I've been to two craft shows in December; one at the State Fair Grounds here in Des Moines, and the other at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. These being Iowan Arts & Crafts events, I expected a certain amount of kitsch- that being a whole damned bunch. While I am no fan of the vapid and hokey crafts that dominate markets, the near-universal appeal these items exude, nay, spew forth, effects public attraction. I see this as a positive aspect of kitsch. For the love of God why, you may ask? Numbers. Pure and simple. Melanie and I attended the Iowa City Show as vendors, and in our case we can not rely on the animal magnetism of crafty cutesyness. We need people; lots of people; droves; a veritable horde, cash in hand. Our sales rely on discerning taste, and that occurs but rarely in the crafts world. Say one percent recognize our work as artisan quality or otherwise distinct and browse our booth. Then, a third of those browsers make a purchase. If the show attracts 5,000 visitors; not an unreasonable number for a well-promoted event; we can expect roughly fifty browsers, and of those fifty it follows 16 will buy. I grant you the above formula isn't terribly optimistic, but it seems to hold for Craft Shows in our experience. At Iowa City, I would guess roughly two to three thousand people showed- this leaves 20 to 30 serious browsers and thus 6 to ten sales- we made 9. Of course, Art Shows are a different matter. Most Art Shows are juried affairs; the wheat is well separated from the chaff. In this situation our sales aren't reliant upon discriminating taste; it's more a matter of a given set of vendors sharing a customer pool of certain size. For example, if the Art Show draws 5,000 visitors, 75% of which intend to buy, leaves a pool of 3,750 potential customers. If 100 vendors are selling, roughly 38 potential customers may buy from each. If 75% of those browsers do actually make a purchase, each vendor can expect 28 sales- significantly more than at a Craft Show. Once again, the numbers seem to hold in our experience, which is admittedly limited. Other factors may also affect sales- relative pricing, booth layout & product display, customer budgets, etc. Our last show in Valley Junction was an example of circumstances. With roughly 5,000 in attendance and 70 vendors, the potential for sales was definitely there. However, I would estimate only 50% of visitors were there to buy, leaving only a pool of 2,500, or 36 potential buyers per vendor. With a 75% purchase factor, we should have made 27 sales- we made 29. Of course, Melanie and I feel that our relatively low prices may have skewed purchase rates in our favor, and if that is the case, less than my estimate of 50% of visitors actually intended to make a purchase. If our prices increased the number of serious browsers by a factor of three, for example, a little algebra reveals this "intention to buy" factor to instead be 18% if we hold at 29 sales, 5,000 visitors and the 75% browser purchase factor. Of course, my attendance and purchase rate estimations could be completely off. I'll have to contact promoters for the upcoming season and check their attendance estimates against my estimates and formulae.