Welcome to Starving Vendors!!
                             



















 

 

 

 
 



 

 
 
RAMBLIN ON - August 2010
Okay figure this one out.  Going to do the Niles Flea Market on Sunday, Aug 29.  It's a one-day show and I'm stuck with paying the $150 fee ($25 late). Ohhhhhh, how I hate to get up in the morning!!!  Expecting to be there around 4:15 to set up. I think that I would rather do that one than Oakland Chinatown Streetfest where short, old 70-yr old Chinese ladies try to rip you off.  The Niles Flea Market is an event I have been longing to do for many years, but I never really had the opportunity.  A number of vendor's have told me that it's a good event,  but their interpretations of exactly what exactly a 'good event' is might vary widely.   I've had huge number's of attendees at events I've done tell me that that particular show is really  great, but boy o' boy we are there for two entirely different reasons.

I'm looking for a show on Labor Day Weekend and I am down to two, one of which is the Cayucos Peddlers' Market and that is $90 for three days and you get a 22-foot space and you can park in back of your booth. I think that the booth fee might be speaking for itself.  Know what I mean.  If you don't know what I mean, then wouldn't you wonder why they only charge that much?  Maybe a problem finding vendors.  Anyway, it really does not end up as a cheap weekend for me. Throw in the motel and gas and it's over $300 of course.  But seriously, is there money to be made in this event or am I just going to spent 3 days sitting there with the cold wind blowing in my face.  It's either that or Casa de Knappa ($160 or whatever) and I did that one last year and had a poor weekend.  Well, if I were really crazy, I'd head on down to Grover Beach and do the Stoned Soup Festival which was pretty bad last year.  There's always the Chicken Festival on Sep 18-19.  I'd rather not re-live last year, you know.

Then of course, there's always the Salida Town and Country Festival on Saturday, Aug 28 also.  Uh uh uh.  If you blink your eyes heading down Highway 99, you will miss this one.


BLASTING FOSTER CITY'S 
FOURTH OF JULY FESTIVAL

When metal shelves, etc.  Enough peop

  We were forced to haul in and out!!!!d for the Concord Kidfest, I was n
When we signed up for the Foster City 4th of July Festival we were not  told that we would have to haul our things in 75 yards until AFTER we had signed up and paid  booth fees.  This is ridiculous.  I did this show 7 year's ago and I had two beautiful spaces along the sidewalk alongside the street.  Not too happy about this, people. I am almost sixty years old and can not do this myself.  I had  One Canopy, 16 grids, 6 buckets packed full, 1 large sack of shoulder bags, 8 smaller sacks, 2 chairs, 1 cooler, 3 buckets with jewelry, 100 hats separately.  I was promised by the President of the Lion's Club that we would have loads of kids to help us.  When it came time to haul out nearly 100 yards, this lady was refusing to provide help and we had to cause a scene in order to get the help.  Disgusting.   

     
Things have been tough for all of us.  People just are not buying at these shows.  The promoter's of a lot of these events put forth a lot of time and effort, but we find that the people coming to the shows just are not buying.  There are a number of vendor's that have items that are selling decently, but I would say that 80 percent of the vendor's sales are down quite a bit.  They definitely are not buying on impulse like they once did when they had their job, houses, credit cards, etc.  Just looking for things that they really need or buying items that sell for ten dollars or less.  This has been dragging on and on and we all have no idea when things will turnaround.  As for myself, I am not buying large inventories of merchandise anymore because I don't want to get stuck with things that don't sell.  It's tough.  A lot of vendor's are not even making their booth fees, not to mention the expenses (gas, motel, COM) that go along with each and every show.  I myself am trying to keep close to home to avoid expenses associated with the traveling part. 


LIABILITY INSURANCE:  We get a number of vendors coming to this website looking for insurance information.  I was wondering if anybody out there can provide me with additional information regarding coverage.  I am looking for policies under $500.  You can email me at  comments@starvingvendors.com and provide me with the name of the company, website, costs, etc.  I will place this information on the appropriate page on this website.  Thank you, Dave



REMEMBERING OUR 2009 TRIP TO OREGON AND THE COUNTY FAIRS
This year we weren't able to head up to Oregon in our motor home and do the Winchester Oceanfest along with three County Fairs.  We would have done the Oceanfest on the weekend of July 23-25 and then Jackson County Fair, Coos County Fair and finish up with Klamath Falls County Fair.

