Adventures in Merchanting

Picture by Benito. Note the walls held up by dreads.

I woke up the other day realizing that there had been a large shift in my thoughts about where I wanted to be in the next year. A lot of focus has been going into my business and how to expand and have it be more successful while still allowing me freedom.

I had been asked some time ago if I would like to be a vendor at Astaroth Games. Seeing as I had never actually been a vendor at an event, I said yes. I figured I needed to start somewhere and it was a small event where I could do so.

I arrived to site a bit underprepared as all of my vendor gear was borrowed. The weather was decent to start and I got the main pop up set up and the cover on it. One of the vendors I was next to saw that I was struggling a bit to get the structure fully stretched out alone. He and his son offered to help, and assisted me in nailing in some stakes as I didn’t have any of my own. I was touched by the generous assistance and amused by being chastised by a child of about 8 how to set up a pavillion.

Then the wind kicked up. The walls on my structure were not secured very well as I did not have anything to really attach them with. Seeing as I had no bungee balls, twine or duct tape, I realized I needed to come up with a solution. Staring through my small piles of gear I realized I had one thing that would work.

I opened my dread bag and grabbed my set of dreads. I selected about 12 of them and took them off the elastic and used them to string up my booth. They worked fantastically! I cackled to myself for my solution. Additionally, consider this a random selling point. My dreads are strong, not to mention can get you out of a bind should you need it.

Thankfully, I got my booth set up and cozy. That night I visited with some old friends and had a couple drinks. I laughed until my face hurt, met some new friends and felt incredibly appreciated. After the crazy week I had preparing for Astaroth Games, it was incredible reinforcement for making it worth it.

Riley waking up from a nap. Photo by Benito.

The next morning I woke up around 8:00 a.m. and set up my wares. I made a pot of tea and just hung out in my booth. I had one good friend (Thorgan) who kept me company all day and due to his presence I had a fantastic time just hanging out (he also brought me beverages and food during the day, my hero). A number of people stopped by throughout day to say hello and visit for awhile.

I even managed to have a rather personable camera magician named Benito take some excellent photos of myself, my dog and my booth. Check him out here. He was cracking me up.

My first sale happened to be some beads I had. I also sold my first set of dread falls to a lady I had met the night before. I had arrived to site on a wing and a prayer, with no money in my pocket. After my first sale I was ecstatic, because now I could get home! Throughout the course of the weekend I made a few more sales. I also traded a set of dreads for a leather mask I had wanted for a number of years.

I adored Astaroth Games, the people and selling my merchandise so much that I signed up for merchanting at Ragnaroc the a couple weekends later. After I am done with this post I am going to be back to making stock for said event. I am grateful and elated at the opportunity to hang out with such an awesome group of people, in addition to making my first merchant experience so joyful.

My success at Astaroth Games is making me seek out other opportunities for merchanting. I am going to try out my merchant legs this year, if all is successful I will likely road trip to vend in other parts of the country next year. Can we say Road Trip!? As I lock in events that I am merchanting, I will add a page so you know where to find me if you want to buy some dreads in person!

~Kera