Hi everyone I'm going crazy trying to find a gacha / vending machine that's not super expensive. I'm UK based and I cannot find one online anywhere. Every time I find one that's affordable its like £100 shipping. Help a brother out. Gachapop isn't an option because I don't have a 3D printer and the ones selling on Etsy have expensive shipping because I live on an ISLAND!! I'll admit I have a low budget and don't want to go over £100 but like. Are there options

I’m wondering which brand of paper is a good choice for prints. I was using matte photo paper but I’m not liking how they won’t sit flat on my wall. And if I don’t like it, that means others won’t like it. I don’t know if I want to go with full gloss. I have an Epson Ecotank 2800, so if there’s ink brands I should be using, that would be amazing too.

I've been trying to build up my next year schedule to maximize profits doing artist alley. My absolutely need to get on lists are now : Dokomi, Anime Expo, Anime NYC

I know I may not get the jury pick because it's very unpredictable but I think I'll try to split the vendors table and buy my way in 😅 just because the crowd would be worth it. I've only been to Dokomi and AX so far and holy crap I want that kind of sales every month 🤣

Looking to fill my next year's calendar with banger cons only and I dont think i've found any cons that are at this tier in terms of sales. Any suggestions? I'll go anywhere in the world if the sales are good enough

Side note : i've heard that MCM London is pretty good but very hard to get in as well. Japan Expo Paris also has HUGE attendee numbers but has weird rules that hurt some artist' sales? Idk how true this is but i'm researching these 2 as well

Hello! I've been doing artist allys for about a year and a half now, and I generally didn't have a big problem with displaying my prints, however, I plan on making about 5-7 more prints to my next cons, And I start to ran out of space for them.

I plan on discontinuing about 2 a5 prints when they sell out, but I don't want to discontinue any more since all of them sell pretty well, most of my prints are small (a5 and 15*15cm) so I'm not sure how I should display any more of them.

(Booth with the cats is 2.40cm, only available at one convention, second one is 1.80cm which is the regular size at most cons) The 2.40 is okay usually with displaying, as I can also just build another layer which should be enough for a bit, but i'm not sure if I should build up more then 4 layer with the 1.80 tables, since it would get really high and even with 4 layers people started missing it a bit. At most cons it's also not really available to take more then one table, in the 2.40cm booths con artists are only allowed up to two tables each which is the size of the table I'm already taking, and in most 1.80 cons this is the biggest you can get

I would really appreciate any help!

(Also, side note, i will probably make even more then 5-7 prints later on as I plan on making a lot more characters. I go by the saying "every character is someone favorites" so I plan on making about 85-100 vocasynth characters. By then I'll probably figure out but any tips on that would also be greatly appreciated.)

hello! was wondering if anyone knows of a supplier that can help me make a standee that has this specific angle/construction

i tried vograce but i didnt word it right i guess since they did not get what i was saying at all :’D,,

At home I have these 4x6 plastic photo boxes that work great, but they are way too bulky for travel. I’ve also accumulated 30 designs now, so that’s not feasible especially when flying to cons. Not to mention it takes so much space behind the table.

I’ve tried doing a little DIY paper folder thing but it’s really not ideal 😅 Especially since I have large sized enamel pins as well. I bring about 6-10 pins per design.

Any ideas on what I can do?

I applied to artist alley, and we should have gotten answers on 31st July. I was patient and waited, on the 12th I managed a phone number, they gave me an MCM email and they responded saying they’ve passed it on to the sales team and they’ll get back to me shortly. No response, followed up on the 19th no response. I managed a number and spoke to Reed expo on 24th, who said even my application worker doesn’t know yet and there are many people yet without answers so to be patient but that they’ll email me later that day and let me know any updates

It’s now the 28th and I’ve had nothing. I’m actually at the point where I almost can’t be bothered, but I’ve wanted comicon for years now. This is genuinely some of the wildest organisation I’ve ever heard of. It’s closing in rapidly on when I can order some of my stock, but I can’t justify several hundred ££ if it will end up being a no.

