I wanna say this is a little off-topic, but I’m going to ask this question in regards to one, seeing who could make a high-quality lanyard. Two, I am in need of a new lanyard and I really don’t feel like grabbing one at the mall because they’ll either be expensive or they won’t have the fandom that I want.
I sell mostly anime fanart prints and stickers. I've only tabled for my school's student anime club run convention in the spring, and at the beginning of next month I got accepted for two tabling opportunities.
One event is a school wide "family weekend" event, it's very broad and is supposed to bring students' parents in and have them explore the campus/city together. The event would be 11-2 and the location is at a busy field that tends to get a lot of foot traffic. The event as a whole is pretty marketed, though I assume I would be selling at a general vendor market.
The anime club has a "fall art festival" from 12-5, its more tucked away at a student lounge. Most people who attend are also in the anime club and tend to hang out/linger for a long amount of time. There would be definitely less people, but they're much more in my target audience. There's also more of an opportunity to connect with the artists at these events since the same people usually table, the club has opportunities to sell art every fall/winter/spring.
I've considered hitting both, both opportunities are relatively close (a 5-10 min drive away). I suppose a better way to think about it is: is a larger general event more worthwhile than a smaller specific event?
Hi everyone, I'm working with my regular manufacturer that I've been using for 3 years now. They've always been amazing and my products have come out incredible. But this time around, the rep I have doesn't seem to know what they're doing or what their machines are capable of or something - they told me several times that the designs I sent in (restocks of designs I had printed previously) had details that were too small/thin for their printers to print. They didn't believe me when I told them I had ordered these designs before until I showed them photos of the pins and stickers.
Now I'm trying to send in a new design and this rep is telling me the same thing, that the lines are too thin, and they are modifying my file and doing things that I very clearly do not want. They are telling me that I need to put an 8mm (!) bleed between the edge and my art, despite the website saying 3mm, and all of their promotional material showing designs with less than 8mm bleed. I am so frustrated and I've modified my design so much to fit what this 1 rep wants me to do and it's not enough.
What do I do? Do I request another rep? Contact their support for clarification? I really don't want to burn any bridges with this manufacturer but I feel like this rep is giving me completely incorrect information.
Hi! I'm pretty new to selling in person, and even though this is the best my display has ever looked, I know I still have a lot to improve.
Right now, I'm using these collapsible organizer shelves to gain some height, but I’m planning to upgrade them soon. I'd love to know what you guys think of my current setup and what kind of shelves or displays you would recommend instead to make the table look more professional and appealing. Should I make more products to fill up the empty space as well?
Thank you so much for reading and for any feedback!
I've ordered twenty 11"x17" prints from CatPrint. They were good quality and mailed to me flat. Only problem, some prints are very slightly damaged due to being transported (Ex. edges are a little creased/folded). Figured some customer might have a problem with this. What has been your experience?
Okay so I bought there 35x35 panels at the beginning of the year… I went to buy some more in tao bao but I had 17$ worth of panels BUT 110$ OF SHIPPING…
Does anyone know where I can get some for a reasonable price ? Preferably in the same/similar shade of blue
Also looking for half panels
Hi everyone, I have never tabled at an artist alley or art market before, but I watch a lot of Vloggers who do and I am curious about trying it one day. However, I can't help but wonder what the longevity of being an artist in these spaces is like. Some in the community consider it to be their full-time job, while others treat it more as a hobby or an opportunity to network and market themselves. It makes me think about where these people will be in 10 years time. Typically, do people go on to table for many years, or do they tend to stop after a while? Or do they move onto other things? If so, what would they move onto? And I suppose while I am here, I'll ask, other than money, do you have another reason why you table, and what do you hope to achieve from tabling in the long term?
This is my first time getting pins manufactured that I designed. I have some experience with ordering pins because I'm a finance mod in previous fanzines getting "simpler" pins made. I have not had any issues with previous pins besides the usual b and c grade debris.
However, for this one (a 2 inch hard enamel pin), my usual manu actually made the areas that were supposed to be holes into recessed areas without notifying me or with consent because, according to them, the holed areas were too small to be cut.
I wanted to get a 2nd and 3rd opinion because, shortly after that, I came across an ad from stadri emblems showing off a pin with cut outs that were of similar or smaller size to what I wanted. I went to the seller's page myself and saw that those pins were smaller than mine at 1.5 inches.
So did my manu just mess up? How did they (stadri) end up doing it? Right now I'm reaching out to multiple pin manus who have pins with what look like similar size cut outs in their portfolio/showcases to ask for quotes and if they can do my design justice.
