/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

2/3

1/3

3/3

Sorry there's no English version.

>>6692161
love love LOVE this idea!!

dumping what i have!

>>6692855

>>6692861

>>6692865

>>6692863

>>6692866

>>6692867

>>6692874

>>6692870

>>6692084
The way of artist alleys in cons are dying. Honestly you wont get anywhere being a western manga artist nowadays

>>6695118

>implying like anyone in western artist's alleys sells homemade manga when there's a billion more bucks to be made in plushies/pins/prints

nigga what cons do you go to

this ain't comiket

Hey guys, I had a question about what I should back my charms with. I used drop pads to turn some clay pieces that I made into charms, but I'm wondering if I should back them with anything specific.

>>6695118
Manga never sold well in American artist alleys. Ever.

Just wanna share a tidbit-

I did Momocon artist alley last weekend and I made an okay amount of money. There are things that added to my success:

>Have a good table partner OR a visually appealing table.
Plan ahead on your decor and make it stand out! You don't need huge banners, just a nice tablecloth, signs, those wire cubes, and maybe even balloons.

>Small, cheap, useable stuff sells
My #1 selling thing were these Adventure Time stickers I made, they were $2 each but honestly I could've raised them to $3-4 and they still would've sold like hotcakes. They sold so fast I was selling out before I could cut more out! And for stickers, practice die cutting them really nicely. No one likes sloppily cut out stickers. Also mine were printed on waterproof vinyl, so added bonus! Next time my main stock will be stickers.

>Don't print a lot of copies of prints unless you are SURE they will sell
I made the mistake of getting 10 copies of my 3 prints. I only sold half of 2 of my prints and all of the 3rd because it was Journey (I was the only booth with Journey art that I saw). So now I have a ton of leftover prints...

>Square is a great incentive!
My tablemate had Square, the cardreader for your phone. It really made people want to buy things, I ended up making $60 off it and I did not have that much stock, honestly. Though make sure you have a data plan and you aren't in a dead spot. I had to wander in search for signal too often.

>Perler beads aren't that popular
I made 5 perler keychain designs, 2 of each. I only sold 2, and they were priced at $3 each, veeeryyy cheap. The table across the way did perler keychains of Pokemon and theirs sold alright, so I think the trend is winding down.

>If you do commissions make a nice sign with examples
I forgot to do this and rushed one at the con. I still got about 6 comms. My tablemate had a really nice sign with better examples of her work so she got a ton of comms.

That's all I can think of for now, I hope it helps!

>>6695355
When I say "okay amount" I mean it was good for the low stock I had, I just wished I knew the stickers would have been so popular, else I'd have had a lot more options!

And a sidenote about the stickers, I want to point out that just because it is a sticker that does not mean it will sell. Make sure the design is appealing too! My friends at other tables did not sell stickers very well, and it is because their designs were uninspired and kind of boring.

One more thing-

>Cater to the niche and the mainstream
I had AT and Zelda, which are very mainstream, and then Journey and some other niche fandoms. I got a lot of attention for the Journey print, notepad, and stickers. People even said they recognized them from tumblr, which made me really happy. Just make stuff from what you love, and if it doesn't sell, offer it online later!

What does everyone use that makes that squishy whipped cream shit on decoden? Is it silicone caulking from like Home Depot?

I just know it's not whipple, since that hardens up.

>>6695355
>I made the mistake of getting 10 copies of my 3 prints.
If you're planning on re-using prints, I think that 10 is a perfectly fine amount. Especially because you DON'T know how it's going to turn out. Whenever I print too few of a new print, and it would sell out on the first day, it makes me feel like I missed out on a lot of potential sales. Plus, generally, the more prints you buy at once, the cheaper each print is. I have a good inventory stocked up of prints, but it refreshes and renews during cons, and I don't have a problem having leftovers.

Has anyone tried PayPal Here yet? I never got my hands on square, but is it effective/does it function in the same way? I'm just more trusting of a company that I've used other services from, and the rate fee is .05% less.

I have been in artist alley two times now, and I have been focusing on My Little Pony (because I am mostly a My Little Pony artist and do customs as well)

But till summer I would like to expand some and do other fandoms instead as well. I won't do anything from a fandom I'm not a part of myself, so out of my fandoms, what do you think would sell best?

Madoka, Pokemon, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Disney, Monster High, Sailor Moon, Sword Art Online, World of Warcraft, League of Legends

>>6695983
>SAO
>Pokemon
>Madoka
>LoL

>>6695983
Madoka, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, SAO, and maybe LoL.

>>6696021
>>6696002

Thank you, I'll write those up

>>6696021
LoL is not popular anymore
Pokemon and Madoka will always be popular
Hunger Games is going to get even more popular so that's yur money

Should have saved some links last time I saw this being posted, but any reccs for good online stores that sell plastic sleeves for prints [to house 11 x 17 sheets]?

>>6696133
Seconding this

>>6696133
>>6696178

There's these, but I'm not sure how good they are, though the pricing isn't terrible

http://www.bagsunlimited.com/c-95-polypropylene-sleeves.aspx

>>6696133
I bought my plastic sleeves from Hobby Lobby, and I've seen all sizes at Micheals and Office Depot as well. Honestly there really isn't a need to get them online unless you are in bumfuck nowhere?

I bought these just a while ago...What should I know about shrinking plastic before I mess it up?
I saw a couple of deviantart tutorials and I think I understand the basics...

