A checklist to get over craft show rejections and help improve your application for future editions.
“Ever Tried.
Ever Failed. No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better”
Samuel Beckett
A few years ago, some of the women we admire the most wrote an epic open letter to makers who are disappointed and/or are downright rude when they get rejected. It’s a must read for craft show organizers and vendors alike ► https://www.makeology.ca/blog/openletter
In the spirit of that letter, we would like to write our own version to explain to our own community how our selection process works and what we’re looking for in a vendor.
So here it goes.
The first thing you need to know about us, dear makers, is that we are good people and we love you. It’s thanks to you that we get to organize these amazing creative markets to showcase your talent to the world and change shopping habits in our local economy. But even in this fairyland of crafting and creating and living off our passions, we all have to learn how to deal with rejection. Nobody likes rejection, we’d all love to hear YES all the time, but sadly, that’s not the way life works.
Rejection checklist
So you didn’t get in. Before you take it personally or give up on your aspirations, here are some simple things you should be checking to better improve your chances next time.
1- Did I formally apply?
It goes without saying that you must submit an application in order to receive an acceptance or rejection to our curated shows!
But you would be surprised how many vendors contact us in a frantic state because they either didn’t see the vendor call, missed the application, thought they applied but somehow never did, or didn’t click send on the application form.
In order not to miss our vendor calls, please make your life easier by subscribing to our mailing list and following us on social media. We post about the application call TONS OF TIMES with TONS OF REMINDERS in TONS OF DIFFERENT SPOTS ONLINE.
We know it’s an age of notification-saturation, but give yourself your best possible shot of getting in by NOT FORGETTING TO APPLY ON TIME! We do not accept late applications or take any vendors who have not been evaluated by our jury.
We know that life happens. We are all sensible and sensitive individuals who deeply understand the challenges of running a small business, balancing work and family-life, managing health issues, etc. But our events only run smoothly when everyone is organized, professional and no balls are dropped. You wouldn’t want us to drop any balls in organizing the market, so please try hard not to drop the ball in applying on time.
When you apply to our shows, you now automatically receive a confirmation email to the address you applied with. Please check your junk mail folder for it. It seems silly to say, but that’s how you’ll know we got your application. Please look into that BEFORE you contact us to ask!
2- Was my application complete and typo-free?
Did you fill ALL the required information? ALL OF IT?
Did you send us the pictures we asked for? Did you follow our photo guidelines?
Did you check your email address was typo-free?
Did you give us your right website or Etsy shop link?
Is your website / shop updated and filled with your most recent creations? It is very hard to jury a website that doesn’t work or a shop that is on vacation mode.
Did you add our email to your trusted recipient list, so that we don’t end up in your spam folder?
3- Am I a good fit for this market and its clientele?
Have you been to our markets as a shopper or volunteer? Do you know whether you can find your target clientele at our events?
Are your products a good seasonal fit for the market you’re applying for?
Are your products appropriately priced? Our data show that our clients tend to spend between 30/40$ on average per transaction. It is always best to have a range of products at different price points, not only showpieces for very high budgets.
For example, if you sell paintings at thousands of dollars, consider also bringing prints at more accessible price ranges. If you sell leather goods for hundreds of dollars each, consider bringing smaller accessories as well.
4- How’s my attitude?
We cannot emphasize the importance of attitude enough, not only for respectful community conduct, but also its impact on your OWN SALES!
If you have participated in our markets before, did you spend all the time looking at your phone, frowning, never making eye contact or engaging your clients?
Did you have a good time without being attached to the financial outcome? Please consider that success is not only measured in sales during the show, but also in terms of post-show sales, wholesale or other unique opportunities. If you show up with professionalism and positivity, you’ve got more chances on your side than if you’re surly and unapproachable.
Did you pay your invoice on time?
Did you cancel on us at the last minute?
Did you do your part to help promote the event?
Were you late to the market?
Have you been kind to the organizers, other vendors and volunteers? If you weren’t, please kindly note that we don’t have time or tolerance for this type of attitude and you will likely not be invited back to our market. We’re all business professionals and grown-ups. As organizers, we are not required to tolerate any form of abuse.
Finally, note that, as show organizers, it is our job to bring you the traffic (and we do - in thousands!), but it’s your job to convert them into meaningful conversations, collaborations and sales.
