Going To A Motorcycle Swap Meet

[billymac814]

The seats looked great. I did a motorcycle event a few years ago and my stuff got lots of attention and a lot of people said they'd call me soon to have a seat made and i met an upolstery guy who said he has never seen leatherwork so nice and told me hed send me lots of work but in the end I think I only sold 2 or 3. The only way I think I'd do another show is if I was sewing patches on or selling belts and small things that are cheaper and more impulsive purchases and I'd only do a local one just to let people know where my shop is so they know where they can get patches sewn on in the future. I found I can't make decent money on seats anyway so I'm pretty much done doing them, I'd take on one if I knew the person or just wanted to do one. I also got tired of hearing people say how the seats look nice but "you couldn't ride on one very far". That alone inspired me to do an iron butt ride on one, I rode 1280 miles in 23 hours.

The show I did was a big one that was expensive to do, if I remember right it was about 1500 for a 10x10. There's one in June that the people are trying to get me to do, I'm not sure yet if I'm going to or not, I don't think I'll have the time to make up much of anything, its 250.00 for that one, I'd think I could make money there but its hard to say.

If you do more, in addition to taking smaller cheaper items I would make one seat really "fancy" to show what you can do then try to make some more as cheap as possible(still use good materials) maybe stitched instead of laced and no tooling. I think you'd have an easier time selling those on the spot and people will still be able to see your capabilities if they want to cough up the cash and have one made.

Anyway, I'm glad you had fun and got to relax, I'm sure you'll kill it next time now that you know what to expect. Your signs looked good too, I might have to get similar ones made, I take it they are just giant business cards?

[benlilly1]

The seats looked great. I did a motorcycle event a few years ago and my stuff got lots of attention and a lot of people said they'd call me soon to have a seat made and i met an upolstery guy who said he has never seen leatherwork so nice and told me hed send me lots of work but in the end I think I only sold 2 or 3. The only way I think I'd do another show is if I was sewing patches on or selling belts and small things that are cheaper and more impulsive purchases and I'd only do a local one just to let people know where my shop is so they know where they can get patches sewn on in the future. I found I can't make decent money on seats anyway so I'm pretty much done doing them, I'd take on one if I knew the person or just wanted to do one. I also got tired of hearing people say how the seats look nice but "you couldn't ride on one very far". That alone inspired me to do an iron butt ride on one, I rode 1280 miles in 23 hours.

The show I did was a big one that was expensive to do, if I remember right it was about 1500 for a 10x10. There's one in June that the people are trying to get me to do, I'm not sure yet if I'm going to or not, I don't think I'll have the time to make up much of anything, its 250.00 for that one, I'd think I could make money there but its hard to say.

If you do more, in addition to taking smaller cheaper items I would make one seat really "fancy" to show what you can do then try to make some more as cheap as possible(still use good materials) maybe stitched instead of laced and no tooling. I think you'd have an easier time selling those on the spot and people will still be able to see your capabilities if they want to cough up the cash and have one made.

Anyway, I'm glad you had fun and got to relax, I'm sure you'll kill it next time now that you know what to expect. Your signs looked good too, I might have to get similar ones made, I take it they are just giant business cards?

Billy we were asked to be at this swap meet and the booth was paid for us to get us there which was great! The thing I noticed most is it's definitely for people on a tight budget wanting to have a bike. Most were scrounging for parts and the kids and moms were buying the trinket stuff. The negative for the day is it was raining off and on so the bike show didn't have but 4 entered.

Wow, $1500 for a 10x10.That sounds like a trade show cost. I've been to the Easy Rider trade show in Cincinnati. I wouldn't even think of doing one.

I do agree about the plain seats. You can't please everyone and most want their own logo or design. I'm sure if I had known what bike club members were going to be there I could have sold them their logo seat in a heart beat.

For the most part, there was a handful of people that were serious about making their bike their own special ride. Those were the people that I think I'll get a call from.

If I do this again, I will make the appropriate changes.

The banners I got were from Staples and yes they're like business cards. Not too pricey since I got 50% off for all three. People at least knew we were serious about our product. We were the only ones there with banners and table covers.