We had done the fairs for several year's and that was pretty much our summer vacation.  At least a nice getaway, if nothing else.  It was very nice traveling from place to place and the Oregon Coast was much cooler than area's inland where we did several shows.  Quite a contrast.  There were fair's that weren't too good, but still each and every trip was profitable.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY.  COMMENTS OF THE WEEK.
OH, WE'RE JUST LOLLIGAGGIND AROUND is what one older lady said to one of the vendor's in Cambria. That's a new one.  We've heard everything, believe me.  "So Hazel, what are you going to do now?"  "Oh, I'm just going to lollygag around."  Or how about "Can you help me get somebody to haul my canopy, 18 grids, 10 shelves, 2 wooden boards, 6 heavy buckets, a dozen small sacks, a larger sack, 40 hats, cooler, 3 sets of metal legs for our tables?  The other week at the Foster City 4th of July Festival, the President of the Lion's Club, Phyliss Moore exclaimed loudly, "No, I can't.  We are off duty!"  But how am I going to get my stuff out of here.  "I am off duty."
MORE THAN JUST A REVIEW
    We do approximately 40 events per year in CA, AZ and OR and it is quite common for somebody in Oregon to come to our booth and tell us that they have seen us in Arizona, etc.  This happens quite often.   Periodically, I come across other vendors that I have never seen before who tell me that they have read Starving Vendors.  My reviews have become quite popular and when individuals search for a show they often find one of them high up in the Google, etc., rankings.  I guess you might say that is the highlight of this website.  These reviews are unlike anything you have seen posted on the web and I am quite sure you will enjoy reading them.  Unfortunately, I only do one show per week and that is all I can put up at a time.  The reviews I provide are the truth and sometimes I go into real detail in telling the truth about a particular event.  And of course, I do add a few things here and there that we all can relate to.  No holds barred and props and kudos given appropriately.



 

ANOTHER ROAD HAZARD STRIKES AGAIN.

I was heading home on July 10 from Newark  where we were selling at Newpark Mall at their Summerfest Festival.  This was only about 12 miles away. At approx 6:15 I approached the Jackson St exit on northbound 880.  In the right had lane, a small mattress had just fallen out of a pickup truck.  I watched the car in front of me swerve to the right and I followed suit about a second or two later narrowly missing it by a foot.   I immediately saw a guy getting out of a large black pickup truck as I passed by it.  Yet another close call.  You can read about more road hazards.

The following week we were in Cambria and we were heading home.  Approximately 30 miles from Salinas we encountered another road hazard.  I was in the left hand lane and there was a truck and a car ahead of me in the right lane.  Suddenly, a small bucket and other objects leaped out of the bed of a pickup truck which was over loaded with a BBQ grill, ice chest and a bunch of other stuff.  We both slowed down and made it around the obstacles as the truck pulled over a couple hundred yards ahead and the guy was getting out to perhaps retrieve his stuff.  I don't know.  I can't imagine the guy walking out on the highway.  Probably have to wait for the CHP.

 

 
THE BOOK.  JUST LETTING YOU KNOW.
I am in the process of writing a book about my exploits and adventures while selling at over 500 festivals during the past 17 years.  I am hoping to get this done sometime this fall and have found a good way of getting it published.  I don't know what the title of the book will be and I shall keep you posted on the progress.   If you wish to be on our 'mailing list' of people who are interested in purchasing the book please email me at book@starvingvendors.com and I will contact you when the book is available.  Thank you.

BAD ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!

Vendors Concerned About Business At Festivals

By Michael George

MILWAUKEE - RiverSplash! is over, but Milwaukee’s festival season is just getting started. But if this weekend is any indication of what’s to come, vendors may have reason to be worried about their businesses. It was a tough weekend for vendors. On Saturday, weather in the 40s turned what is normally the busiest night into a bust. Bands played for crowds of less than 30 people. Vendor Mark Krause packed up and left at 4 p.m. because of the weather. “It was like a ghost town here on Saturday,” said Krause, who runs a booth offering teeth whitening. Azmi Alaeddin says in his 11 years selling food at RiverSplash!, he’s never seen it as empty as it was on Saturday night. But the bigger concern for him is that even when the weather was good and the crowd was big, people just weren’t buying anything.

to read more click here
BBQ COOK-OFF'S ARE THE BIG THING IN 2010
  It looks like a lot of our communities are picking up on these BBQ Cook-offs.  These have been around for quit awhile, but I notice that there are a bunch these events cropping up in many areas in California.  I have done two lately; Morgan Hill which was okay and another in Pinole, which was rather dissapointing.  The best of all these is most likely the Sparks Rib Cook-Off over an extended Labor Day Weekend lasting 6 days.
  
 
  TYSON WELLS DISASTER
January 21, 2010
See photos.  Click here.  Canopies all over the place.
Please click here to read the story about that eventful day.

Whiskey Flat Days Marred by Vendor Thefts

Nearly A Dozen Vendors Stolen From Over Weekend

 
KERNVILLE, Calif. - It is one of the most popular events to attend in the Kern County mountains, but this weekend's Whiskey Flat Days events has been marred, a bit, by theft.

The Kern County Sheriff's Department is looking into ten to 12 reports of merchandise being stolen from vendors in Kernville. Event organizers had heard that up to 21 vendors had said items were stolen this weekend.

UPDATE (March 24) DO WE HAVE A COVER-UP?  I understand that at least 30 vendor's booths were broken into and the Security Guard's were arrested.  Hmmmm.  Could this be an inside job?  Two  versions of the story going around.  Who done it?  Promoter's etc., are saying it was a bunch of kids; vendor's are saying it was the Security Guards.    I just don't know; I wasn't there.  We are going to have to wait for next year, I guess.

