want your booth to only have miscellaneous leftovers, you want it to look pretty and well stocked.
Wife and I do con booths every year along with several smaller shows. We opt for the crafter booths that cost less at our local ones. This year was our 8th year attending and we love doing it. In the last couple of years we have expanded from a singe to a double table space. She does crochet Hats, plush and lots of other things and I do wood working. Between us she defiantly makes up nearly all the sales. I make wood deck boxes, D&D/Warhammer terrain, coasters jewelry and other knickknacks. Nearly every year our sales increase and we never know what is going to end up being the hot item. Sometimes we have things sit out in inventory for years and all of a sudden it will disappear. This year she made a hat that has historically only sold online and this year it blew up this year on both online and show site. My stuff, especially the knickknacks and jewelry sell better at smaller shows and my more expensive woodworking product such as deck boxes sell better online. A lot of it simply has to do with the expectations of customers at the even your going to. For instance I expect my woodworking would sell significantly better at something like Gen Con or Origins but those shows don't offer crafter tables you have to pay the same price as a vendor. Since none of our stuff can be mass produced. its harder to justify a space that can cost 2x as much if we don't expect 1.5-2x the sales. We also hit a limit on product because its all handmade as well. Since we both have regular day jobs, we can only produce so much product. My wife currently has tennis elbow from all the crocheting and currently has a ton of orders that need made that she is currently working on getting some local help to get them all out on time. The worst part of all of it is what it costs to produce. She made a dragon that probably took her 20 hours to make. We once had a person look at the price, make a discussed sound and throw it on the table. I "gently" explained to the person how much time it took and all the effort that went into making the product and that she didn't even make minimum wage to produce the item she just rudely threw onto the table. There are also people that understand the difficulty and time that go into the craft and are happy to spend up. We regularly sell to celebrities who are walking by in the early morning or after a show closes. Its also where I proposed to my wife during Geek Prom. Overall the experience is great but it is defiantly like have a second job that we use to support our love of cons, yarn, wood and gaming. Anyway if anyone wants to know more just let me know and I will be happy to chat about it. I just deleted half of this because Its already way longer than most people will read at this length.
I appreciate you sharing your experiences. I attend and work with a lot of craft-focused events and encourage you both not to get worked-up over people who don't like your prices, they are simply not your target audience. The absolute best customers, your dream customer, is the one that loves handmade goods and saves up to pay for them. They are also the most likely to come back and buy from you again. Building a business is slow work, but I hope you both continue to do it and grow every year! Thank you!
I recommend selling mousepads that are the same size as a playmat, then you can have 1 product that appeals to two different markets!
WOW just thinking about it i never considered how difficult it must be picking what to sell for the spacing purposes that angle never crossed my mind next time im at a con im gonna have to look at the booths and imagine them packing their suitcases and determining how much space they have to actually sell things and whats space efficient
Ben, an idea might be to set up a specific red bubble store front just for the con, and have a QR code for people to order their shirts direct. That way you don't have to carry a bunch around...
Just have one of each design printed do they can feel the material and see when it would look like
I can see that going both ways, though. It would be way easier to do the shirts that way, yet at the same time part of the appeal of the con is the instant gratification; the ability to put the physical item into a pile and look at the haul you got.
That's interesting, and digital items do sell well for some things. Shirts, probably not so much.
But, games and books tend to be fine; if they are discounted for being digital only.
Like I am going to scan random QR codes. Tempt me with product or gtfo i can just buy online.
Thanks for being so open with numbers and impressions! This video was very interesting giving some insights to running a booth that I never would have thought about otherwise.
Oh man, this reminds me of me and my wife. She makes crocheted and knitted stuffed animals, which are big and bulky haha, so we can only do things in driving range. We've been considering doing the large multi-day craft fairs but the cost has always thrown us off because at the smaller local fairs they never work out all that well. She makes back the booth fee, but not much more. My wife gets really discouraged that quite a lot of people actually do stop and look, and they gush about how cute something is, say they'll come back around, but then rarely do. We've always been curious if the foot traffic in the large well known ones would offset the hundreds of dollars to get in. Plus there is the consideration that if you make those kind of sales, it gets reported to the tax man who will want their cut as well.
Was interesting to hear your take, I can really see the advantages of art especially the prints. For the stuffed animals my wife makes, they take ~10 hours of labor to make each and sell for only $30. To make a duplicate, it's another 10 hours. It never could be considered profitable if labor was considered. I've been trying to convince her to instead create a book of patterns for her custom designs.
