How much merch is enough?

[SmidgeArt]

I'm going to my first convention this year
I'm planning on going to San Japan and I'm not too sure if I'm going to be making enough merch
I'm thinking about maybe 10 different print designs and doing 35 prints for each
25 charms with 8 designs each
25 stickers with 6 designs each
And 20 buttons with 8 designs each also

Is this enough for all 3 days or should I make more merch?

Thank you for the responses in advance!

[joannekwan]

35 prints per design is a LOT. I'd recommend bringing no more than 10 per design to save on trunk space.
Unless you're a super bomb artist or have a design that's super appealing, I don't see inventory moving that quickly. And it's better to sell out than have a lot of extras to lug back home.
You can always hold on to your inventory for your next con, or to sell online.
The volume of the smaller items seem fine and won't take up as much of your trunk space.

[sambeawesome]

I agree with @joannekwan 35 prints each is way too much. For a first con especially, it's better to sell out than to have leftovers. Also speaking from experience, you're not gonna wanna haul that much back and forth. I agree to aim for 10 max per print. Don't view selling out as a negative, it just tells you what's popular and gives you less to carry home

Good luck!

[GesuGesu]

For a first convention, I'd go even lower than @joannekwan's recommendation. I don't know how much following you already have who might know you're attending that convention, but I started out with 5 copies of each print, and I still managed to have 1 or 2 pieces left over at the end of the day. You can have more designs, but definitely less copies of each print.

It is better to sell out than to have to take leftovers home and try to sell them again at the next convention.

[ben]

I actually fully disagree with the idea that it’s better to sell out than to have extra and I’ve never heard that logic before to be honest?

Though I mainly avoid anime conventions I do several every year and it’s always, always preferable to have leftover. Taking stuff to cons and having space for stuff is always hard but that’s part of the battle. You just take your leftovers to sell online or at your next con. It’s always better to be over prepared because by only bringing a handful of prints you’re basically putting a hard cap on the amount of money you’ll be able to make. Sure, at your first few conventions it’ll feel kind of nice to fully clear inventory but the more cons you do the more you’ll realize it’s basically throwing money out the window.

Don’t get into the bad habit of under-preparing. Selling out of a print you only brought five of doesn’t mean a lot in the long run and might be severely limiting because the truth is you will never know exactly how much you’ll sell at any given con.

In my early days of doing cons I would bring maybe 10-15 copies of my comic and end up feeling really good when I sold out but I could’ve been selling a lot more and actually making a decent profit without realizing what the actual demand was at the time. It also turns out it LOOKS better to not have a bunch of sold out stuff on the table when you look at how a lot of professionals and companies operate tables. I’ve learned the hard way that having a sparse table just makes you look underprepared and unprofessional.

Granted, I don’t know your skill level, what type of cons you’re doing, how the attendance is, and willingness of attendees to support the work. But most people can’t predict that even after doing hundreds of cons.

[joannekwan]

Yeah I think it's important to gauge by one's following …
but sometimes it's really up in the air. I did one design, made 10 prints, haven't sold a single one in 3 years.
Particularly if it's your very first convention, you don't know what would be in-demand for the attendees.
If you have more conventions planned, sure, have a larger inventory, but if you're just testing the waters I think it's better to play it safe. Just my opinion, having tabled 7 cons.

[ben]

Most people who buy things aren’t usually JUST buying stuff from folks they know. Nowadays I do get a lot of people who come up to my table who are there because hey know who I am but there are still hundreds of people I’ve sold things to who have no idea who I am or that I have any type of following. I’ve slowed down to only three or four cons a year but I used to do a lot more before I had a following too and it’s always the same.

And yeah, that’s part of it. Most people DON’T know what’s going to do well so you have to put it into the hands of the audience to decide. It’s better to have more than to not have enough. This is exactly what cons are good; trying to get your work into the hands of as many people as possible.

[joannekwan]

Guess it'll be just down to the numbers then for OP lol.

Can they afford to buy X amount of prints on top of the table price? How many things do they need to sell to break even? Do they have far to travel and are limited to the amount of luggage space they have for their inventory and set-up?

I notice that OP does make 'cute' art that can appeal to a lot of people, and potentially be really good sellers.
But since we don't know what specific designs they are planning to print, it will be at their discretion.

[SmidgeArt]

So far I have mainly anime prints. I'm finishing up a Demon slayer one atm but i have 2 sticker designs finished up already

[Shanny8]

I started to state that the numbers were too many, but...are you going to have a book as well? If not, then I'd say lower the numbers by 10 and cut back on the number of designs as well.

[sambeawesome]

If you're a seasoned con-goer or otherwise extremely well known/have crazy good art, it makes sense to have extra stock, but for someone's first convention, I don't think "under preparing" is a bad thing. It gives you an idea of what to expect, helps you gauge what's popular/sells well, and if you choose to do more in the future (since you may change your mind and hate cons all together), then you can better prepare for those. Everyone's first con is a test, I think it's fair to say that at the least.

[HGohwell]

I'm with the people saying buy less. I'm on the have more designs and fewer of each copy. Although not for the same reasons. If you only do one or two cons a year, sure selling out is pretty good. But if you're doing several cons a year they can roll over. But no, I often have only print 3 or fewer copies of prints for the very cynical reason that I can then put a super limited edition sticker on them and put the price a bit more, plus people are more likely to buy if there's a higher chance that when they come back it'll be gone, less chance of people going "I'll come back once I've had a look around" and then never coming back.

But, of course, be very careful buying stock right now. I don't know when the con you're planning to attend it, but be careful with the amount of cons being cancelled and postponed because of the virus. I just escaped buying a load of stock for a con that's just been pushed back. A few hours later on the announcement and I would have sent my things off to print already.

[SmidgeArt]

The con I'm looking for is till August so I'm hoping this will all be over by then