How Much Money I Made (and Spent) at the Art Market

I love vending!!! As tiring as it is, I adore make new merch, meeting my fans and making connections with new people and other artists.

I used to table a lot, at conventions like Lightbox Expo, TCAF and NYCC but I took a three year hiatus while I entered motherhood.

After a long break, I was ready to explore the world of markets again but I knew I was essentially starting from scratch. Although I have a decent amount of inventory left over from my last event, I had all new merch to make and needed to prepare a whole new table set-up.

Last month (in the middle of a picture book deadline crunch), I tabled at QuadM, a two-day curated market that specifically focused on female, Muslim businesses. Since I’m still relatively new to the Dallas area, I felt that, even if I didn’t earn big, I could still treat this event as a networking opportunity and connect with my local community.

I want to tell you guys today about how much money I made (and lost.)

I had a lot of stock left over from school visits and my last art market in 2023 that were ready to sell. Because I was already dealing with my picture book deadline, I didn’t want the added stress of designing new merch. So, I tried to reuse as much as possible, and the only new merch I ordered were prints.

This was my final inventory for the market:

✸ 8 Picture book titles (10 copies each)

✸ 6 A4-sized prints (15 each)

✸ 4 A3-sized prints (15 each)

✸ Washi-tape from a collab with The WashiStation

✸ Two enamel pin designs (at least 25 each)

✸ A name keychain (50)

✸ Totebags (10 bags)

I also had a few things already on hand for set-up:

✸ Vertical Banner

✸ Tiered Book-shelf

✸ Grid Cube display

Because I was doing a local market and had my car, I had a lot more flexibility on what I could bring with me. When I do out-of-town shows, I have to be mindful about traveling with heavy luggage so I often bring way less than I am able to sell and often sell out early. Which could be seen as a good thing, but I could also be making more money lol.

Books are super heavy, so I tend to bring a smaller amount but for QuadM I could bring a lot of inventory easily (although in hindsight, I could have brought even more!)

But more important than ordering merch was my set-up. I was so used to lowkey comic-con and animation artist alleys, that I simply wasn’t prepared more a more ‘high-end’ luxury market. I wasn’t going to sat tabling next to other quirky fun artists with cute ita bags and body pillow. My fellow vendors at QuadM were designer abaya sellers, and aesthetic candle businesses, and elegant home decor connoisseurs.

I was so used to Artist Alleys providing me a standard table and chair, that I was shocked that the only thing I was going to get from this market was an enormous 10x8ft space, and would be required to set up a gorgeous little storefront with my own furniture.

What initially was planned to be a very low-key ‘ return to market’ turned into something much more serious and I felt the pressure to create something presentable, lest I look like a unserious hobbyist next to the fancy stores on either side of me. I mean, vendors were talking about hiring wedding decorators for their backdrops. Meanwhile, I had a singular wrinkly tablecloth that wouldn’t even cover my table fully.

And so, I found my expenses start to build up.

✸ Table fee - $400

✸ Horizontal vinyl banner - $88 (I ended up getting a second banner for free because the first printed badly)

✸ Art prints - $243.25

✸ 50x Business Cards - $21.53 (I am SO CHEESED to reprint cards. I have like 200 business cards but they all have my old social media links + email address. Any ideas what to do with them beyond recycling?)

✸ Backing cards for enamel pins - $25.21

✸ Rug - $55

✸ ‘Shoe rack’ - $5.50 (adding a tier for my books)

✸ 2x Plate Displays - $17.75 (great hack for displaying prints)

✸ Clear sign clips - $18.99

✸ Lamination paper - $14.85

✸ 5x Tabletop book easels - $15.99

✸ 2x tablecloths - $72.98

✸ Clear bags for Large and Small prints - $38.38

✸ Square Reader - $47.99

✸ Backdrop Stand - $37.99

✸ Pegboard display & accessories - $35 (Got a great deal from FB Marketplace)

✸ 6ft foldable table - $55 (Got from FB marketplace. I also borrowed two additional 4ft tables and folding chairs)

✸ Printed paper - $10 (I don’t own a printer currently, and ended up printing my price tags from Staples that I then cut and laminated myself.)

(Of course, not including the cost of my old stock on hand).

That’s a big number, waaay larger than I had intended when I signed up for the event. But thankfully, a lot of of these items are part of a long-term investment and ideally I will continue to table at events and use them again. In fact, I have a market this weekend in Garland, TX!

All in all, it was a pretty fun event! I had a wonderful time meeting some of my longtime fans, connecting with other female businesses, and capturing a new audience. I am so very grateful for all the purchases and support towards my art and creative career.

Here’s a before and after of my table set up.

Before:

And after!

In terms of sales…

I signed up for QuadM with my pal and fellow mom-artist Yumna, who was featuring her new Watercolor Polaroid live illustration business. Although QuadM is usually a single day event, because of the large turn-out last year, they opted to do a two-day weekend market. You could choose to table one day, or both. We both opted for the Sunday event, since tabling for two days felt like a huge commitment when arranging child-care for our kids.

I am used to doing 3-4 day artist-alleys, and so I knew that obviously sales would be lower with this one-day event.

I didn’t have a comparison point, but after speaking with other vendors who had tabled last year, I found that their sales were generally lower than in 2024. Since the venue changed and was further out than usual, the customer base ended up being split between the two days and the single-day vendors suffered for it.

Since this audience was such a specific niche, being affluent Muslim families, I had no idea how my art was going to sell.

In other artist-alleys, my prints are a big hit, but I can understand if they are not appealing to this crowd. It’s always a gamble when you sell to a new audience. As an example, I already know my art doesn’t typically do well as the typical Comic-Con, since people tend to prefer fan art; but I get great sales at indie comic expos and animation conventions.

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(Minus a bit for sales tax and, eventually, my business taxes).

How did I do?

Not amazing margins, and I’ve done much better at other markets.

My Lightbox Expo and NYCC event are my biggest earners, going as high as the 5-figures. They also usually lead to more client-work, since these events are great networking opportunities to meet art directors and recruiters and I often end up doing panels/lectures for added exposure.

However! Those cons tend to have much larger expenses; spending thousands when you take into account flights, lodging for minimum five days in expensive cities, daily taxi’s and food. For two people since I started bringing my husband/assistant along (and likely will include my toddler eventually too).

Meanwhile, QuadM was in my own city! I drove my own car, and slept in my house. I bought a snack at the market, but otherwise ate at home that day. What a bargain!

And while it might not have been a freelance-focused networking bonanza, my goal was to connect with other female business owners and local families. To develop friendships and engrain myself more in this new community I have moved into. Maybe one day, these connections will evolve into potential collabs, or a collective of women who inspire and guide me through this new phase of my life as a creative mom.

I hope this breakdown gives a little insight in what goes on behind-the-scenes of an art market and what the expenses are like. I think it’s important to look the big-picture side of events, and all the different things of value you could gain from it beyond just the actual sales.

Like I said, I hope to do more events like this in the future, and keep an eye out for an limited-release online store! I plan to sell some of my stock for the Xmas season like my prints and accessories.

And don’t forget to check out this storytime/market this weekend!

ANYWAY BYE