Tips for next year's DO tables~

By **Tamoo**. 02/08/10, 05:37 am

Make sure your phone charms are able to fit through the loop. HAHAHA.

Oh and to make sure laminated charms are more durable, maybe you should cut the character first, then laminate, then cut again to leave at least 5 mm of laminated space. Durp.

*pets poor souji key charm* I can't attach it to my phone haha. \o/

Edit: Oho. I just did. Souji is now all squashed though. And the lamination now has bubbles and the paper has been creased >: OHWELL.

By Suixelo. 02/08/10, 06:04 am

I got a Chocobo charm which is really thickly laminated and won't bend at all. EVERYONE SHOULD DO THIS. Or at least make sure there are no feet/appendages which are thin and prone to getting caught and bending. My Cirno one from Yuki (ily~) has a leg hanging down which is now all bent =/

Also please label prices CLEARLY. I do not want to have to ask how much something is, it puts me off buying because you could be making up prices depending on who asks.

By **JVCA**. 02/08/10, 06:38 am

The prices thing was a big one for me - there were a few tables I liked the art at, but didn't bother looking properly because no prices were shown, or weren't shown clearly.

Also~! It's awesome fun to be hanging with your friends at your table, but if someone is waiting there wanting to give you money, it's probably a good idea to pay attention to them instead of your tablemates. I was kept waiting five minutes at one table while the girl selling the art ignored me and chatted to her tablemates. B| I almost walked off - I would have very shortly after she finally decided to pay attention to me.

If you are going to make people wait for you to finish your conversation, apologise and then be equally as chatty with them as you were with your friends in order to redeem yourself. Otherwise you're going to make your customers quite bitter. (Case in point.)

By **jpwise**. 02/08/10, 09:42 am

Double laminating is a good idea. You can pick up the ID card size laminate sleeves pretty cheap, you just need to make sure you put them in a cardboard/paper sleeve when you laminate them so they don't get rolled into the laminator instead of going through. Laminate once and cut to size, then laminate again and cut with some excess around the edges. :)

By Rolly. 02/08/10, 11:47 am

Also, pricing - some tables had art priced way cheaper than what they were actually worth/average market price. Even more so when the print was laminated etc as well, and was going for under $10 dollars.
However, I suspect those were first-timers and were not sure if they had priced their art right, and is scared of scaring off customers if they do price it too high..... and the sort.

Given that you first timers will have more experience next year if you do decide to return, maybe a little market research beforehand would come to your advantage? ;)

I also found that this year price tags were less visible and not even there at all. Repeat JVCA's point about this. :)

By Sangcoon. 02/08/10, 03:26 pm

Seems like my business studies classes could actually come in handy e__e

Derp. Noobface me shall hopefully not be nooby next time round.

By DeltaBeta. 03/08/10, 02:45 am

Tammy wrote:: Oh and to make sure laminated charms are more durable, maybe you should cut the character first, then laminate, then cut again to leave at least 5 mm of laminated space. Durp.

I did that for my pseudo-keychain-thing. THAT TAKES ALOT OF EFFORT GODDARN IT.

And my prices were on cardboard display stands! You must be blind to not see them!

By **jpwise**. 03/08/10, 03:23 am

DeltaBeta wrote:: I did that for my pseudo-keychain-thing. THAT TAKES ALOT OF EFFORT GODDARN IT.

And my prices were on cardboard display stands! You must be blind to not see them!

*makes irritated mod noises* Not all stands had prices on display, if you did awesome, and I'm sure people did see them, but for the stands that didn't have prices on display, blind or not, they're a bit hard to see if they're not there.

By **Tamoo**. 03/08/10, 04:34 am

DeltaBeta wrote:

Tammy wrote:: Oh and to make sure laminated charms are more durable, maybe you should cut the character first, then laminate, then cut again to leave at least 5 mm of laminated space. Durp.

I did that for my pseudo-keychain-thing. THAT TAKES ALOT OF EFFORT GODDARN IT.

And my prices were on cardboard display stands! You must be blind to not see them!

Dear, as Jp said, if you did - AWESOME! Thats good!
We're not complaining, we're just giving some up-points for people who can make things better for their consumers! C:

As a past table artist and as a customer, I am taking the experience and trying to get my points across.
In business, the customer is always right since they are the one who is providing you with the money. So don't feel offended. And if you do - See that bridge? Yeah? Get over it. <:

For the first timers for next year: Sure it'll seem scary - but don't be~ Ask an experience DO tabler for tips and advice, and take heed~!

Another tip. Do deals e.g - 3 keychains for only $5 (if each keychain costed $2) Or make them interesting - e.g. I'll eat my shoe if you buy something! (but don't take me seriously)
Last year I told people I'll imitate pikachu if they bought a keychain 8D

By Xephia. 03/08/10, 05:14 am

Someone double sided their charms, which was pretty awesome. I would have been twice as likely to buy a double-sided, double laminated charm, and would have paid twice the price c:

Rolly wrote:: Also, pricing - some tables had art priced way cheaper than what they were actually worth/average market price.

Some people got better deals on printing (ie, for some it only cost them 50c - $1 to print each A3 poster, and for others it cost them $5), but were still making 500-1000% prophet even if they were only selling prints for $5-$10, which might explain some of the underpricing?

By Static. 03/08/10, 08:46 am

Xephia wrote:

Someone double sided their charms, which was pretty awesome. I would have been twice as likely to buy a double-sided, double laminated charm, and would have paid twice the price c:

Rolly wrote:: Also, pricing - some tables had art priced way cheaper than what they were actually worth/average market price.

Some people got better deals on printing (ie, for some it only cost them 50c - $1 to print each A3 poster, and for others it cost them $5), but were still making 500-1000% prophet even if they were only selling prints for $5-$10, which might explain some of the underpricing?

Yes, but that doesn't reflect the time that went into actually producing the artwork in the first place! Razz

I third (fourth, fifth, whatever) the displaying of prices. It's a little awkward if someone's in a conversation and too busy to ask, and for me, I tend to just leave rather than interrupt to ask a price.

By sakkaf. 03/08/10, 12:26 pm

*First timer*

I was taking my price samples from a person last year, and most first timers don't know how to price their work.

Keychains are nice, but some of the veteran DO artists were complaining that there were only three things = prints, keychains, bookmarks. There is a suggestion thread at the GNC Forums here: http://www.graphicnovelcafe.co.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2422&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

For me since I cut it close, I HAD to sell posters only. *sweatdrop*

By vefalasiel. 23/03/11, 11:24 am

I couldn't give my artwork away for free...really. I was bummed about it last year.

It really put me off doing it again this year, especially now that the tables cost more...I barely got return on my table last year, how will I do it this year?

Should I get one guys? Would you buy things like this www.vefalasiel.deviantart.com

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