My husband sells pottery at events and we have the exact same experience. It gets disheartening and there is one area we just won't go because of how bad it was to sell there
If she doesn't already have one, I'd recommend an online merch - or at least an Etsy - store for her merch. That way you can print up flyers or business cards to hand out at cons too, and stick a plug at the end of your YouTub vids for it so interested parties who don't/can't/won't go to LA or cons in general can still opt to get merch they like.
Etsy is a rip-off though. The site is flooded with drop-shipped cheap Chinese bs. It will be impossible to find you. They hoard the keywords.
Stay away from Etsy.
@@ArDeeMee Can confirm. My most recent purchase was for an adult toy. It arrived and had a different company's name on the toy. Literally the etsy seller just ordered it from the chinese seller and had it shipped directly to me. Even though I got something like 40% off the etsy store price, I paid about 3 times as much as just buying it from the chinese seller directly.
My wife makes a steady $300-$500 a month on Etsy selling art prints. It’s a legitimately viable option for the product shared in this video.
Honestly was always curious about how running a booth would work, you gotta be smart with what you're doing as a small business and hope that your products are desirable! ngl I thought everything shown here was just really cute and adorable, wish I could have been there to buy stuff from your guy's booth!
I am reminded of the old Turtlewax pricing. When it launched it was for a dollar and no-one bought it. So because they lost tons of money they were trying to get make it back they put it on sale for double the price $2. It flew off the shelves. Perceived value also played a part.
(The money amounts are illustrative this was from a long time ago.)
Huzzah! Hope everything is going well for you, sir! Your videos have really entertained me endlessly.
Yay! You’re still alive! More Puffin Forest videos!
I want ‘em now!!!
What is this? A Puffin video? A PUFFIN VIDEO NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO GAMES?! Woah, last time we had close to it thematically like that 3 years ago, when he was chatting with Zee about anything and everything.
And don't get me wrong - I love dnd, mtg and other system/story-related videos. I'm basically here for them. But this streak of fresh air was so unexpected that it got me pleasantly surprised!
Please don't shy away from making such life-stories, Puffin! And keep up the good work!
I would’ve totally bought all of those mana stickers. They are adorable.
As someone whom has sold at conventions before...I can confirm there are ALOT of factors when it comes to making sales. I've vendored at a local 2 day con for the last couple years. I typically bring a variety of items, mostly anime figs, and try to bring what I hope are the popular characters. This is hard to do because what you think is popular might not actually BE popular. That's just one factor.
Another factor is the other vendors. In my case, some had the same item as me, but their price was WAY higher. I mean over double for a figure out if the box...while the one I had was in the box. I can understand them wanting to make a profit with all their expenses but...come now. So yeah the price of what you're selling plays a big part too. Especially for similar items.
These are just two factors I've noticed. There are more of course, but don't let these dissuade you from attempting to vendor at a con. If you're an artist, have some creative merch like puffin's gf does, it never hurts to give it a try. Just keep in mind..it's not easy..but...can be very rewarding.
Puffin I can't believe I missed you at anime expo TWO YEARS IN A ROW
I kind of hope you bring your selves back to AX
if you can announce your table at the convention it might help along with AX might just not be your convention (but the perks of being a artist alley artist are very sweet the over crowding is a big issue)
magic is a little hard to sell to weebs but I'm surprised because well nerds
dnd merch like CR and TAZ or classes charms/pins/stickers seems like a good bet most of the time with anime conventions
also your right about prints and specially at anime expo prints are a big seller
as someone who has jokingly poked fun to not con crunch after another artist who turned around one night and made a print and had it ready for the convention the next day
prints are very handy and great for quick turn around
All this was just Puffin flexing that he has a girlfriend.
At Retro Con in Philly a few weeks ago, I believe one of the vendors was printing shirts on demand, so you'd pick your image and shirt size, and *boom* fresh print.
I really enjoyed this look behind the scenes. It turns out it was pretty much what I expected profit-wise, but the perks were something I did not know. I'm glad it works for you, and I hope eventually it becomes profitable as well.
All praise the mighty and legendary puffin forest, I skipped my daughters birth waiting for the next upload, my extended family hasn’t seen me in years waiting for uploads.
As someone from the other side of the world who runs a small business and run countless stalls at markets and such. Some tips and notes.
