Comment

Comment by korruptus on December 23, 2011 at 5:32am

for a trade show, bring yourself a fan. i went to a show here in orlando in march or april of last year and the fan was a life saver. your show is in february, but check the weather, some tarp is essential here in florida. pop up rain storms could ruin everything. (the show i was at was a rain or shine thing)

Comment by Jim Olean (JimO) on December 23, 2011 at 1:49am

Hal;  credit card processing is a must.  Watch out for the phone app ones. You want to make sure the card is PCI compliant. There is litigation in the works by VISA AND MC and maybe others because of the insecure nature of these services.  Its better that you don't have to handle the CC #'s and give a receipt on the spot.  I use a wireless point of sale terminal.  Swipe the card, customer signs, print receipt and its in the bank. The big plus is the money in the bank. If you need, I can send you a link to the person who set you up.  One thing you don't want to do is go through your local bank. The act as a middle man for Merchant accounts.  Hope this has helped some.

Comment by Habanera Hal on December 23, 2011 at 1:31am

One of the things I'd like to discuss is preperation for a show.  What supplies do you bring with you?  As I'm about to do my first craft fair in February, I'm thinking I will need:

Sale Items:

     Minimum 18 - 24 assorted guitars, ukes

     6-10 amplifiers (the fair I've signed up for doesn't supply elecricity, so the battery amps will be great!

     Extra batteries

     Straps

     Slides

 

Support Items to bring:

     Canopy

     Couple of chairs

     Display racks (I'm making some out of PVC)

     A cigar box to hold the hundreds of thousands of dollars I'm going to make.

 

What am I forgetting?  What service do you use to process credit cards? (I started a business bank account that offers it but it's very high  for someone who's just starting.)  Do you accept checks?

And very importantly - how do you set your pricing?  I know what I have in each item in materials cost, but how do you value your craftsmanship and time invested?  Should I just try to sell a lot at low prices, or hold out for what I believe they're really worth and sell maybe only a few (if any).

Comment by mike anderson Blues Box Guitars on December 18, 2011 at 7:22am

hang out near the local college, the coffee shop owners will usually let you set up a tailgate sale in thier lot. students love spending thier parents money!

Comment by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on December 17, 2011 at 11:39am

Hal, e-mail me with an idea of what size you want and what you have for artwork, we can make the graphics if you don't have something already, just need to know what you want it to say and look like. Then I can give you a price, I will try to be nice. : )   michael@squierdesign.com  my e-mail

Comment by Habanera Hal on December 17, 2011 at 11:04am

Great ideas and insights, everyone!  Keep 'em coming!

Micheal, what can you do for me on a booth banner?  What do you need for artwork?

Cigar shops are a good obvious idea - I just keep forgetting to bring a CBG with me when I go on a box run.  Now that it's a bit cooler here in SoFla, I don't have to worry so much about keeping one in the hot trunk.

Never thought about an art gallery - great idea!  I missed the los Olas Art Fair this year but will keep it in mind and search out other art venues.

There is a local Bluegrass Festival every month here but they don't allow vendor booths.  I may try to sneak a CBG in on my back and hand out business cards and flyers if they allow that.

One thing I know I have to do is learn to play much better than I do.  Right now I can just pick out a few songs, don't really know any chord progressions.  I just sitting in a butterfly chair for two days will give me plenty of practice time!

Comment by jabes on December 17, 2011 at 7:01am

i live in a small town(3,000 ish) we have a small art gallery that gets a lot of visitors in the summer, the couple that run it are keen for me to exibit half a dozen  or so guits (with prices) when the season starts, could be an 'earner...better get moving i'm a slow builder...good luck everone.

as snapshot says -the look good as wall art too

Comment by Jim Olean (JimO) on December 17, 2011 at 1:50am

Hal; JimO here.   I am new to CBG and am just getting my building process down so my pile of CBG hasn't happened yet.   I do make a line of percussion instruments and have been doing art and craft fairs for a couple of years. I will soon be adding CBG when my inventory increases.  Once you have your set up cost outlay,  its just the cost of the fair itself.  I have had some luck selling on my web site but only after someone has seen or heard my product at a fair or in person.  For me it works best face to face and word of mouth.  I use a 12v car battery for my lighting and a amp from Radio Shack, that runs on AC or 12V, to play my MP3 through and soon CBG. I also have an inverter in case my CC machine needs charging.   I have only lost money on one show so far because of weather.  Some shows are ok, and some are great, so it seems to balance out, and I always meet new friends. 

Comment by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on December 15, 2011 at 4:23pm

I can supply you with a great banner, check it out here. Its my day job.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/Squier?section_id=5612967

Comment by SlowHound on December 15, 2011 at 2:37pm

The last few I just told them to come here. I'll tell them what strings are on it, a quick how to tune and play a simple diddy.

There's a few member videos I like to share with them. Nice tunes that are easy to follow and you can see what they're playing.

Roadkill has a good one. Keni Lee's been a great help lately as well.

BeetleJuice's "what a 3 string can do for you" is always a must as well. i just like that one.

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