eStarland gamersXchange Report: Artist Alley
CONVENTION STAFF: ★★★★★ (5/5)
LAYOUT: ★★★ (3/5)
SALES: ★★ (2/5)
ATTENDEES: ★★★ (3/5)
OVERALL: ★★★ (3/5)
VERDICT: I would definitely go again. There are things I could have done better, and things the staff could have done better. Looking forward, I see the start of a great partnership.
Excellent Staff
The staff at this event was wonderful, and an absolute pleasure to do business with. Nearly all essential personnel related to running the event introduced themselves to my table buddy and myself, and they checked on us regularly.
Cool Venue
eStarland is just really freaking cool. XD It’s a warehouse building in an industrial park that is filled from top to bottom with all things anime and video games. There’s so much to look at that you need a minute or five for your eyes to adjust. 8D
Post-Event Sales Opportunity
The staff provides an opportunity for artists to leave prints and small items in display areas throughout the store, to be sold in your absence. You can leave a small quantity of stock with them, and they’ll sell your products for you for a fee. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m looking forward to it! :D
No Cash/Card Transactions
At no point is money to be exchanged between the buyer and seller. If you want to buy something, the vendor fills out a ticket for you, and you go to an eStarland register and pay there. Then you bring the receipt back to the vendor and receive your item. The event will cut vendors a check at the end, with commission fees already paid out.This is done to make sure that eStarland receives the correct commission fee at the end of the event. (Essentially, it prevents off-the-book sales.) I’m neutral on this. I like the satisfaction of physical, monetary transactions, and the payment lines got a little out of control at peak times. No real complaints though. I don’t think it made a difference in sales.
So-So Sales
Sales at this event were mediocre at best. Part of that was my fault. I had way too much stuff with me, and not enough of it was video game related. On the other hand, I find that gamers--especially male gamers--are notoriously cheap, and largely disinterested in crafts. It was a mixture of mismatched products and attendees.
Permitted/Not Permitted Items
These events are monthly, and each month there’s a theme. (Video games, crafts, comics.) My table mate tried to sign up for a video game event, and was told she was not permitted to sell her crafts. However, this was supposed to be a craft day, and 50% of the tables were strictly selling games, consoles, amiibos, etc. Lame. :/
Table Arrangement
Related to the above point, if there are going to be artists and dealers in the same room, they need to be separated. We had a giant amiibo shop on one side of us, and a video game vendor with a demo station on the other side. The traffic for both completely blocked our table from view. Anyone interested in crafts couldn’t see past the line of people who only wanted to buy/play games.
