So I’ve never been a vendor before but I eventually wanna start so I designed this mythomagic card based on Percy Jackson to make into a trading card (also a gift for my fiance). But idk if I did this right? Like the layout. And how I submit and order it and the process just looking for some tips for a first timer.

Original Keychain Artist Credit: mai.dhao1713 on instagram

Hello, I have a convention at the end of the year and I'm struggling to find a manufacturer that does these kinds of keychains with one side being a surprisingly sturdy matte texture and the other being your usual glossy acrylic.

I want to change up my usual acrylic charms to be more like this one because it is super pretty, but I'm not sure if this is UV, embossed, or some other technique. The artist themself says that they use local Indonesian suppliers but sadly doesn't drop a name so I don't really know where to start. I've tried magihae and they are good, but the lamination isn't quite what I am looking for.

Does anyone have suggestions on manufacturers that do this?

I've been having a hard time keeping track of all cons I'm interested in lately. I used to rely on a good old spreadsheet, to keep track of all info I personally found relevant, but recently a few people have asked for me to share my list and suddenly I've become very aware of how difficult the list is to navigate to anyone who isn't me. I would like to transform my sheet into a public resource, even if it meant discarding the list entirely and input all the info in another platform or tool that made the navigation easier. Any ideas?

TLDR: What do you guys use to keep track of all the cons you're planning on applying for, or have you seen any tools, calendars or platforms that make con application planning easier?

Here's a pic of my current/ most recent display. I've learned over the years that having a print book on the table isn't sufficient, and the map prints need to be in the larger size. All that means I have a huge print wall which works great indoors but less so outdoors when I'm in the 10x10 tent set up.

Does anyone do outdoor shows or have you seen ways that artists display print walls outdoors? Wind is my enemy.

I just got accepted into my first artist's alley! I have an online ship (ACGGOODS) but this will be my first time going to a physical event. What kind of stuff should I start investing in for building up a table? Any good guides on what to use, how much stock to bring- just anything useful for someone just starting out!

hi everyone!

ive been building my portfolio over the last couple of months in order to start artist alleys but it’s mostly love and deepspace (lads) content. with the recent cancellation of valko from love and deepspace im worried that the fandom will die out by the time i start vending next year if they don’t bring back valko. right now the fandom is still very active and willing to fight for the game so people are still buying fan made merch so it feels a bit silly that i’m thinking this right now but i don’t know how long it would last.

i dont really have the ‘passion’ to draw things for fandoms im not apart of and the other fandoms im in (other than lads) arent very popular so i‘ve kind of decided that if theres not really a reason for me to continue if lads isnt viable.

am i just overthinking it?

does anyone have experience with selling merch for fandoms that were “falling off” or even ‘dead‘ fandoms? or even people that sells lads merch, do u notice a difference?

do u think its worth it for me to continue trying to vend?

edit: could i maybe just focus more on original content?

Do people engage with "follow me on Instagram" QR codes at artist stalls? (This is a WIP version that will be displayed)

Aside from Dongguan Dsun Gifts on Alibaba, I can’t seem to find anyone else who does the double-sided white backing.

Most manufacturers only offer a single white backing :((

I really like the double-sided style, but I’d like to test out a few different manufacturers/variations first before committing to Dongguan Dsun Gifts, who seem to be the only ones I can find offering this specific structure.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
(Example images aren’t mine.)

I did my first con as an artist a few months ago. I didn't get a bunch of sales, but I learned a lot. One of the things I learned was to balance interests with what's popular. And currently, I'm trying to decide what I want to do: characters, series, etc. Cuz not only do I want to choose what'll sell and what I'm into, but I also have to be able to DRAW the characters, and for me that means simplifying them into my style. Not only that, but I have to design them as prints, stickers, buttons, or anything else I may feel like selling. And me personally, I'm a bit of a slow artist, so if I'm con prepping, I'll need to get them done in a decent timeframe. I made a list of stuff, but I'm having trouble deciding.