1) I love that you are being this open and transparent about things like sales and costs, it's something that people serious need to consider more when looking to start small business or attend conventions. Keep it up. V good content.
2) something you need to consider when looking at the other stalls is what is the quality of their stock like/cost and also how long they have been in the game. It's easy to get disheartened when the dude next to you is packed, but you need to remember his overheads are likely MUCH higher than yours depending on stock, and also they have likely been in the game longer, so know what does and doesn't work. Where as you guys are experimenting still to find your niche.
3) I'm sure you already are, bur display as much of your character and charisma that you do here while you are in sale mode and no cap you will scale hugely regardless of niche. Not kissing are but you come of as quite charming as charismatic, and I'm unsure if that translates to your actual persona however if it does, you and your partner have nothing to worry about. Keep grinding and kill it.
4) try to incorporate the Chanel or your animations somehow, you already have a successful brand, if your partner is comfortable merging them is a VERY wise decision.
Anyway, hope it goes well dude and glad you're enjoying it. I miss market days sometimes hahaha.
The only thing I’d add from my and friend’s experiences is: sort your taxes! Know what’s a business expense, and even if you’re not earning much what you are earning and how that connects to your income. It’s boring and probably more confusing than it should be, but it’s kinda the last thing you want to forget or do wrong.
MTG products (commander especially) would probably make go back to a table several times over the course of a weekend. Not sure how much deck boxes and custom card sleeves cost to produce, but stuff like that always gets me.
the main issue is again bulk, a decks worth of sleeves takes 2+ decks worth of space, and boxes? that's 4+ decks of space unless it's a build your own, and even then it's far bulkier than prints or stickers for similar profits
There's the issue of where they're selling. At another con they would probably have seen higher sales of Magic stuff, but at Anime Expo specifically, there might be more people who've played Yu-gi-oh than Magic, which reduces the potential market.
@@FortifiedOrangeJuice Yeah, somewhere like GenCon seems like it would have a significantly larger market for Magic merch than Anime Expo
For next anime expo it might be a better idea to have like a pretty binder with designs you can order T-shirts of, and then like 1 of each size of shirt as an example of sizing. That way you can take individual orders and have them made once the sale is confirmed, just mail it off in flat-rate packaging at the post office! Make sure to get addresses for your orders though.
I came for a puffin D&D video. Got an Econ and resources lesson and can see that it still fits. Good luck on the next venture!
Before I watch the video: As someone who used to artist alleys.... *shiver* I'm just glad I had people to share the costs with.
After watching the video: Largely the same experience. Except I _did_ see a slight uptick on final con days, because a lot of people are buying things from official sources or bigger names and want to save their money on "fan content" so they'll see something at an AA table and file it in the back of their mind to pick up later, knowing that people tend to discount on the last day. So something above a certain range will sell easier at the end while something inexpensive usually sold then and there, the lower the price the better, especially if it's so cheap kids can buy it with their own money.
My friends and I have been doing this for a few years now, and we agree, while we usually only break even it's still a lot of fun.
Going off the story you said about mid-con print runs though... For one, relatable. For two, not relatable anymore, as we found that any print store that has that quick a turnaround (in our case, Officeworks in Aus) doesn't have good product. For me, GSM and print quality are almost as important as the design itself. I just find it disappointing to buy a print I love the look of, only to be handed it and it just flops in my hands because of how thin the paper is.
Yes! Your back!!!!
Okay, the dim sum seals picture is super cute! No wonder it sold so well.
Cute hobby sales time!!!❤
Hey! great video, I'll keep an eye out for you next year! I don't know if you've been doing this or not but I would suggest for next year to make an announcement video that you'll be there on your channel, even if its just a short. you have a large subscriber base, so even if only a really small amount see it, and even fewer are going to the con, at least people can come and stop by and as you may have gathered, that can boost sales. also, as you saw, sales don't really work, but quantity discounts are always a good way to entice customers to buy a bit more ( I know they get me every year). Some other things that might be good is to label what fandom each piece of art is aimed at, so there is no confusion on what is what and everyone who likes MTG or pokemon will actually look at the booth fully. that extra second of a glance can help a lot with sales. I agree the best thing to sell is prints, second best thing in my opinion is pins, though I'm unsure how costly they are, I know they are really popular and you can bring a large amount anywhere you go. I know you didn't ask for advice, but I hope you'll at least consider what I've said. either way, no hard feelings, hope to see you next year!
