Show Jury Wants a Few Items to Inspect Without Me Being Present

[PrairiePrimitives]

This is about my potential back-up show to the big holiday show for which I've been wait listed. I don't know anything about the show. I don't know the ladies who run the show.

2019 will be the 38th year for the show. It is held the weekend prior to Thanksgiving (U.S. Thanksgiving, for my friends to the north). The ladies I've spoken with are not the founders of the show. They only have 1 artisan per craft and are seeking a new "primitive" artisan (that would be where I fit in). There are NO direct sales people in the show! They have a central checkout, but vendors need to be present Friday evening; not yet sure about all day Saturday. Set-up is Thursday & Friday, then a gala opening Friday evening (one of the ladies said they "dress up" for that), then the show continues on Saturday from 9am to 3pm. The fee is about $65; I'm not sure if there is also a percentage (most shows with central checkouts also charge a % of sales).

The only concern I have at this time is loaning a few of my products to STRANGERS for the jurying. I asked if I could be present for the jurying, but when they said it's in the evening, that kind of ruled it out for me since I reallllllly don't like to drive at night (this would require driving about an hour after dark). One of the ladies has offered to meet me about half-way so I don't have to drive the full hour to their town to drop things off. 

Can you say anything that would put me at ease about this? Or is it a big ol' screaming red flag with absolutely no options?

Thank you! 

[TigersandDragons]

Not sure I understand what is the "screaming red flag", if this is a well established show with a good reputation. But if you're worried, can you look at the list of last year's artisans, and contact some of them to get their opinion?  Check out all online info about the group and event?

They're having a closed Jury session.   I've done these before, where I've either mailed or dropped off samples.  Then I either have to pick up the samples, or pay to have these shipped back.  I've always provided a "packing" list, which I mainly include so that the jury will understand what they are looking at - the name of the pieces, the materials used, the techniques. 

One show I used to do used to have a 1 day jurying session for vacant spots, where they'd have you wait, then they'd call in 10 craftspeople and ask them to set up their stock.  Then you'd leave and wait for about 15min to a half hour, they'd call you in to pack up your stuff, and then they'd have the next 10 crafters set up.

[PrairiePrimitives]

Hey Tigers, the screaming red flag is that these ladies whom I don't know could simply "forget" to return my stuff to me. And, especially if I meet one of them halfway, I won't even know where they live. Trust issues? What trust issues?! LOL!

So you've always had everything returned with no issues? Are these smaller shows or larger well-known shows? I have a feeling this show probably started as a home boutique before moving to a public location where it's now held. I don't think a larger well-known show jury would abscond with the jury items. They REALLY want to see dolls, and have specifically asked for Santas and Angels. I just shipped the last angel doll I had on hand today. Have 3 Santa dolls leftover from last year, along with a few small snowmen. Because they're wanting to see my dolls, this could be $300+ of inventory which I'd be letting out of my sight. Guess if the worst happens, I could write it off my taxes as a loss. :-(

[TigersandDragons]

The organizations I mailed my samples to were well established and larger organizations with good repuations, so I realize your situation is different.  I have mailed $300-$500 worth of samples several times, and had to include a self addressed pre-paid shipping envelope with it, so they could mail it back, to 2 different music festivals, and 1 craft council. The worst that happened is that one year instead of taking the returned samples to be scanned at the post office, they just dropped it in a mail box and it didn't get scanned.  So I called Canada Post putting in a trace for it, because I was freaked out (and told the organization, WHY they shouldn't do this).  But it came home a few days later, and for a subsequent samples, I gave VERY SPECIFIC instructions that the envelope MUST be scanned at a post office.

That's why I thought you should ask around for references.  That's what I did years ago when I woman contacted me out of the blue saying she wanted to be my sales agent in Ontario, I called some of the other craftspeople she had rep'd.  In the end she only got me 1 order (actually sold my samples which made me furious!), but I didn't get cheated. 

Do you have good photos of your dolls?  Then give them one doll sample so they can see the quality, and a bunch of photos of different designs.  Tell them you are low on stock, and this is the best you can do.

[PrairiePrimitives]

Thanks for your reply! I gave them a link to my shop and asked what they were looking for in the samples that they couldn't see from photos and the many reviews I have here on Etsy. They said they were looking for quality and that they only saw Easter stuff in my shop (ummm, look at my almost-13 years of sold listings?). If I wasn't selling quality items, the reviews would reflect that. Geez. I have juried for some niiiice shows over the years with photos so I'm just not understanding why a very small show wants to see the actual items. Maybe they have never sold at other fairs (or at least not at juried fairs), so they don't know how other events do their jurying?

I could email them the photos I've used for Etsy. I also have booth photos available. I'm used to jurying for shows with photos, so I try to keep the best photos that I take. 

