San Jose show-how does jewelry sell?

Has anyone done or heard anything about the Tapestry in Talent show
in San Jose? How does jewelry do there? What prices do well? I’m
trying to decide whether to participate or not, and it would be a
bit of a trek for me. Any info would be appreciated! Thanks… Ali
Friedman ali@alfmetals.com

Hi Ali,

I did this show for a number of years, up until about 1997, and was
even on the jury for a couple of years. Over the years the show grew
and spread out, including a indoor hall that featured spas and such,
and the crowd attending seemed to be less and less interested in
high end, quality crafts. There used to be maybe 20% who attended
the show looking for expensive, quality work, and this slowly
dwindled until the last year I did the show when they did not show up
at all. From my understanding talking to other artists who have
done the show in recent years, the crowd is pretty working class and
somewhat rough, but this can always change. Depending on your price
point this may not be a negative, but I do all gold and gemstone
work, with my average price over $1000.00, so it just did not work
out for me. I recommend getting ahold of the Crafts Fair Guide to
see some recent comments about the show and get a more general
perspective. Good luck!

Best regards,
John

Thanks so much for the input. This is the feeling I’ve gotten from a
few people. I think I’ll cancel and suck up the $100 fee. I just did
a show that sounds like this over Mem. Day weekend, and it was not
worth it. Don’t think I can’t stand another one-especially adding in
the drive from LA! My work is less expensive than yours, but not
cheap. The average is probably $250. I find it hard to even sell $50
rings to non-artsy crowds. There aren’t a ton of good shows in S.
California, so I may try to add one or two up north. Any suggestions
are welcome. Thanks again for taking the time to answer… Take care!
ali