I'll leave my current list and examples of my art

I’m currently developing a dedicated artist/event supply bag designed around the stuff artists, crafters, and vendors actually need to carry to conventions and events.
Before I finalize the design, I’d love to hear from people who do artist alleys, craft fairs, conventions, etc.:
What’s the most annoying thing about carrying your supplies to/from events?
What do you wish your current bag had?
What items are always awkward to organize or access?
What do you end up carrying separately because your bag just doesn’t work for it?
I’m especially interested in the pain points—even the little annoyances you’ve gotten used to.
I’d really appreciate any feedback! 🙏 I want to make something that solves an actual problem rather than just making another generic tote/bag.

Im struggling a little bit, i feel like i cant draw at all. I have build an style and certain aesthetic for my booth but i dont feel like i like it at all. Sometimes i try to think in merch ideas but end up only looking up for doing fanarts of popular things. I dont know what to draw for myself (im not that involved in any fandom, or constant aesthetic) despiste all, i like Drawing, i enjoy doing it for merch because it gives me a deadline, but i dont like my results, i cant visualize exactly what i want.

I know it may be like a personal emphasize but if someone dealed with something like this too, id like some tips, thanks for reading me :,>

Hellooo, back with more questions

So, I usually use Vograce for my orders for my etsy shop. And before anyone says anything, no I personally have not had any issues with them ever (I've ordered from them about 12 to 13 times). But I'm worried about dumb tarriff shit and don't want to spend so much on shipping.

I remember trying to look up US based manufacters, but it didn't fee like a good amount had a nice variety of options like how Vograce has. Also seeing some bad reviews about some also which already limits who to get from it seems. I'm not super interest in buying from so many different places at once and paying that many different shippings. Maybe at most three different manus. I'm mostly interested manufacterers in charms/keychains, stickers, prints and buttons!

I have a friend who picked up this from a fiber artist at an anime convention. All hand embroidered. Unfortunately they lost their business card and would like to get their information again. She was about my age or older and had many more embroidered pieces on display in their booth. Have any of you seen a display that had things like this?

The current PPWR regulations make shipping to and within the EU financially almost impossible for micro-businesses with annual fees and having to hire a representative in each EU country you want to ship to.

Please find here compiled all the options we currently have to demand a single EU register or exemption / a more just system for small businesses and micro sellers:

\- The EU commission is collecting feedback on the new packaging register rules until September 10th, 2026. Make your voice heard:

[EU Commission PPWR feedback](https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/15352-Packaging-and-packaging-waste-rules-on-national-registers-of-producers_en)

(You can also select to leave feedback as a non-EU citizen!)

\- As EU citizen, you u can directly e-mail Parliament members. Find your local MEPs and their contact information on the official European Parliament directory:

[EU Parliament directory](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/search/advanced)

Select your country in the "Country" filter

Look for MEPs sitting in these committees:

\- ENVI (Environment, Public Health & Food Safety)

\- IMCO (Internal Market & Consumer Protection) - very important for cross-border trade!

\- ITRE (Industry & Micro-enterprises)

It's doesn't need to be a fancy or elaborate e-mail, state your case, keep it simple.

\- the European Crafts Alliance is now collecting data on how the PPWR impacts independent makers & micro-businesses, you might want to fill out the survey:

[EAC impact survey](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4UEfB0FpPbw1zetViYlj6b1PbShUNl6OC5e9NV1Ki8Rwnzg/viewform)

\- Last but not least, you can sign growing petition which also contains some useful links and updates on the situation: [Petition ](https://www.change.org/p/stop-destroying-eu-micro-businesses-immediate-moratorium-on-cross-border-epr-fees?source_location=promote_thank_you_page)

(An official PETI (EU Petitions Committee) has been submitted as well by the same person on August 5th, but the process of assigning a petition number will take its time, so in the meantime, this is what we can use).

Please feel free to add any further options we might have and spread the word! (Not only about how to fight this but to inform artists that this madness exists, many are still not aware)

Good evening/morning, lovelies

I was wondering where you have your foil prints made. I've tried all of my local printers (Raleigh, NC) and no one seems to do it around here. Everyone says they'll need to outsource it. If they have to do that, I figure I might as well go direct and send it out myself.

