I've seen a few posts talking about selling, so I thought I'd put my experience out there and see if it would help anyone.
I quit doing shows about a year ago. No matter how hard I tried, I wasn't making sales. I put my unsold work in a booth at a local craft warehouse, and still didn't sell anything. The last month of the booth, I displayed my work with signs that said "Not for sale, display only" and a larger sign that said, "Custom orders taken at..." and then I listed my phone number. I put my cards out, and when I was done with the chess set (and other projects I'd sold) I'd display them with signs that said, "Not for sale" or "Sold. Call me for custom orders."
By the time the rent on the booth was up, I was booked with pre-orders through Christmas of this year. Now I'm booked with orders for chess sets, Eiffel Towers, frames, room dividers, and other orders up to March of 2013.
It almost felt as if, when I started telling people they couldn't buy my works, they started getting in line to buy. I started turning down orders for this Christmas, only to have people order for Christmas of 2012 and 2013.
We live in a strange world. I think P.T. Barnum would have been proud.
Bill P.