Thanks for putting this out. I'm going to be running a booth in a small convention in my state in a couple weeks, so it's interesting to see what you've been saying.
The fact those MTG references were not understood is criminal. They were so good!
I thought about running a booth a while back, I was gearing things up, booking tables, getting a vendor license (which is needed in Texas), doing all the mental math and looking up pricing. I had two slated, one in May the other in July, I had 5 months before the May one and figured I use all that time to make designs and then spend the 4th month getting the bulk of it printed.
However, this was at the start of 2020....Needless to say how that went down.
Since then I still haven't tabled at a con. Though it is something I really should look back into doing.
Neat; thanks for the transparency. Interesting to know how this kind of thing works out in practice.
This is useful for all of us as well to better know how to support creators at conventions!
That was a great feedback story. I recently had my first vendor experience. Only a $125 fee so less to recoup. It was launching my D&D tile system which I was scrambling to make as much product as I could before the event. I also did a 20% off QR code pointing to my online store that was only good for the event and following day. Kind of a "If you're not sure on this purchase now you can buy online tomorrow and save my stock here" Which did generate a few sales. All in all covered the event fee and production costs on the tiles. So broke even.
Thanks again for this engaging story. Hope to cross paths one day at AX.
As a person who owns a magic the gathering store. I recommend if your gonna run a booth you run it at a magic con. Bring items that will sell in big quantities like shocks and fetches then bring some nesh things that will sell. Example is like boarderless expensive cards
Woo-hoo he's alive
Having sold laser cut dice towers at cons for years I could say this video is spot on. Especially how to price things. Don’t sell cheaper than others, just keep the price reasonable. I had a dice tower booth across from wormwood (when they were big) and not only out sold them, but they asked to trade a 150$ tower for a few of my 40$ towers! Because they liked them so much! On the profits, I made an average of about 2,000 per day at a convention which I would say is about middle of the road for what I sold. But above average compared to booths around me. So much so that I would sell wholesale to booths on other isles so they could profit from my products and my brand was even more out there. And when I sold out of a design I would send them to other booths that I knew had more of that design. Win/win.
I’ve always wondered how that works. This was super informative. Thank you!
Damn Ben, congrats on the girlfriend.
It was cool to hear about your experiences. I’ve never been to a Con before but I hope I can see you at one when I eventually go.
Puffin: „My girlfriend has been going to the anime expo for the past ten years.“
The girlfriend: „DON‘T SAY THAT OUT LOUD!“ 😱
Your alive!!!!!
His alive what?
Back when I could manage a table at VCON, selling my books, some years were definitely more profitable than others… often relating to whether I’d written a new book since last year. But VCON was a blast. Hanging with other nerds with a lot of similar interests. The vibe was phenomenal. It was home.
thank u for making this video on this it's really insightful and inspiring for some who has always wandered how it works
I'm sorry for waiting so long to watch! Thank you Ben!
Puffin has returned! Welcome back, sir!
super informative, actually
Been considering tabling for a while now but I didn't know if it was worth it
Use to do this type of stuff years ago. The is how I feel about it. If you only do it a few con's a year it is mostly about make the money back for the booth. The other perks make it worth the work. If you are doing it for 25 con's a year then the profit is much more important.
That was really helpful. I have these D&D spell cards that reduce the paragraphs to bullet points, organize the info, beautiful art that shows you inventive ways to use the spell, great for young adventures and for just staying in character (*cough* Critical Cards *cough*), and...
it has been a huge, NOT profitable business venture.
They're great. People love them. But do I sink even more money into going to Cons and paying for a booth?? Do I pay for a famous UA-camr to mention them for 1000-3000 dollars?!
Truly, truly helpful. Thank you so much!
Hey Puffin! I'm a fellow con exhibitor (generally more RPG-focused conventions), and I've found that probably the best deal we've ever offered was a Buy 2 Get 1 free deal (whatever the cheapest of the three is free, obviously. You can't get 2 $1 items and expect to get a $40 item for free)). We find that if someone was going to buy just 1 item anyway, they see that they can now get 2 for the price of 1, so quite frequently they'll get 3 items. We sell our products wholesale to game stores and distributors at up to a 60% discount and make a slight profit, so this deal is at best a 33% discount and we move probably about twice as much product as we would otherwise. Not everyone utilizes the B2G1, and even those that do don't use it to its full potential (2 $20 items and a free $5 item, for instance). Our sales got a huge boost from this deal and our customers are happy to get more stuff for cheap. Everyone wins!