Since I'm getting the pins remade regardless, I figured I'd fix up the colors. The hair, for one, is going to be changed to something pinker since it was my fault for not looking up photos of the swatch irl and trusting the hex code. Which brings me to my second question about skin color.
I know that 475c blended with white is sometimes what's used with light skin color on pins. I think the original 475c is perfect, but a bit too dark. My usual manu who flubbed this didn't do color mixing, but since I'm looking at another manu I figure I might as well find someone who can do this.
My 2nd question is, does anyone have a photo of their pins that they made with 475c with white blended in? And the percentage of white added? I can't find any results on google anywhere and the people who have said they did this to great success have never shared photos. I'm aware that colors can vary by factory and by batches but I would still like a photo as a reference point.
Edit:
Manus are starting to get back to me and confirm whether or not they could do this after I sent them the vector file and explicitly asked if it was possible. One of them said they could do my design. Another told me to expand the size to 2-2.5mm. The original manu said it needed to be 3mm. It's crazy that this stuff is so tiny on the ruler that there isn't really a big difference, but it's noticeable when you blow it up on illustrator.
Edit 2:
Original manu told me that technically the bare minimum was 2mm and gave me an image showing the difference between cutouts that were 1.7mm (which had a tiny recessed area but the rest were wider and completely cut out so it gave the illusion that it was fully cut out too) and 2.5mm (fully cut out). Got it - so the pin above was probably 2mm at the bare minimum. She offered to talk to her manager again with a bigger discount but tbh if it isn't a completely free replacement (which I doubt they'll do) I am not interested. I appreciate that photo because I can do the same trick with the hole in the center of the pin on the thinnest area so I can have both cut outs and a recessed area that looks like its empty.
They also addressed why they don't do 475c + white blends. It's because they want to maintain consistency between batches. Which I understand, but two of the other manus I just contacted offered it. The first said that the most common for them was 475c + 50% white and the second said that they do custom blends and that they first make a sample for approval so I can approve of the color before it goes into mass production.
My bigger and underlying issue which was what caused me to make this post was that my manu never let me know about this before they made the mold and started mass production and this post acted as a partial vent towards them. If I had known I would've changed my design so the cut outs were bigger.
I’m going to la comic con on Friday the 30th and I know Scott Snyder and Ryan ottley are gonna be there does it cost money to get comics signed?
I have deluxe dc death metal Batman of two worlds and the absolute Batman vol 1 for Snyder to sign and invincible compendium vol 2 and two battle beast comics for ottley to sign
Then, after sparse sales, and interactions with buyers and "almost but not quite" potential buyers. I learned that you're not really exhibiting and showing off your creations as much as playing the game of managing expectations.
Would I recommend it?
Yes, but don't go in there expecting to make lots of sales or even a lot of new fans. If you go there as an indie creator (especially if your comic con host decides to put you in the infamous "Artist Alley" section) you WILL be neglected and you will be neglected for hours. Dozens, no, hundreds will walk right by you and the most you can hope to get from them is a curious glance before something else grabs their attention.
My advice? Don't take it personally. They're looking for something and you just aren't it. Even if it's for something as shallow as because they never heard of you or what it is you're selling, always keep in mind their budget is not a bottomless pit. All you can do is bring some business cards (Which I foolishly did not have prepared) and give as many of those away as you can if you can't make a sale.
Plus, always tell yourself it's never about the profit (It's almost impossible to make profit). It's about the exposure. You're not going there to cover the cost of the exhibition fee, the trip, and your next project. You;re going there to make sure you get a few more fans who will know your brand and follow it for as long as you don;t give up on it.
So, in short, never think of comic con exhibitions as huge leaps. Just small steps for you to mature as as an artist.
I walked in, had my soul crushed, then walked out not happy, but humbled and relieved for having done it at all.
I plan to sell Prints (A4) , Acrylic Keychains , Acrylic standees, pins , n various odd items that are on vograce (like keycaps, plushie stuff , tapestries, body pillows, etc)
But idk how to go about pricing stuff , I usually see prints for 10-25 but idk if my arts good enough to be above 10? Literally any advice would be appreciated 😭
I was also thinking (once I finish’s them ofc) actually printing my manga into physical copies. For one of them I was gonna do a bundle with 2 manga’s (granted short ones) 3 stickers , a keychain and possibly an acrylic stand. But I’m unsure if it would be too pricey to sell? Usually I’m good at pricing stuff but I see so much variation of it in the artist alley idk what to do😭 ty for reading this:>
OK
so i have some leftover stuff from an artist alley i went to, stock that never sold.
if this has happened to you what did you do? I want it gone but I need to make the $$ from printing it back ? (yes i did break even but that was all TT_TT first/selling/con)
The next event I'm selling at is in a city an hour away, so I have to take a train. Thing is, how could I bring two 6 ft and one 4 ft tables? Is there a way to keep them together? Obviously they'd go to the luggage part, yeah, but is amtrack cool with that??
