“Newbie” Shares on Her Experiences at Wholesale Trade Show

Newbie show exhibitor (but experiences professional crafter/artisan), Kristen Stein, recently conducted a booth at the Buyers Market of American Crafters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

She shares her experiences in a five part series of posts on her blog, A Painting Day with Kristen Stein.

If you are interested in learning the ins and outs from a ‘newbies’ perspective, read Kristen’s informative posts listed below:

Part 1: Deciding to do the BMAC Show

“So, as I was looking through Arts/Craft Show application deadlines online, I found the application for the “Buyer’s Market of American Craft” (BMAC) at the Philadelphia Convention Center. The jury fee was $10.00 and I decided to apply along with several other applications that I was submitting. The show dates were February 12, 2010 thru February 15, 2010. The date of my application: January 13, 2010!!! One month before the show. YIKES!!” … more

Part 2 : My initial Questions.

As soon as I knew I was attending the Buyer’s Market of American Craft (BMAC), I wrote a couple of notes to Wendy Rosen. She’s an amazing woman and a terrific advocate for the artist. She is the founder of the Rosen Group and the Buyer’s Market of American Craft. She immediately suggested requesting a mentor for the show and with Laura Bamburak’s help I was assigned two veteran BMAC sellers who were available to answer any additional questions that I might have. (I really didn’t use the mentors before the show, but I was thrilled to have one of the mentors visit my booth regularly during the show to check in and answer any questions I might have.)” …. more

Part 3: Defining terms, writing orders, and other things I needed to know.

  • Order forms/ contracts (in duplicate)
  • Define your terms
  • Pricing
  • Other things to have in your booth …. more

Part 4: Other ‘notables’ and observations

“I didn’t apply early enough to get a lot of advance mailers and/or advertising spots purchased to let the buyers know I was coming. But, as soon as I was aware of my booth number, I did let folks know via email, twitter, and my blog that I would be attending the event. Brochures and stickers were provided by BMAC. I put my booth number on the stickers and applied these to my postcards. That way, buyers were sure to know at what booth they saw me. (It can get confusing in such a large place!)” … more

Part 5: Pictures from February 2010 BMAC and additional advice from ‘those in the know’

“I’m excited to let folks know that we had a great response to yesterday’s 4-part post about “Surviving my First Wholesale Show”. I received emails from several people asking if the posts could be cross-referenced on their blogs. Information from the posts will be included on  … the Rosen Group’s Wholesale Matters Blog on the AmericanCraft.com site.” ...more

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