We missed you Ben! Thanks for the upload!
OMG Puffin! I went to AX, and if I knew you were selling stuff (and I paid attention to the Artists Alley), then I would have eagerly bought a t-shirt and a keychain (and asked to sign my DnD book). I'm gonna pay attention to the Artists Alley next AX.
Half a second into the video and Puffin has already made us scream with joy.
i honestly never considered the fact that a lot of those folks were Artists.
I just dropped like a hundred plus bucks before i even had a job on (high quality) unofficial fanart made by some rando artists that i apperantly thought good enough to warrant actual cash.
makes me smile knowing i helped support artists. :) thx mate
Wow, thanks for the insight on running a booth! I feel like there isn't enough first-hand advice out there for people that have never done it before. I plan on doing an art booth in the near future so the info about "discounts" is pretty useful, even though it didn't sound like a good idea to me. Art isn't milk, lol!
The mtg colour symbols look fantastic. Does she only sell them as stickers or could they be done as coasters?
Always nice to learn something
I really appreciate this. Been thinking of going into the circuit for a while now, and have always been debating whether it is worth it. Still not sure... never had that powerful drive to make it happen, or someone competent enough by my side to help me make it happen.
T-Shirts are such a weird selling merch item. Back when I worked cons, sometimes T-Shirts would be your best seller by far and other times you'd be lucky to shift any at all.
In the end, we used to put shirts in "lucky dip" bags to drive up the value we could claim for the bag as the justification to keep selling them but they were such a weird and inconsistent product in terms of sales that didn't appear to have a discernable pattern
As someone who is just starting out doing Artist Alley at cons, this is very informative. Thank you!
Also I am NEVER returning to AX.
For the shirts, the key isn't in your initial order, it's in your replenishment. This does mean you are potentially suffering a short term loss, but after a handful of events the rate of sale will clarify and you will be able to operate more lean. Fail forward! That's how you win.
Now that you said size issues when selling tshirts and prints are more popular, it sounds logical to sell just iron-on prints. 🤔
Those don’t last particularly long, though.
I love your 7 min stealth ad! Do you guys have an online store link? I love your girl friends cute art!
As someone who's been going to cons since I was a kid (started in '05 at Acen) I appreciate the insight into the life of the dealer at the convention and breakdown in profits & such here.
Also I always assumed the last minutes deals on Sunday were just so folks wouldn't have to carry stuff back but funds are pretty tight towards the end of the weekend usually unless I've been waiting until Sunday to buy things in the first place 😅
I understand now why booths sell what they do, but honestly the only merch I ever look for is mouse pads and t shirts because they're things I'd actually use every day and not just put on a shelf for a few years then throw in the trash.
I went to Anime Boston twice. The first year was fun but the second year the novelty had worn off and I only stayed one year.
As someone who went to Anime Boston Multiple times I sadly have to agree with this like for me 2011 was my first time and it was fantastic. Than I went back like 2014 and a few other times after that and it started getting boring. And I hate to say it but I hope other cons are not like this.
@@ryanadams0922I went to AB 2009, 2010, and 2011, but have never had the time or money to go back since. That being said, as much as I wish I could recapture the feeling of being in my late teens/early 20's going to a con, I don't think it would be nearly as enjoyable now that I'm in my 30's
This was very informative. As someone who enjoys hitting up the artist alley every time it's cool to see all the moving numbers. I'll try to pick up more bulky stuff to insensitive diversity
*incentivize
Sorry, it took me a moment to understand your sentence. ^^
I love that my notification for this was “what it’s like to run” 😂
I can only recommend business cards to your online store. Yes, the snap decision to buy a cute shirt isn't made in the booth itself, but the online store can make them to order and only in the sizes that are already sold.
Omg I’ve been going to anime expo since I was a child but I don’t think I saw your booth, I’ll definitely be on the look out in the future
The major issue with prints is fan art sells WAY better than anything else. BUT all fan art is technically copyright infringement and if the owners want to they can slap you with a seise and dissist or just TAKE your profits or even sue you if they want to. And I know, tons of artists at cons do exactly this without issue every year, but remember, the original owners can crack down any time they choose and be legally in the right
Love the content Ben and this is a great insight on a con booth experience! I do have a suggestion, or maybe just a question... A sugguestion? on this topic, you mentioned that you had to go get extra prints during the convention and that space is a factor even bringing up that mouse pads take up the same space as a stack of prints, so why not order the prints from a print shop in the con's city and then pick them up when you arrive to make more room for harder to produce merch? I mean I know prints don't take a ton of space but it could still mean you can bring more of the charms or something else with you. Only thing I guess I could see being a benefit to bringing them is to check quality of the prints prior which IS important too.