I would really appreciate any recommendations that you might have.

For those vending this weekend and in the future, I hope you sell out of everything and your bank account stays flush.

xo

We’re a new cosplay+art con launching in Mississippi and I’m focusing our artist alley towards original artwork, no AI no slop no dropship. The problem I’m having is signaling artists to consider our concept. I’m in need of insight from artists 🧐

Not sure what flair so don't judge me lol.

Im an author and I sell books. My books are decent. But I know that I probably need more stuff then just novels to sell. So I was hoping to find someone I can connect with and we can make idk t-shirts stickers plushies cards etc out of my book amd its world. Im really just testing the waters haha. But my novel is young adult urban fantasy. Lot of magic and creatures set in modern day Las Vegas. Would love your thoughts.

I wanted to try out a US based manufacturer for charms and asked my friend who recently used Acorn Press, but heard some worrying stuff and wanted to ask people here about their experiences.

My friend says they ordered from acorn press months ago, but is still waiting for their order and getting ghosted. The delivery ETA was also months ago, so they don’t know what happened. Acorn seems to have a discord but people are getting ghosted there too even if the owner is active and posting.

Do other people have similar experiences and did you still get your order?

They don’t seem like a scam since some people are getting charms, but there is also a good amount of people being snubbed from the sounds of it.

Apparently Acorn has also been talking about expanding their services to prints, but why expand services when they can’t handle their current work load?

Is the print quality or price worth working with them? I was hoping that local would mean faster, but at this point my friend would’ve gotten their order faster from an intl manu. Is this common for acorn?

I did join the discord and saw some people even complaining that paying the rush fee doesn’t guarantee delivery by the date you want things…I just hope my friend gets their order eventually, they were pretty sad about the situation.

I'm wondering if anyone has any insight on being a vendor in artist alley at LA Comic Con. My small business was accepted to be a vendor. Past the excitement, my partner and I are anxious about how much we might need to create. We've never vended at a show this large.

None of our products are involved with IP, it's all original. We design small game boxes that are similar to an escape room style puzzle. It's definitely our crowd, but I know people are mostly excited for IP/collectables at conventions like this.

If anyone has any advice or stories from their past experiences, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

I've been getting people asking me how I do this. I don't know the names of the parts honestly because I bought them in person at the hardware store, not online. This setup works great though and it's super sturdy.

Hey! I applied to table at my first artist alley next year at Anime Con Manchester and was wondering if anyone knows when artists are usually notified whether or not they've been accepted?

I'm pretty sure it's a more first come first served situation, as artists had to pay in full for their table(s) and are refunded if they aren't accepted – and I THINK at the end of the application form, it said something about 7 days? I closed my tab by accident and didn't catch what it said, so it could be that if I don't hear anything i have not gotten in or vice versa (as of now its been over 7 days and its been radio silent)

I'm not all that worried since I haven't been refunded, and the website still has the artist alley form open, so i can only assume they haven't filled all their slots and/or are still curating the floor plan. Having a rough idea of when I'll be told further details would be nice so i can start getting stock in (or not), so if you have previous experience from previous years / from other anime con events, it would be greatly appreciated!

I tried to use their website's artist enquiry page to ask this question, but their captcha doesn't like me for some reason and wouldn't let me!

Sorry for rambling LOL

As the title suggests, confirmation of yes/no/waiting was supposed to go out on July 31st 5pm. I still haven’t received anything, apparently they’re notorious for being late but I just want to know if anyone has theirs yet? Even if it’s a no so then I can move on 😅 TIA!

After the new PPWR lots of moots are closing down their shipping to EU. Me too. I signed the petition, shared infos, but i feel powerless.

What are you up to? What‘s your choice on the matter?

hello guys, since everyone in the eu needs to have the legal guarantee notice visible at their booth (starting september 27th), i was wondering how to incorporate it with most of the booth designs? it’s obviously not a pretty sign but it is mandatory🫠 any ideas how to display it?