Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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sally_in_wales
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How many shows is too many?Just been approached by a big pet show wanting us to book a stall for our Plague Rats for the end of November, and I'm all in a dither about whether another show at that end of the year is wise or not.
At the moment I'm pretty sure I'm going to be doing the major cat show again on November 20th, thats at the NEC and did well for us last year.
This new one is at Peterborough on the 27 & 28 of November, so would mean an overnight stop somewhere, and is going to cost £240 +vat for a 2 x 1.5m stall. It seems a little on the expensive side to me, but then it is for two days and its multi types of pets rather than just cats, so even though we'll sell just cat toys at this one we'll see a wider cross section of buyers potentially.
The following week, I'm due to be away from the thursday at a Medieval Christmas Market. That will have me away for four days I think, then when I get back I would expect to be filling the last of the online orders for Christmas before things quiet down in the following week .
All three of these have probably the highest pitch fees I'm looking at all year and are a fair haul away. On the other hand, its a good time of year for sales as long as I can make enough stock in advance and keep my energy levels up for the duration.
Any insights on cramming in as many shows as possible at that end of the year? I fully appreciate that an outlay on stalls is essential to reach a wide market, but I don't want to risk overstretching us either.
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jema
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How many rats would you need to sell to *really* make it worthwhile?
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Brownbear
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Outsource the making of them. There must be hundreds of thousands of people in the country with a sewing machine, time, and a need for money. Someone else will take the market if you don't supply the demand - don't risk creating a market and handing it to someone else.
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marigold
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If in doubt, don't. Practise saying "no" to some things  . Doing two things well is probably better than doing three things so-so-ishly.
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sally_in_wales
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| jema wrote: | | How many rats would you need to sell to *really* make it worthwhile? |
about 400 at that big show I think to make it worthwhile, so 200 a day. Which is probably realistically possible as long as there is a high enough visitor turnover and I have enough stock made well in advance. More would be good of course, but that would be ok as a basic target to cover all the costs and provide a wage for those days.
I can rope in help from a couple of relatives to help with a few weeks of concerted rat assembly over the summer, so that bit should be ok, its really working out whether I'm likely to sell enough above the target to justify the stall costs and travel.
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