>>6695118
The money's in doujinshi anthologies? I know the Ghost Book kickstarter went over its goal, but it was for illustrations.

>>6695741
Yeah, buy the 100% silicone of any brand to get the squishy feeling when it has dried, otherwise if you want to be cheap go with Alex Dap.

>>6695931
I haven't gotten the Paypal one, but it works on a limited range of smartphones (meaning they have to be newer android models)

>>6697708
Basically, you have to print it at 4x the original size or something to get smaller size.

>>6692169
>>6692171
>>6692175
Thanks!

>>6697708
Also, try to lay a sheet of cardboard on top while you're baking the shrink paper. It tends to like to curl.

any tips for someone who wants to sell for the first time?

>>6700787

Build your display up. My first AA, all my stuff was just arranged on the table, and while it worked fine, my table was really easy to overlook inbetween two tables that had big, tall displays. Get wire cubes or charm trees or whatever is appropriate for whatever you're selling- just try and not have too much stuff laid out on the table itself.

Also, make sure you come prepared with change in your cashbox. You'll eventually have tons of it, but you'll want to make sure you have it for your first few sales.

>>6700811
Thank you, I'll keep that in mind c:

>>6700787
If you're shy, bring something to work on so you aren't staring with a weird facial expression the whole time. (Engaging your customers in conversation and saying hello is better, but keeping busy and showing your craft beats accidental bitchface or looking lonely and sad.)

Hey it's me again. I finally got my hands on some great non-mirror gold acrylic. It's a little darker than KC's, but still pretty nice. Looks like the second one in the pic. Need some ideas. I don't want to copy KC's stuff. My only ideas atm are the CCS wand and maybe a golden snitch.

What are your opinions on all the deco sweets being sold? It seems like I'm seeing them everywhere, with about equal skill. Personally I'm getting sick of seeing the same things over and over, no creativity at all. Are the still selling very well?

How would you folks feel about purchasing finer jewelry in the artist alley? I have no plans to do anything this year but I'm curious about the interest levels. I wouldn't be pushing anything too fancy but a personal project is to make Usagi's engagement ring in silver with CZ stones. I've seen other rings advertised but they're always plated or base metal. Would anyone be interested in this kind of thing?

>>6703882
That's such a niche market, honestly I wouldn't go for it. A lot of people sell jewelry but something that expensive probably wouldn't do well in an artist alley.

>>6703882
While that is really cool, I agree, people tend to make more impulse purchases in artist's alley. For something that pricey, they need more time to think on it/save up for it.

>>6703882
I can only see finer jewelry being sold online rather than AA.

If I were to do jewelry like that, I'd have a few samples out but the majority of my table be something else that's more "cheap" to buy compared to jewelry.

Frankly, most con goers are teens with not a lot of money. Jewelry can potentially sold but not extremely well compared to other things.

>>6703882
There was a jewelry maker at Ohayocon selling some nice amber and jade stuff. I like that she was there so I could get something for my mom who seems to think she always needs a souvenir from my congoings,

>>6703891
>>6703901

This is true. Now I'm thinking of having the nicer pieces out as display items like >>6703906 suggested, just to show that I can make higher quality jewelry if asked. If I'm not actively trying to sell them I won't be disappointed if they're passed over for less expensive items but I wouldn't object to selling one if asked, either.

I was also considering fairly generic zodiac rings with faux opal cabochon in colors relating to the sign. If I could make them look nice, I would also have the zodiac symbols in the cabochons. Do you think this would be popular at all with the Homestuck crowd? I think at the least the younger con goers would gobble up some relatively cheap and shiny rings.

>>6703936
I'm just waiting for you to come back and post about how someone stole the expensive things off your table.

>>6703931
That's also a good idea to keep in mind. I'm sure some kids would like to grab a nice little gift for their parents while at the con but I'm not sure what kind of simple things would be worth trying to sell.

>>6703944
I'll have all my sample items on one of these. People can get a close look, try things on their fingers, and if they buy anything, I'll have everything else stored in those plastic sliding drawers on either side of me. If I have anything else, they'll be secured inside a display box that I'll have wired to whatever frame I use on my table.

>>6697708

The colours turn out much more vibrant after shrinking.

>>6703965
And just to add if anything does get stolen, oh well. If someone is really determined, they'll find a way to pocket what they want. Anything over a $25 value won't be out for handling so if I lose one or two things over the course of the weekend, it won't be anything but plated base metal and resin stones.

>>6700489
>>6698177
>>6703969

Thank you! I saw this tutorial recently too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uen7bd1T5Bo
might add a ribbon to my charms...if it goes well of course.

What I'm unsure of is the embossing holographic powder. I wanted a very subtle holographic overlay on my charms but what I've seen on tutorials so far, holographic embossing powder isn't that translucent.

I want to ask a newbie question
what is the name of these materials?

>>6692155
>>6692157

>>6703844
Don't do it anon, we're bored of them.

>>6704396
Ha ha no way, I was just wondering if everyone else felt the same. There's always that one thing everybody copies from each other. Is anything else getting really popular?

>>6705249
Perler beads in particular. Just avoid it since you're really skirting that legal copyright line in a lot of cases.

Otherwise buttons and charms are a plenty so if you're going to do either make sure you have cute stuff that's different or unique in some way. Honestly, it's kind of like anything else, if you make anything to sell in the AA, have it be good quality for a reasonable price. If you want to do deco stuff go ahead, but keep that in mind.