5- Are my brand photos ah-ma-zing?
Do you have crisp, high quality photos that entice browsers to buy?
Did you have your products professionally photographed?
We live in a visual world. Pretty and professional images are vital for us to promote our show, our brand and your company.
Media loves lifestyle photos, white backgrounds and images that highlight product details.
Make it look like a million bucks.
Also make sure that you name your photos with your company name.
Don’t use watermarks on your photos or send us a collage with 6 photos in it - we won’t be able to use it in our promotional posts!
6- Is my brand presentation on point?
We’re looking for professional crafters, so your brand has to look like it’s a real company and not a granny knitting teakettle cozies.
Great branding and an amazing table display will get you noticed for future shows, fo sure! Our team often picks their “coups de coeur” favorites based on which exhibitors wow them with their brand identity and visual presentation. So, strive to get noticed!
7- Was I unreasonable in asking for accommodations?
Did you ask for an electrical outlet, extra space for a rack, 4 free feet behind you for your self-supporting banner AND 7 extra chairs?
We run tabletop markets, the idea being that we have 1.30 hours to set up and take down.
Unfortunately too many special requests and demands will be impossible for us to meet.
8- Do I respect the organizers by paying my invoices on time?
It’s fair to say that we don’t enjoy chasing our vendors for their fees. In fact, we downright hate it. We work SO HARD to jury HUNDREDS of applications, send out hundreds of responses, draft the contracts, create the invoices. We have a LONG waiting list of talented, eager, respectful makers just waiting for that chance.
And then, we run into trouble with makers who don’t pay their invoices by the deadline.
We understand, shit happens. Roofs collapse. Cars engines die. Kids need hockey equipment.
But if we have to chase after you to get you to pay your spot, you will lose your spot and won’t be invited back.
Sorry, but we have bills to pay, too!
9- Do I respect copyright and cultures?
We don’t take cultural appropriation lightly.
Do you use other cultures’ traditions in your creations?
Do you make dream catchers and tipis because they look cute and are trendy, but have no idea of their meaning?
Do you take sacred rituals and try to pass them off as self-care or wellness?
The hard truth is that you’re profiting from something that doesn’t belong to you, often originating in cultures that have been mistreated and marginalized.
Copyright violations are also a hard pass from us. Are you using a trademarked element in your work?
Do your own thing. Educate yourself. Be an ally, not a profiteer.
10- Is my work original or is it heavily influenced by other makers?
Our goal with these curated markets is to find makers who stand out from the crowd. When we receive almost 500 interesting applications and choose about 100 of them, you can imagine that we prioritize work that is original and in a style of its own.
Does your personality shine through your products or does it simply follow a trend?
Do you communicate your why and your inspirations in the descriptions you send us, and on your social media channels?
Do your pieces have a story to tell?
Is your work heavily influenced by other artists in our community? Do clients sometimes confound your work with another brand?
We like originality and innovation. We don’t like copycats!
11- Have I done many Collectif Créatif shows in the last while?
Sometimes, it’s honestly nothing you can do better.
Sometimes we LOVE your branding, products, pricing, professionalism and cheerful disposition.
Sometimes, it’s really JUST about the saturation of a particular category (hello, jewelry!) and about balancing things on our end.
For example, if we want to give an emerging watercolor artist a chance at our markets, we can’t also accept 3 or 4 other of our favorite watercolor artists, because it will only end up hurting everyone.
Clients are extremely sensitive to repetition in product styles both within and across categories. The whole point of a juried, curated market is to put together something that will benefit shoppers and makers.
We pride ourselves on rotating our makers frequently, to give shoppers and artists a fresh market each time.
We also work hard to give NEW exhibitors a chance to join us, as you’ve surely noticed from our maker lists published on Facebook (vendors who are exhibiting for the first time are always identified).
If you read all the way to this point, thank you for your time!
We hope that this checklist can help get your application in even better shape by the time our next application call rolls around.
Feel free to save it to your device and refer to it in order to apply to our shows thoughtfully.
We take our work very seriously, and we hope you understand our process better now.
With kindness and respect,
Mel Serangelo, Kristina Kasparian &
The Collectif Creatif Montreal team