I eluded to this earlier. Everyone wants to get rich off of your hard work. You get the raw materials. You create something from the raw materials. A tent and display is bought and set up every time you wish to sell your product. So where does 30% go every time, and right off the top. This 30% is a figure that was arrived at by 5 years of averaging. And more times than not this figure is higher. This amount comes off of your gross sales amount and not your profit.
We have always figured that a good show for us is a $500.00 a day average. A three day show would be a $1500.00 in gross sales. That is a figure we would be happy with. It doesn’t happen that way often enough, but it does happen. If the yearly average worked out to this $500.00 per day average we would be very happy. We have come very close, but never hit it as yet. This a lot more information than I wanted to give out, but what the hell. That 30% is $150.00 per day of our goal if we hit it.
This 30% is not the cost of wood, or display, or tent, or gas, but everyone else’s god given right to have part of you. I wouldn’t make such a big deal out of this if they didn’t raise their fees without notice, but your customer screams bloody murder if you hold firm on your prices. This 30% is the combination of promoters and credit card company fees. If you sell wholesale, you can get rid of this 30% right off of the top. Do you see where this is going. One of you thought “wholesale” was a dirty word.
Credit card companies want 5% on average. Many charge less in the beginning, but add on other fees at billing time. So, if you buy a $100.00 box from me 5% of the price goes to someone who had nothing to do with the producing of it. That is of course if you use a credit card. Another dirty little secret is if you have a rewards card, guess who gets billed for your reward? Please do not use a rewards card at an arts and crafts show. These fees are necessary evils I’m afraid. Remember I mentioned “tourists” and what a large part of my sales they are. They carry credit cards for emergences. Their unexpected purchase in my booth just became an emergency to them. Is this a great country or what?
We could have gone into this much deeper, but this is not a book and I’m not making any money on it. I do have another bowl to turn.
-- Odie, Confucius say, "He who laughs at one's self is BUTT of joke". https://woodstermangotwood.blogspot.com/ (my funny blog)
3 comments so far
Karson
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35300 posts in 5859 days
#1 posted 01-17-2008 12:35 AM
Great Ideas Odie.
Now back to shavings.
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Appomattox Virginia [email protected] †
Matt (Upper Cut)
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264 posts in 5272 days
#2 posted 01-17-2008 02:07 AM
You forgot the other 30% that is taken, again by everyone else that wants a piece of you. Federal Taxes.
Yup, that’s right. To some thethe tax system as a “redistribution system” to take your hard earned scratch. While you’re working hard in your shop (or at the arts & crafts show), someone else is sitting on their butt waiting for your money to be redistributed to them by the gov’t .
If someone walked up to you on the street and demanded 30% of all the money you had in your wallet (or your bank accounts), that would be robbery. But people use the gov’t to do this to you every day.
-Matt
So, your $1500 for three days is even smaller than you may think.
-- Matt Gradwohl, Upper Cut Woodworks, http://uppercutwoodworks.com/
MsDebbieP
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18619 posts in 5620 days
#3 posted 01-18-2008 05:15 PM
ouch :(
I’ll take cash with me next time I visit a craft show
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (https://www.facebook.com/DebbiePribele, Young Living Wellness )
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