On Friday 3 rd of December, I joined friends and fellow jewellery artists, Leslie Perrino, Anne Patrick, Bill Haefling, Doug McDonald and Kearsley Stewart at the Evanston Homegrown Artists Holiday Bazaar, at The Evanston Ecology Center. It wasn’t a busy show, but it was great to spend time with everyone, and the customers we spoke to were all very friendly, and enthusiastic about the show. I hadn’t taken part in a show for more than a year, and it was a wonderful gentle re-introduction. Doug is missing from the first photo, as he was looking at something in the other room, when it was taken.
A few months ago Jeremy and I had decided to try using a credit card reader from Square. It is a small pod that you can plug into the headphone plug of an iPhone, iPod touch, or android devices. There are no startup or monthly charges, instead Square charge a small percentage for each transaction—ideal if you only do a few shows a year. We had tried a test transaction before, but this was the first time we had tried to use it in a show situation, so Jeremy came with me to make sure that everything worked OK.
Having the square, and being able to take credit cards meant that we had a few sales that we may not have otherwise had, it was worth having it with us. The Square app is simple to use—you just enter the amount and run the card through the reader. There is an option to take a photo, and add a short description for the receipt that we were able to use to include each artist’s names, on the receipt, which was great. The only problem that we had was getting a good signal for our internet connection as the Square app will not work without internet.
Ah, it has to have a signal. That can be a really tricky thing sometimes depending on where you are. Thanks for keeping me posted on your adventures with new technology. We’re always looking for a way to make our check out go more quickly at shows. 🙂
It can be, there was a chair in the corner of the hall, and whenever anyone sat there, it would knock out our signal!
Jan, love your table setup! How do you price your earrings when they are set up that way? I have mine set up on little stand up cards but have the earring stands as well. As usual I simply ADORE your work!! I’ll be setting up my Designer Showcase table here at home so I know exactly how it’ll look when set up LA. Makes the job soooo much easier! Plus when traveling, I split up my showcase into two pieces of luggage.
Thanks, Ronnie! The bracelets, and necklaces all have little paper tags, and the copper earring stands have enough width I can put a sticker on the back with the price, then if a customer asks, I can see it at a glance and I can tell them.
I usually have a piece of plain peacock blue fabric for my table at Farmer’s markets, but this table was bigger than my usual folding card table, Kearsley has some gorgeous African fabrics, and lent me this piece for the day. I have a practice run at home every now and again too, if I do the Farmer’s market I have to be up at 5am, so I like to have everything ready to go the night before. Everything fits in a backpack and I have a duffel bag for the table.