I've let them know that I have a show on May 19th (in this area), so why don't the two of them come to the show to check out my stuff? Maybe they would even find other vendors at the show! The jurying is on May 20th and the lady I've been so chatting with hasn't yet said when she wants to meet, but I think saying that I need my inventory for the show may be a good way to handle it. 

[TigersandDragons]

I can understand that they want to see the workmanship, that's why some of the shows I apply to require it - especially in a competitive category like jewellery.

Photos can hide a lot.  Maybe they don't understand HOW to look at your sold listings. 

You're right that reviews do give an indication that your customers are very satisfied, but doesn't demonstrate how your items are constructed, or the quality of materials used.  I'm not an expert on dolls or toys, but I do a lot of craft shows, and have seen some sock animals and dolls that aren't well made, appliques that are glued on instead of sewn (with fake stitches drawn on with marker), facial features drawn or painted on instead of stitched, etc. Some of these were only intended as decoration, not play, some were specifically marked as not for children. 

Brought to mind an aquaintance who makes both soft dolls for small children, and art dolls.  We were talking about glass eye suppliers because I couldn't stand all those color photos glued to glass cabs that overwhelmingly come up when you try to search for decent glass eyes.  She told me that for her art dolls, most of the time the eyes she uses, she paints herself, because she was also unsatisfied with what was available.  Which made me take a closer look, and wow, I could really see the difference, and how each of her art dolls had very distinctive eyes.

[WhimsyBits]

I kinda get why they do what they do and I get why you're a little hesitant about it.  How established is this show? How many years have they done it?  I also think it speaks a lot that they are willing to meet up with you to get the items.  Maybe you can set a date in which you will meet up again to return the items, get names and phones numbers in the event something happens (which I really don't think it would).  Worse case scenario you know where this show will be so if something does go missing you could show up and ask about it. 

But if this show is pretty established I don't think you have anything to worry about.  But if you really don't want to do it I think the excuse that you need the inventory for your show is very valid and a great way to invite them to that show. But if it's a show you really want to do then you might have to put some trust into them. 

[PrairiePrimitives]

They say this will be the 38th year for the show, however the 2 ladies I've chatted/spoken with about it are not the founders. I'm not sure how long they've been involved with it ... and I should find that out because if it's their 1st year, they may not know what they're doing!

Several years ago, I did a school show (something I rarely do) because the promoter said she'd been doing it for 7 or 8 years and it was in a good area on a busy street and near another VERY busy street ... so I thought the odds of a successful show were good. When I got there and saw how terribly unorganized it was and started talking to other vendors, we came to the conclusion that the promoter may have done the show for a few years, but that was probably her 1st year as a promoter! The show sucked. There was essentially no outside traffic. The show was in a school which was undergoing major construction and there were fences ALLLL over the place that shoppers had to find their way thru to get to the building where the show was! 

Thanks for your comments! :-)

[PrairiePrimitives]

UPDATE! 

The lady I've been chatting with about this show contacted me Saturday morning to say she'd forgotten about me! Since the jurying is (literally right now), she was kind of in a pinch to get my samples. I talked to a friend that I bounce lots of stuff off of because she sees things differently than I do and knows when to look out for my best interests. :-) She said NO NO NO, do not send/give/loan samples (especially of my dolls) to anyone I don't know. That's one thing we definitely agree about! 

I wrote a long message back to the show promoter, explaining (again) that I feel my 1500+ Etsy sales and 700+ Etsy reviews (over nearly 13 years), and 1400+ eBay seller reviews (over 21 years) reflect how my customers feel about my work. All those customers made their purchases without seeing my things in person. Then there are the hundreds of craft fairs I've done over the last 40+ years which accepted me based on photos. I invited this lady and her business partner to come see me at a show next month which is about halfway between their city and mine, but she declined (this really surprised me!). I said that I'd like to do their show, but I understood that if they weren't able to consider me based on my online presence. She quickly replied asking me to not give up on them. That sounded promising, but I've not heard from her since. Maybe I'll hear from her after tonight's jurying?

[wavejewelry]

I have participated in closed juries before without an issue. The reason they don't want you there is to provide a level playing field for all those appyling so that there is absolutely no favortism toward artisans that jury members may know personally.  The jury can't just except your etsy customer feedback because all the artisans are being judged in exactly the same way in order to make the process fair. This craft fair has been around for 35 years. If any artisans' work disappeared during the jury process, the organizers could be held responsible. Since you're feeling so much anxiety about the jury process, I suggest you pass on this show until you have more info about it.         

[PrairiePrimitives]

They asked me not to give up on them but, since that's the last I've heard from them, it appears that they have given up on me.

@wavejewelry I have no problem with closed juries ... as long as they're jurying by photos or slides, etc. It was the part about letting these unknown ladies have several hundred dollars worth of inventory for an undetermined length of time and my only having a phone number for them ... so no way to find them OR my inventory if this thing went south.