One thing that I learned during my first time of ever being a vendor last month was how important is how we display our goods. At the Festival of Lights in Greenbelt, the Community Center supplied the tables, but they required that vendors supplied the table clothes to cover the tables, and all legs of the table had to be covered. As a consumer I never paid that much attention of how goods were displayed, but as a vendor I realized how important it is, and how when I was buying, presentation did in fact impact me whether I knew or not.
I realized that having a table cloth gave the table a nice clean look. The Community Center gave my group one and one or two other vendors in the room we were in. I met author and screenwriter Nicole Burton and she had a table runner on her table with her name on it and it looked very professional. I asked Nicole how she got it done and she said she found a company on the Internet and it cost a couple of hundred dollars.
I was planning to do what Nicole had done, but I wasn't sure if it was wise at this point to invest a couple of hundred dollars on a table runner. My mother suggested that I get some table clothes from JC Penney on sale after the holidays. I thought it was a good idea and if my card making takes off, I could always invest the money for a table runner with my name on it.
Today, in Waldorf we went to the mall. Macy's, Kohl's, and JC Penny all had great sells, but very little stock. I was able to get the following items at JC Penney:
3 oblong table clothes 60' x 102' original price $49.99 on sale for $12.41
2 Table runners with beads original price $39.99 on sale for $5.95
1 Table runner (multi colored) original price $29.99 on sale for $4.46
We then stopped at Kohl's and mom got two table clothes for home. Being the end of the holiday season, there were not a lot of choices left, but I managed to get gold and red table clothes with white beaded table runners. So for an investment of about $55.00 I have taken the first steps to improving my presentation.
It is important that we as crafters and artist keep our expenses down, so we can price our goods at a fair price and hopefully break even and if things really go well, make a profit.
If you have any price saving ideas please feel free to post them on this blog. Take care!
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