Resources for Convention Artists

You’re going to be selling merch, which means people will be giving you money. You need to have ways to accept payment!

• Accept cash - this is the easiest and simplest, but you will probably need to build taxes into your prices and make sure your sales are whole numbers for simplicity sake.

• Accept card transactions - most people have cards these days, so investing in a card reader if you plan on doing this long term is not a bad early investment.

• Accept payments through apps - Venmo, Paypal, Applepay, Klarna, etc. can also be used to accept payments, but these can have hidden transaction fees or require both you and the customer to have accounts.

You can’t make sales if you don’t have things to sell! When starting out it’s important not to get too ambitious as you can easily get stuck with stock that doesn’t sell.

Low cost items to start with:

• Stickers - these are great cause they’re portable, cheap, and are comparatively quick to make/easy to order multiple designs of. We recommend ordering small batches and experiment with sizes, finishes, and manufacturers. You can make stickers at home, but it will require investing in a decent printer at least. You can hand cut your stickers, but if you’re doing a lot often you may want to consider a cutting machine as well.

• Prints - prints are fairly cheap, don’t weigh a lot, and can be made at home if you invest in a decent printer. They can take up a lot of space depending on how you display them. It’s also easy to end up with too many since they are cheap to order from print services. We recommend starting with a few designs that you have available at two sizes (11×17 and 5×7) and maybe only 10 of each at a time.

• Bookmarks - like prints and stickers, these are fairly light and low cost to create at home or get printed somewhere else.

• Zines - you can make zines at home or print them at Staples! All you have to do is fold them and bam! Easy.

• Hand-crafted items - knitted hats, hand-sewn plushies, jewelry, or carvings are also options if you have the skills and materials available. These can be hard to offer at lower prices since they can’t be mass produced the same way a print or sticker can be, but selling just a few higher priced items could make the difference between breaking even and being in the red. Keep in mind that these things can be heavy and take up a lot of space too.

We recommend having a mix of higher priced items and lower priced items if possible.

Depending on what you’re selling, you may need to get a few things to help you show your items off.

• Table cloth - some events do not provide skirts or table cloths, so it’s a good idea to grab one of your own. If you can’t justify getting a fitted table cloth for a 6’ table (most common size), an old bedsheet will work. While you can technically table without a table cloth, it does not look good if you’re the only artist without on and it also means you can’t hide your unsightly items (backpacks, wagons, trash, stock) under the table from view.

• Business cards/socials poster - you should have at least one of these to help start building your audience/reputation/brand identity. A socials poster can just be something you print out that has a QR code and urls to your socials/website. Business cards are also pretty cheap and light, making them easy to toss into a bag with each sale.

• Display stands/walls/boxes/etc - these come in all shapes, sizes, types, and costs. The point of these is to help you display things vertically since your horizontal space will be constrained to the size of the table. Which ones you get will depend entirely on if you’re selling big items, small items, flat items, round items, etc. Start with something affordable. You’re going to be changing up your display at least every year if not every event. Don’t go for something too heavy or difficult to maneuver or transport by yourself. Keep in mind if there’s complex assembly required, you may not have enough time to set up if your display requires 30 pages of Ikea instructions to put together.

• A good attitude - this might seem a bit silly but understand that nerds be awkward. If you’re hidden behind your table, not looking up when someone walks by, or looking like you’d rather be anywhere else, you’re probably driving people away from a possible sale. Be proactive, but not aggressive in talking to folks. Not every conversation needs to be a sales pitch and do your best to avoid putting yourself down. Pity sales never lead to repeat customers. Make sure you’re talking to other vendors too. Ask them about how their weekend is going, if they have any tips, or how they set up their display. Be appreciative towards the event volunteers, and honest with show runners if you have any feedback on what worked and what didn’t work for you at the event. Some events are frustrating, and tabling can be an emotional rollercoaster. Take breaks as you need to and be kind to yourself.

• Sticky notes - you can use these to write your item prices on or contact information if your QR code doesn’t work, someone doesn’t have a phone that can scan QR codes, the internet in the venue is bad, or you run out of business cards. You can also write down notes to yourself like if you run out of stock of something or you have an idea you need to remember later.

• Something to write with - you’ll want to have something to write down information with, whether that’s your contact info, a new price for an item, a signature on a poster, or to communicate with someone non-verbal/mute/deaf.

• Cash box/bag and small bills - you don’t want your cash just sitting out int he open where everyone can see it, so it’s important to have something you can at least hide it from view in. If you accept cash, you’ll have to keep a number of smaller bills that can be used for change. Always have a good number of 5 and 1 dollar bills on hand if nothing else.

• Food and drink - if you’re tabling by yourself, you might have a hard time going and getting food. Pack yourself a lunch and lots of snacks and water to keep yourself from getting hangry.

• Merch storage - there’s a good chance you won’t have all your stock out on your table at one time, so you will need to have storage for it behind the table. Usually this storage is also what you transported your stuff in like a plastic tote, cardboard box, or even a duffle bag or suitcase. Keep in mind that your storage should be large enough not to damage your goods, but not so large you can’t fit it under the table, through doorways, or in your best friend’s messy trunk they let you use for the weekend. Also keep in mind if you’re doing outdoor events your storage container should probably be waterproof to protect your stuff from getting wet if it’s sitting on the ground.