We have a bi-annual Gem and Mineral Show in Salem VA that is great... the
vendors are carefully monitored and most of the stuff is quality. Of course
the display table costs $600 for the weekend, so that kind of deletes the
cheapos. Plus the members of the local gem and mineral club are on hand to
monitor things.

On the other hand, most of the craft shows I've been to either have the
cheapo stuff made overseas, or crafters who don't realize what their wares
are worth and sell them too cheaply. I quit vending at those, it just wasn't
worth the time, effort and expense to try.

--
Karleen Cole
Member International Jewelry Designers Guild (IJDG)
Vibrant Jewels web sto http://www.vibrantjewels.com/jewelry/welcome.htm
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"midi73" wrote in message
...
Hi Sterling;
Yes, I can totally understand what you're saying. It gets
discouraging but the people who run the shows don't really care one
way or another it seems as long as they get the spaces filled so they
can pay the building rent and make a profit.

Like the poor quality items that come in from other countries for
cheap prices, this type of "craft show" does little for an artist who
puts heart and soul into her/his craft in any venue including fiber
arts. It's sad. Unfortunately we only have one show here that I've
found that tried to have only handmade items. It went very well for
all vendors and the people were a totally different crowd who
appreciated the time and effort.

We only had one lady that time who tried to bargin and made nasty
remarks about one vendors things (which were very nice things by the
way) Finally the vendor just said, Excuse me Mam, but this is NOT a
garage sale where you can bargin...

Most people look at my stuff in a craft show and say, "Wow that's
pretty" or "Gee I wish I could afford that-it's beautiful" or "Oh my
God, how do you DO that ??" and then walk away or buy a $2-5 item.
Mostly, as I said, people buy very cheap stuff and this is not just
the economy--I've noticed it for years. The only time I didn't was at
a bead show in Sisters Oregon and people really understood the quality
and I sold a LOT. It was the ONLY reason I'm still doing this. At
least it let me know that what I was doing was not bad...

So......I understand where you're coming from... ;-) Sylvia
===========================================
Thanks for letting me rant,

Sterling