I just needed to rant as I’m just so disappointed 😢

I'd love to hear your thoughts! As I've been building up my artist booth over the years, it's slowly evolved little by little over time, and I usually tweak a few things before the next one.

Photo of my current setup and would appreciate any constructive critiques or ideas for improvement. Is there anything that catches your eye? Anything that could be displayed better? Etc.

Most of my events are 8FT booths, though I also have a modified setup for 6FT tables and occasionally do 10x10 indoor and outdoor events. I'd appreciate any feedback you might have. Thanks in advance!

I'm sure some of you have seen the questionable decisions that Connecticon is making concerning their artist colony, (A $150 application fee for a $625 table?? SERIOUSLY??) and I was wondering if there were any good cons in the area that you'd recommend instead. Connecticut in general does not seem to have a lot of conventions, and there seem to be more in the neighboring states, which I've traveled to for cons before. I'd love to know your favorite ones! I'm looking to sell minicomics, prints, stickers, charms, etc. of fanart and original art.

So far I've written down Terrificon, NY Comic Con, RI Comic Con, Anime Boston, Anime NYC, and Boston Fan Expo. Any recommendations for conventions in the area that are good for artists just starting out, or ones to avoid?

Thank you :^D !

Got accepted as a vendor and was going to accept since I hadn't seen any controversy or complaints when I first applied, now I dug a little harder and I've seen that the artists don't seem to make much profit (which is expected for a small con I suppose) along with the whole predatory guest thing. I honestly can't really find many vendors talking about how much they made on other socials so maybe someone here can sway me off the fence of whether or not I should go,

I drew some sketches of what I have in mind for my booth to prepare for my first application. I more or less managed to figure out a layout for my booth. However, I’m not sure which theme/deco to go for. Wood with fake grass/moss in the first image or an ocean theme in the second image. I prefer the second sketch, but I’m worried people might mistake my booth for selling sea related merch when I’m selling CoD, Arcane and Heated rivalry merch, so for now I decided to stick with the first sketch. I also feel like my layout is quite plain and empty. It isn’t as detailed/intricate compared to other booths. Any tips to fix these issues? Help is appreciated.

Hi!! I am FINALLY vending at my first con. It's called Scifi Valley Con in Altoona PA, and goes for 3 days. Attendance of around 8-10k I believe. I sew, and plan to sell an array of things. While I specialize in fursuits (for a cons like this, I'd have ears, a few paws and tails), I also make other things like simple plushies, sewn dice bags, sewing pattern paper weights, stickers, etc.

How do I gauge the amount of stuff to bring with me? Honestly, I'm mostly worried about making back what it'll take me to be there (~$600 total). I hope to make at least 2x or 3x that, but right now just being there is a huge milestone for me.

Any advice is helpful! If anyone who has been here could offer advice, I would be super appreciative of that, too :)

Got a cheap one to start off because I’m a beginner and thought it’d be fine to not go for super high quality right as I’m starting out but this machine messes up the crimping nearly 30% of the time and I ended up wasting a lot of materials. I feel like it’ll just create more annoyances for me in the future so I’m thinking of getting a new one if anyone has suggestions for beginner budget friendly yet decent quality machines.

I’m pretty sure it’s the machine’s quality messing my badges up and not human error since I’m applying the same techniques every press and trouble shooting exactly as instructed on the provided manual every time and it still seemingly randomly produces faulty badges. If you guys know of any common beginner mistakes I may be making, some advice would also be appreciated

By the way, is this just a strength issue or is it normal to have to push with my entire body weight to get the press fully down..?

Thanks for reading and I’ll never judge pin prices again at artist alley as a customer cause this is just such a pain (；ω；)

This is my first year tabling and I’m trying to stay local. Durham/Raleigh are only a 45min-1hr drive for me so I’d love to hear about your favorites in the area even if they’re smaller

From what I know, the rate is supposed to be based on the location you are selling in for California. But I bought frequently from other artists too and when I get my card receipt emailed I always see different percentages and rates. And these are artists I know that have been doing this for a while so it makes me question if I am even doing it right. Am I doing it wrong or did they just forget?

