Hey baby, let's go to Vegas!

Excited to announce that my next show will be at ACRE Las Vegas!  You read about my time at the ACRE Orlando show in January, so get ready to hear about Las Vegas!  (Yes, I swear to you I am going for business purposes.)  The show runs from June 5 to June 7.  If you are a wholesale customer and interested in hearing more about the ACRE show, or to get on my wholesale customer mailing list, drop me an email to kmsdesigns@hotmail.com. 

Look for more posts between now and June about getting ready for the show!

American Craft Retailers Expo ACRE - Orlando, Florida

I'm only a little over two weeks away from attending the wholesale ACRE show in Orlando, Florida.  While I'm still getting some new resin jewelry inventory ready, I started getting my booth planned and mapped out.

Since this is my first time doing the show, I qualified for an "emerging artist" booth.  Even though I have been creating and selling art jewelry since 2001, I only jumped into wholesale a little more than a year ago.  The show is indoors at the Orange County Convention center.  I only have a 10' by 5' booth space (when I do outdoor festivals I have a 10' x 10' space), but the booth comes with almost everything I need.  It will have a counter height table with skirt, chair, cross bar high in the front of the booth (I'll get why that's important) and a trashcan.  Only the first timers get these amenities.  The repeat vendor artists get a larger space, but have to rent these items or bring their own.  (Note to self:  pay attention to what the seasoned attendees do)  I'm grateful the show management took it upon themselves to go ahead and outfit the newbies with these items.  It's a lot less that I have to worry about, and it lets me concentrate on getting the jewelry and supporting materials together.

So as for the booth itself, I will be taking jewelry display materials and signage.  It will look very similar to my art show booth, except I won't need the glass cases.  There aren't near as many people that attend these events, so watching people is usually a lot easier (at least that's what I've been told).  I have also attended wholesale shows as a buyer, not a seller, and I must admit that there is a large mutual trust to leave valuable merchandise within easy viewing and reach.  I have been told by several people that theft is unusual as there is a mutual respect amongst business owners.  Too bad I can't say the same about the art festivals.  (That's another blog post....but let's just say that unfortunately, too much jewelry "sprouts legs" when it's not under glass)

Since it's an indoor show, I need extra lighting.  A few years ago, I bought the art equipment of a jewelry artist I knew who was getting out of the business.  As luck would have it, she sold me her track lighting setup just for cases like this.  It's a long piece with three lights.  I will be attaching this to the extra cross bar across the front of my booth.  I held by breath as I plugged it in, but found out that two of the three lights work.  I'll be getting a replacement for the third one this week (hoping of course that it is only a burned out light bulb).

Friday's project is to get my office supplies and signage ready for potential buyers.

Wholesale Art Jewelry - Jewelry for sale wholesale

In a post I wrote last week discussing the jewelry projects I'm working on now, I briefly mentioned that I was working towards selling more jewelry wholesale.  As promised, here is a little more information about what I'm planning.

In a nutshell, selling wholesale involves a retail customer buying a large quantity of product at a discounted price.  That retail establishment then sells it for their retail price.  Since I am not doing art shows and festivals much anymore, I began trying to sell my jewelry wholesale in the fall of 2009.

Why would I want to do this?

While I do sell some jewelry on the internet, I do not sell as much as I used to when doing art shows.  Many people who buy from me online have met me at a show or have experience with my jewelry (received as a gift, taken one of my classes, etc.).  While the internet is great for making new connections, it doesn't take away the concerns some people have about buying something without having the chance to "taste it" first.  Selling my jewelry wholesale would allow me to have a better nationwide exposure for customers, especially those who want to "experience" the jewelry before buying it.

Wholesale also allows me to work with the same number of people, but sell more jewelry.  I love interacting with retail customers.  I really do.  But with three small children in my house, my opportunities to have uninterrupted business time can be a bit slim.  Believe it or not, it takes almost the same amount of time to interact with a customer over the phone wanting one pendant (and subsequent packing and shipping) as it does to speak with a boutique owner about a large order and its packaging and shipping.  Dealing wholesale allows me to maximize the amount of jewelry sold for the least amount of time.

If this wholesale thing is so great, why don't all artists do it?

There is a HUGE commitment to producing a certain amount of inventory.  There is no way I could have done this a few years ago.  I have learned to work smarter on the business side of jewelry making and have found a way to have a few of the tasks completed by my very qualified assistant (who also doubles as a great babysitter.) 

I also have to accept that my profit margin per piece drops substantially.  With my one of a kind sterling silver semi precious stone jewelry pieces, I would have needed a high wholesale price to cover my time investment in the piece.  The retail shops, in turn, would have had to charge a very high price for the finished piece.  The price would have been much higher than what I would have sold the jewelry for at an art show.

I am getting ready for my first wholesale show event at the ACRE Orlando show in January 2011.  I will be blogging about it a bit over the next couple of weeks as I get ready and will have some pictures of the show as well. (If you own a retail establishment and would like to speak with me about carrying my jewelry, please contact me about my wholesale terms.)