#sharing a table

Follow up to this.

Kiriska: No problem, and thanks for the picture! It looks like Green has quite a bit fewer items than Purple and Pink here, and their items are also physically smaller.

It actually doesn’t look like you guys have enough stuff to warrant solo tables just yet, but I definitely suggest playing around with displays and presentation to both better present the work and to distinguish yourselves as separate artists.

I recommend testing out a binder/portfolio on the table, different colored tablecloths, and having small signs/banners with your names on them, perhaps indicating which work is whose.

Nattosoup:  The picture helps so much!

People LOVE to touch, so since you have some open space, offering some of your prints in themed photo albums or portfolios might be a great way to get your audience engaged.  One of the first steps towards making a sale is getting them to pick things up.  I demonstrate several flippables in my MTAC interview.

Kiriska: There are a lot of ways to set up a table so it’s more obvious there are two separate artists there. Many artists commonly use two different colored table cloths, and sometimes they set up a physical wall between them at the table, whether with PVC or grid cubes.

I also haven’t really personally had a problem with straight-up informing confused customers that there are two artists at the table. Most are apologetic about the mistake and won’t begrudge you if tell them they can’t combine items between the two artists for any posted discounts (e.g. 3 for $30 prints or whatever). Your mileage may vary, of course, but I think keeping upbeat and positive about it helps.

Some previous thoughts on tabling next to a “more popular” artist. And #table sharing in general.

In the end it’s up to you. Make a list of pros/cons about tabling with this person. You could learn a lot from them and you guys can help each other out/become good friends, or you might tear into each others’ sales and get on each others’ nerves. It’s always a risk. :> Good luck!

Nattosoup:  My advice is don’t share a table.

You can ask for adjoining tables, if you’re friends and if you need the support, you can table at the same con, but please, if your stuff is at all similar, do not share a table.  Our archives are full of table sharing tales of woe- browse through if you need a second, third, or fourth opinion.

Even when my work is distinct from the artist I’m sharing with, people will confuse the work.  Even when we take great pains to make the two halves distinct- different set up materials, different table clothes, different signage, and CLEAR signage labeling who is who, people get confused as to who is the artist.  Even when I’m tabling with my metal head friend, whose work is cool dudes sans shirts, and my work is cute watercolor fairytale, customers confuse our work.

Nattosoup:  I’ve been in your position, and I’ve been in your friend’s position.  My solution was to stop sharing a 6’ table at anime cons, and give my art the room it needs to shine on its own.

Whenever you share a table, there are going to be customers who assume that a purchase from one artist is a purchase from both.  There are things you can do to try and make it clear who has contributed what, but my past efforts did not really see fruit, and it was easiest to purchase my own tables.

Regarding the negative feelings:  Sometimes it has nothing to do with how good an artist you are, but everything to do with the fandoms you particiate in and can chat about, how well your style suits that particular crowd, your personality, and your pricing.  You may think your art is on the same level, but I bet one of you skews more towards cute, the other skews more towards cool, and one style just seemed a better fit for the crowd at the show.  Although I recommend you two continue to do conventions together (it helps to have a con buddy!) I recommend against sharing a table unless you absolutely have to.  Seperate tables will help keep jealousy down to a minimum, and hopefully increase sales.

My personal opinion on split tables is that split tables means split sales (I make less than half of what I normally make if I split a table, even if I’m the ‘popular’ artist).  If you want to be near one another, request that your tables are placed in proximity.  

I also recommend both of you work on developing independent fanbases online, to take some sting out of a slow convention.  This will give you a new audience to promote and sell to, and another gauge for the worth of your work!

Kiriska: I think it’s important to be as honest as possible about these things.

It’s a lot harder when you’re the one performing better, especially when you aren’t sure how your friend feels. There is no real reason you should feel bad for selling well -- it’s easy to forget sometimes, but this isn’t a zero sum game -- your doing well is not necessarily what’s causing your friend to do poorly. It is perfectly possible that even at separate tables, your friend might have done worse than you, even if the impact may have been less.

As Becca said, even if you think your art is on a similar level, there are lots of small things that may be contributing to the difference in sales (and many of those things would still be factors even if you’re selling at different tables).

If your friend asks, you might share insight on what you think they can improve on and what aspects of selling they might approach differently (display, customer interaction, etc?). Sometimes there really isn’t anything at all, and you can just give general encouragement and reassurance. 

If they don’t mention it though, I probably wouldn’t say anything so’s not to risk making them feel worse or coming off like a condescending ass. Do make an effort to engage your friend in some way though -- it’s good to try to make sure that they’re still having a good time, even if they aren’t making as many sales. Consider how you might comfort your friend if they were having a bad sales day -- or how you’d congratulate your friend if they had a good sales day -- at a different table or at a different con. Don’t focus on the comparative sales between the two of you.

When the opposite happens -- when you do significantly worse than your table partner -- just try not to take it to heart or as a personal insult or judgment call. Again, many things factor into sales, not just quality of work. Focus on what you can do to improve rather than on the idea that your friend is “better.” Ask your friend for tips and feedback instead.

I had a friend tell me before that it’s actually encouraging for them to know that their peers are doing better than them because it proves to them that there’s a higher goal to aim for, that there’s more sales to be had, and they just need to work harder or do things differently to get there.

Nattosoup:  Time to stop sharing a table.  As the artist who bombs when I split a table, I can say from personal experience your friend really needs to branch out on their own, work on their own branding and promotion.  Shared tables mean shared sales, and one artist can often unintentionally cannibalize the other.  When artists share a table, even if they do everything in their power to make it clear whose merch is whose, customers often assume the whole table is the work of one artist, and so will only purchase from one artist.  When I stopped sharing tables out of charity (friends missing the cutoff, not making the portfolio review) or out of necessity (both of us are broke, travel is expensive, the table is at an indie con and those are REALLY expensive), I was able to branch out, spread out, and introduce test products that I would’t’ve had space for on a shared table.