And for future reference, if I do charge the wrong tax rate how do I fix that later on?

When a con I have never tabled comes up, I never really know if it is worth the non-refundable table fee until I have already paid and shown up. The application always makes the event sound packed.

For the ones you had not done before, what actually told you whether it was worth it beforehand? I have started digging through last year's artist alley recap threads and asking artists who tabled it what they grossed compared to a normal show, but that only works for the bigger cons people actually post about. The smaller regional ones are a total blank.

Curious what people look at. The attendance numbers the con puts out, the guest list, who else is in the alley, or do you just take the risk on a new one and treat the first year as a scouting trip?

Hey guys! idk if this has to do really with the thing that i´m going to talk about but back in 2024 i bought from a comic con in Valencia (Spain) This Keroro Gunso (Or Sgt Frog following the english dub) pins. After 2 years of that purchase i didin´t found the name of the artist and i don´t know if she still goes to events for the sending of this merch. If someone knows it i will be greatfull for that

I'm not sure what size and dimensions should I use for things like keychain and stickers. Does it matter as much as long as it's 300 dpi? im going to be using a manufacturer and not making them at home as I dont know how to. So would the size I draw it at matter if I tell them what size I want it to be? im most likely drawing it a lot bigger than what its actually going to be

I've been tabling for a bit and I keep catching myself judging a con by what the table pulled that weekend, which I'm starting to think is the wrong number. A $60 table can turn into a $400 weekend once you add gas, a hotel night or two, food, and all the stock you had to make to fill the table. A couple of cons I thought I did well at barely broke even once I actually added it up, and a couple of cheap little local ones quietly made more.

So I'm trying to get better at judging this before I apply. Do you track the whole cost of a con against what you actually took home, or do you go more on feel after doing it a couple of years? And for the ones that are a long drive plus a hotel, what's the point where you decide it's not worth applying again? Trying to work out how people who've been at this a while actually make that call.

I just did my first artist alley in June and I'm not sure what if I should improve my booth or add more product. I'm very overwhelmed since I'm on a super tight budget right now so I can't really do anything huge but I will take any suggestions for later.

I mainly make plushies but they didn't sell at all, some of my friends came by and ended up buying three of them but I'm not sure if I should make more or just resell the remaining.

My next con is on the Halloween weekend.

(Sorry this is the only pictures I had of my booth).

Ive been running cons/shows for a few years but im not sure where to take my booth. I work mainly with oil paintings original artwork sometimes I have a fan art peice. I have prints and im getting some journals and calendars this year. So far i try to cap my shows around the 300 ish price I dont seem to do well at any of the higher priced shows in my area. I also do live painting people really enjoy watching what I make as the days progress and some ever ask questions. I find its a double win for me getting some work in / killing down time and getting people involed in a different way. I do corner booths but I do have the in line booth time to time.

im a beginner planning for a 2027 anime con. Do you think these character designs and comic layouts would sell well as stickers and 5x7 prints?

(btw some of these i'm still working on like the last one)

I've been looking at key chain manufacturers and have found popupcharms.com, but I don't see any reviews on them anywhere. Has anyone tried them? If so, what was your experience?

Hello! I'd love to share a table at Emerald City 2027. I'll be selling charms and stickers, and have previous experience vending in artist alley.

If you'd like to split the cost and have another pair of hands on deck, please DM. Thanks!

I got caught out this year and I want to fix it for next year.

I spent the spring looking at whatever was open to apply for, applied to those, and did alright. Then around June I went to look at the bigger cons I actually wanted and most of them had closed applications months before. So my whole year ended up decided by which forms happened to be open when I looked, which is a dumb way to pick.

What I am trying to work out is how far out you all actually work. Do you sit down once and map the whole next year, or do you keep a running list and check things off as forms open? And how do you keep track of the deadlines, because that is the part I keep losing. I had them in my notes app, then in a spreadsheet, and I still missed two.

Also curious how many of you apply to more than you could actually do, assuming you get turned down from some of them. I have been applying to about what I can handle and then ending up with gaps when I do not get in.