Is there an etsy or something to link? I liked those designs and also play MtG.
those magic stickers where so cute and i want to buy so many of them and put them on all my deck boxes
I often find price to be the most compelling reason on whether the wife and I buy prints/stickers/etc. When we go to the large conventions(C2E2, Comic cons, etc), we buy a lot of prints and other things from the artist alley area. Hundreds of dollars worth, and there are a lot of times we will see a print we really like but the artist wants a lot of money for it, or they are doing Buy 2, Get 1 free, and they don't have a wide enough selection that we want three prints. Very rarely do we really have to have one specific print, but at the same time if someone is reasonably priced and they have like 8 prints in a genre we like, we will buy all 8 prints.
Another factor in having a booth is which type of convention it is. Anime con-goers are more likely to purchase quickly if they find something they like as some items are hard to get in the US and if you don't grab it when you see it, there may not be a second one. Furry people are willing to spend a lot on artists if they can find or have made what they are really searching for. A lot of sci-fi/fantasy artists survived the last economic downturn because of the dedication of furries in supporting the artist community. That said, they are often looking for specific characters or poses which is hard to match without print on demand ability. Gamer cons tend to have people shop carefully, then drop cash on the perfect item or set of items. First day sales may be anemic, but climb as the weekend progresses. So it's important to stay relaxed and just be chill and converse with them. Hope this helps some!
Decades ago I was talking to a tailor who earn her money making robes and mantles for Catholic Churches. She also had a side business on her sewing. We were talking about honest pricing hand crafts and she had this formula.
1. Price of Raw material * 10 percent
2. 10 percent tool replacement cost. So that leather stamp you use to punch “A” into the belt is 25 cents.
3. Your expect hourly wage * hours to make the product.
4. Total price of tools used and tossed. This would be like sponges, needles, dye, etc.
5. Total of 1 to 4.
6. Multiply 5 by 2.
End of Formula.
Tshirts are a gripe item for vendors. Either everyone is selling them. Or the size problem you mentioned. But if you going to do this as business. The total price to, at, and from the con is a business expense. Good luck.
Wait is Courtney the Gouda Thyme player because that’s amazing
Well dang, I would have gone if I knew you were at AX!
Retitling this "Puffin Learned Capitalism". Seriously though good on you guys for running a successful booth.
I wonder if having some items (especially the Magic ones) on display would be useful. Perhaps having a sign to indicate that a certain section of the table is for MTG products, and some deck boxes sporting the mana stickers to show how they could be used.
It's a nice way to learn marketing principles, nice and cute way to learn.
It is nice too that you don't hide any "mistakes" but present them in a funny way. 😁
By the way, you should try playing FIASCO with yiur friends.
There is a 50/50 chance that it may not be a good experience, BUT if it sparkles on your friends it will leave you with stories as good as abserd
Everyone's different, but if I'm at a con for the weekend and something I like but don't love is on sale on Sunday, I'm more likely to buy it. If the info is at all useful, I mostly buy prints. (This is due to space concerns in my own home and the fact that I hate dusting and clutter.)
Aw we finally get to see Puffin's girl. Actually I had no idea he had a girl. Well either way she's adorbs.
Hey Ben as an economist you may also need to factor in depletion of con go-ers budget as the con goes on. Say, day 4 X% of Con attendees may have spent almost all of their available funds leaving you far fewer potential customers to take advantage of your sales. You may want to offer your discount sale on Day 3, especially if most booths focus on Day 4 discounts
I'm a green white MTG player, so I loved the derpy green!
Would love to see you do a booth at megacon in orlando. Would be awesome to meet you. Love your content. Keep up the great work. 😊
Okay, I need that Dim Sum Seals print... why you no offer this to us, your adoring fan base? Seriously though, I totally want merch now... this is where your t-shirt market can take off...
As a magic player, those color stickers sounds super fun. Are they still available by a chance? I bet a few of your local TCG stores might be interested! Please lmk if you have an email available if you’d like to discuss them?
This has been Ben’s TED talk about business management.
Wow, a puffin forest video about numbers and money, the accountant in me is super happy.