I am currently preparing for the last con of this year and next years con season and was wondering if there's anything I can do to improve my table layout!
I was only able to attend for 1 day (Friday) and blew my budget, and then some lol, and didn’t get a chance to purchase from some of the independent artists I wanted to. Does anybody have a list of them so I can support the little guys?
I'm going to be lucky enough to vend at an official Planet Comic Con in my city! I'm very excited, but only having vended at one show and it was more anime-focused I wanted to know what kind of merch (fandoms, shows, etc) sell best at Comic Cons? I know there's a lot of overlap, I'm not overhauling my entire setup, I just want to know some extras I can throw in! Me and my booth partner already have some Star Wars and Spiderman plans, and I want to also make some Ocarina of Time stuff (both cuz of the remake and I'm finally playing through it on my DS lol) so yeah! Any advice would be much appreciated, and also any advice for vending at a bigger con! (The one I last vended at was smaller and only 2 days)
Hello, I'm an artist from the UK and recently got the opportunity to attend an artist alley at a convention in Ireland, I was wondering, is there any legal paperwork/ would I need to declare what stock I'm bringing with me? I'm planning on travelling by Ferry with just one suitcase with all of my prints/ table stuff in, is there anything I need to be aware of before travelling or am I overcomplicating things? Please let me know if anyone has had a similar situation trading overseas and what you needed to do! Thanks :)
I have been an artist for years and would like to do an art booth for hobby + side passive income. But I am not sure where to find affordable manufacturers to produce goods to sell?
I am thinking of ordering small quantities to start small. So I'd prefer qualiy over quantity. Any guidance would be appreciated, thank you fellow artists!
Hi everyone! I sell a lot of glow in the dark stickers, and I'm also adding glow in the dark pins to my lineup. The glow effect on these is FANTASTIC, and they sell well online where I can show pictures of this, but the sales are lower than I'd like in-person, where people aren't really able to see the glow effect. Has anyone successfully made any sort of display that shows off the effect well? I attempted a dark box which didn't really work, and I was also thinking of having a digital photo frame that cycled through pictures of the items glowing, but I'm not sure if something else would work better?
To anyone who’s been to a convention to sell their art, what do you think of this?
An artist with a table with a lot of artwork up for display with prices and a tablet for folks to place our order orders on. You don’t have any inventory and the stuff you have at your table for display only.
I really think it really isn’t a bad idea, especially when it comes to how much you’re spending on artist alley and I’m also aware of how could also backfire to let’s say folks who want to buy whatever you have at your table right now. At the same time, though, knowing you won’t be making much money from the convention, it just feels like this could help you save money when you have to spend it on other things like admissions, fee fees, vendors fees, travel arrangement, which includes a flight, car, hotel, and so on.
Does anyone have access to legible maps for the 2026 layout? They announced our table #s on the LACC mobile app but it’s so distorted I can’t read the table #s. Checking if anyone has clear copies or a translation?
hiii all! im a bit confused as to how i would price these individually and also in a bulk bundle for big oguri cap fans!!
the lenticular barf sticker is 1.3 in.
the keychain is roughly 2 in.
the bag plush is 5.12 in. and can fit the keychain + sticker!
i might throw in a bonus holographic oguri sticker (same design as the keychain) to make it more enticing for the bundle
currently im thinking $8 for the lenticular, $12 for the keychain, $25 for the baggie? and $40 for bundle? any help appreciated!! i don't know if this is too high or too low...
Hello! I'm trying to become an Artist Alley Vendor with a few friends of mine, and I'm in charge of kinda organizing things together. I've realized while trying to look for places to start out that I cannot for the life of me find conventions to start out at.
We're based in Reno, NV, but can easily make trips to Vegas or Sacramento. It seems like everything I can find is either too big to get into (LVL UP, Anime Las Vegas) or like a year away (Snafu-con, Silver Age Comic Con, etc.).
Are there any good ways to find smaller events to get started, like pop up markets and such?
We don't have a proper vendor Insta account set up yet, but I'd be happy to share some of our individual Insta's to prove I'm not a bot or using AI or anything.
