“It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over” – A Lesson in Patience

Yogi Berra said it best…“It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over”
Empty booth at

Empty booth at last weekend’s show

This past weekend I attended the American Art Marketing – Wadsworth Museum Show in Connecticut.  This was the first year for this craft show, so I expected the attendance to be low, and it was very light in attendance. Most of the exhibitors around me had light sales, and some of the exhibitors did not even make their booth fee and expenses! Luckily, I had made my booth fee and expenses, with a slight profit.

The show was over at 5 PM on Sunday, and so at 4 PM, since traffic was light, I started to put some of my pens away. Just as I was starting to pack up, 3 different customers came into the booth. Those three customers purchased nine of my higher priced pens and took my so-so weekend to a **WOW** weekend, just like that!
So, the moral of the story is never give up until the final second of a show – you never know who will show up and make your day!
BTW, we are taking orders for the lever action pens, (which did very well at the show – sold all of them that I had (6). Please call us, and we will take your name and order and when they come in we will ship them to you!
Barry’s Tip:
When I sell a higher priced pen at a show, I make sure that it has fresh ink in the pen. This has come to light because a customer called, and complained that his pens were running out of ink fast.  When we researched this we found that they had purchased the pen kits over two years ago and they were putting the old ink into the pens and selling them.  If I have a pen that has not sold in a while, I always put a fresh refill into the pen.  In a pinch, if I am out of town at a show, I will go to Office Max, Staples or any other stationary store and get some fresh refills to put into my pens.  This is the least expense part of the pen but if it does not write properly it will cost you  a sale!
Good selling – Barry

31 thoughts on ““It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over” – A Lesson in Patience

  1. Barry, I live 20 miles from the Wadsworth and never knew there was going to be a show. Not on TV, Radio or print that I was aware of. Not even on social media like facebook or any of the pen turning sites, including IAP.
    Russ

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