Tales from the Crewest Gallery Gift Boutique
My first time selling plush at an event in person just happened. But what happened while that was happening? This blog post will attempt to answer that very question.
For starters, nearly every single person who stopped by my section of table asked me the following question: "What is this?" Not about a specific character, mind you, just the plush in general. Had they never seen plush before? I wish I'd thought to ask them this at the time. By the end of the night, the question was still catching me completely off guard.
Some folks did try to guess what certain characters were. One such man stepped up to the table and picked up a Zombie Zucchini.
"Is this a soda?" he asked.
"No, it is not a soda. It is a Zombie Zucchini," I informed him.
He stood silent for a moment. I could almost hear him thinking. Then he made some more words come out of his mouth.
"Is that a zucchini?" (pause for effect) "Or are you just happy to see me?"
"You did it," I said and rightly so, because he clearly had done it.
A (teenaged?) girl's eyes lit upon the Undead Severed Hand. She gleefully turned it over to look at the price tag. In an instant, I watched her glee morph into misery.
"This is $20, really?!" she asked in complete disbelief. (It was one of only three items priced thusly at my table. I have never made this thing before so it is completely one-of-a-kind.)
"Yes, it is," I said, but shouldn't have had to as that's what the price tag is there for.
"I'm so tempted to buy it," she replied. A temptation which she very admirably resisted.
Another woman stepped up to the table and asked a familiar question with a twist. "What are these? I haven't seen these before."
"Yeah...that's cuz I make them," I responded, but this did nothing to squelch her confusion and greatly puzzled by this cryptic occurrence, she left the table hurriedly.
The last would-be customer I had the [dis]pleasure of speaking to was a nondescript middle aged woman who looked like somebody's mom. (No offense to somebody's mom.) I smiled and said "Hello!" as I did to everyone. She responded in kind and then looked down at the table. Something had caught her eye. That something was a pink Miss Jelly. She snatched it up.
"This is from Pac-Man," she said.
"No, it's actually not," I responded.
"Yes it is," she replied matter-of-factly. "It's those guys that eat Pac-Man."
"It's not, really," I said impatiently.
"No, it is. It's the guys that eat Pac-Man." This continued for another minute.
I could see someone mistakenly thinking what I had made was a Pac-Man Ghost, because they do share similar body types and they are both pink. But even after I told this lady that it was not the thing she thought it was, she still insisted several times that it was.
Can you argue with the maker of something about the thing that they made? Is this a thing now? Has this been a thing for some time without my knowledge? She wasn't arguing with me whether or not it looked like a Pac-Man Ghost, she was telling me that it was a Pac-Man Ghost! I can't even. I hate.
But she didn't stop there. Her eyes widened. "You should make Pac-Man!" she exclaimed.
"I don't want to make Pac-Man," I snarled.
"Yeah, you should make Pac-Man" she said again this time with a little more authority in her voice.
"I don't think so," I said, almost quivering at this point.
She was nodding now with a knowing look in her eyes. "You should," she said one last time before leaving my table having now made it abundantly clear on no uncertain terms that making Pac-Man was not up for discussion. I had to do this thing that she had told me to do.
Seems some weird stuff happened, but besides that, how did the night go? How much plush was sold? I knew you weren't going to ask these questions so I asked them for you. Don't sweat it. The punchline to my week of hump busting to get as much plush made as possible so I wouldn't run out of plush in like the first hour of the event is...are you ready for it?
I sold one plush. ONE! If I had only made two plush it still would've been one too many. I made ten bucks. Ten bucks which I promptly spent at Denny's after leaving the event. Because if sadness has a taste.
However, my lone customer of the evening was really great. She even went to the trouble of seeking me out on Etsy and sending me a little message of appreciation along with a picture of her and her new plush friend (a Pink Sassquid). I just wish there were about two or three more people like her there that night.
I don't consider the night a complete loss by any means. I met some awesome fellow artists. And it just so happens that I'm going to be selling my stuff again on Sunday, December 18th at Royal/T. Have you ever been to Royal/T in Culver City? It's a cool place. Much more my speed. I doubt its patrons will be asking "What is this?" about my plush.
For starters, nearly every single person who stopped by my section of table asked me the following question: "What is this?" Not about a specific character, mind you, just the plush in general. Had they never seen plush before? I wish I'd thought to ask them this at the time. By the end of the night, the question was still catching me completely off guard.
Some folks did try to guess what certain characters were. One such man stepped up to the table and picked up a Zombie Zucchini.
"Is this a soda?" he asked.
"No, it is not a soda. It is a Zombie Zucchini," I informed him.
"Wait! Am I a soda?"
"Is that a zucchini?" (pause for effect) "Or are you just happy to see me?"
"You did it," I said and rightly so, because he clearly had done it.
A (teenaged?) girl's eyes lit upon the Undead Severed Hand. She gleefully turned it over to look at the price tag. In an instant, I watched her glee morph into misery.
"This is $20, really?!" she asked in complete disbelief. (It was one of only three items priced thusly at my table. I have never made this thing before so it is completely one-of-a-kind.)
"Yes, it is," I said, but shouldn't have had to as that's what the price tag is there for.
"I'm so tempted to buy it," she replied. A temptation which she very admirably resisted.
Another woman stepped up to the table and asked a familiar question with a twist. "What are these? I haven't seen these before."
"Yeah...that's cuz I make them," I responded, but this did nothing to squelch her confusion and greatly puzzled by this cryptic occurrence, she left the table hurriedly.
The last would-be customer I had the [dis]pleasure of speaking to was a nondescript middle aged woman who looked like somebody's mom. (No offense to somebody's mom.) I smiled and said "Hello!" as I did to everyone. She responded in kind and then looked down at the table. Something had caught her eye. That something was a pink Miss Jelly. She snatched it up.
"This is from Pac-Man," she said.
"No, it's actually not," I responded.
"Yes it is," she replied matter-of-factly. "It's those guys that eat Pac-Man."
"It's not, really," I said impatiently.
"No, it is. It's the guys that eat Pac-Man." This continued for another minute.
Here's what a heysoupface Pac-Man Ghost would look like.
Can you argue with the maker of something about the thing that they made? Is this a thing now? Has this been a thing for some time without my knowledge? She wasn't arguing with me whether or not it looked like a Pac-Man Ghost, she was telling me that it was a Pac-Man Ghost! I can't even. I hate.
But she didn't stop there. Her eyes widened. "You should make Pac-Man!" she exclaimed.
"I don't want to make Pac-Man," I snarled.
"Yeah, you should make Pac-Man" she said again this time with a little more authority in her voice.
"I don't think so," I said, almost quivering at this point.
She was nodding now with a knowing look in her eyes. "You should," she said one last time before leaving my table having now made it abundantly clear on no uncertain terms that making Pac-Man was not up for discussion. I had to do this thing that she had told me to do.
Seems some weird stuff happened, but besides that, how did the night go? How much plush was sold? I knew you weren't going to ask these questions so I asked them for you. Don't sweat it. The punchline to my week of hump busting to get as much plush made as possible so I wouldn't run out of plush in like the first hour of the event is...are you ready for it?
I sold one plush. ONE! If I had only made two plush it still would've been one too many. I made ten bucks. Ten bucks which I promptly spent at Denny's after leaving the event. Because if sadness has a taste.
"You brought 31 too many."
However, my lone customer of the evening was really great. She even went to the trouble of seeking me out on Etsy and sending me a little message of appreciation along with a picture of her and her new plush friend (a Pink Sassquid). I just wish there were about two or three more people like her there that night.
I don't consider the night a complete loss by any means. I met some awesome fellow artists. And it just so happens that I'm going to be selling my stuff again on Sunday, December 18th at Royal/T. Have you ever been to Royal/T in Culver City? It's a cool place. Much more my speed. I doubt its patrons will be asking "What is this?" about my plush.
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