Please click here to read remainder of story

GETTING RICH OFF STREET FAIRS?
 At a recent street fair on Water Street in Manhattan, T-shirt seller Mahboob Shah offered a steal: $2 "I Love NY" tees. Mr. Shah, who drives a cab during the week, wasn't making much on the deal—the shirts cost him $1.90. The idea, he says, is to lure folks into his tent, where he offers higher-margin items, including "I Love NY" tees selling for $7. Alas, not even the $2 shirts were selling last Sunday. "It's the heat," he says.

Or maybe the reason was that within the same fair there were 18 rival vendors offering similar deals on the same shirts. There were also 11 gyro stands, nine guys selling sunglasses and eight entrepreneurs peddling straw hats. Yes, the typical New York street fair is the urban equivalent of New Jersey sprawl. Only instead of the Starbucks, Arby's and Best Buy parade, we get an endless loop of smoothie stands, ring vendors and pashmina dealers. The overriding aesthetic? Stuff that crows like. The merchandise is invariably colorful, sparkly or metallic. If you're hungry, there's corn on the cob.   Click here to read more


    SEE THESE REVIEWS OF UPCOMING SHOWS:
  
Hayward Zucchini Festival   (Aug 21-22)
 Salida Town & Country Festival (Aug 28)
Stoned Soup Music Festival (Aug 28-29)
Casa de Fruta A&C Fair  (Sep 4-6)
Cherry's Jubilee at Laguna Seca (Sep 11-12)
  
I have loads of reviews.  Please go to the menu and look at Reviews and Events> Reviews> dates> event.  Grab yourself a beer, some snacks and chill out.  Great Reading! 

 
                             PEOPLE ARE FUNNY
 
 Periodically I will add one of those special encounters that we have at a show.  Eventually I will have a section in this website devoted to these bewildering moments. 

"GOT ANYTHING FOR ONE DOLLAR" the pudgy 8-year old boy asked.  I looked at the boy, who was obviously the last of the big spenders.  "No, uh uh."  "  He walked around and raised up one of our shoulder bags. "How much is this?"  I looked at him. "Ten Dollars."  He glanced over at me.  He woke me up from my early afternoon nap.  "How much do you have" I asked him.  "Two dollars."  Oh oh.  "Good bye," I said to him.  Sales had been pretty bad so far and now this.  His mouth dropped open.  I guess he wasn't expecting me to say that.  He walked around the booth a couple times.  "You don't have anything for one dollar?"  "No, I do not."  He picked up one of our tiny picture frames which I normally sell for $2.  "How much is this?"  I looked over at him.  "One dollar.  How does that sound?"  "Okay," he said as he picked it up.  "I am getting this for my mom," he said excitedly as he handed me a dollar bill.  "Can I put my brother in here?" he said to me.  I looked up once again.  "If he'll fit inside,"  I said causing a few other people to giggle.


              THIS IS WHAT I CALL 'A BAD HAIR DAY'
              This happened in Myrtle Point last summer.

Power to the motor home went out,, broke my sunglasses, zipper broke on the canopy covers, wife lost sunglasses,  had to wait 45 minutes for UPS delivery truck (for a package from home with my bills), slow sales today, customer found broken zippers on two bags, ran out of water in the motor home, lost my free internet connection (fair now charging me an unfair $19.95 until Sunday).  

  MAKE SURE YOU VISIT THE DOOZIE'S
   Jefferson County Fair in Oregon.  July 2009

Plenty of doozie's to go around, ya know?  Should be putting up maybe one per month.  I want to keep you in suspense and it gives me time to think.  I have three listed so far and I expect to add 3-4 more in the near future.  I'll let you know here when there is a new 'doozie.'  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

                      MY FAVORITE SHOTS OF 2009
                                                      Kids in Action and Inaction
 The photo on the left was taken at the Ukiah Pumpkinfest.  I was sitting on the sidewalk watching my booth and I saw this toddler walk over and remove one of my stools from the display.  He began running away with it and that was really hilarious.  His mother chased after him.  What makes this photo even more remarkable as that the wording on the street reads 'COMPACT.'  Amazing.  Priceless.

The picture on the right is from the Manteca Pumpkin Festival.  I was doing the show alone and needed somebody to watch my booth for a few minutes occasionally.  I went next door and found this guy and asked him if he could help me.  I asked his parents if I could 'rent him' for a dollar  That I did 3-4 times on Saturday.  When I returned one time, this is what I saw.  Hilarious.  Rough day, I guess.
            
  

 FUNNY MOMENTS
 

MOONWALK MARVIN.  I had some of my Michael Jackson shirts hanging in front.  A guy comes over and grabs one of my hats, glances down at the shirts and then places it upon his head.  Suddenly, he begins to gyrate and skipping backwards with his version of MJ's moonwalk.  Funny,  Hilarious, Priceless.  You just don't know what you are going to see next.

 

A lady came into our booth with a cell phone sticking in her right ear.  She walked through our booth and continued talking.  She had the 'speaker' on and we could hear the other person talking.  Believe me, it was not an interesting conversation.  Not hot, not juicy....just kind of babbling. Louise did this...Helen did that.. Well anyways, she continued walking around, not even glancing at our stuff, but she just kept on talking and walking all around our booth....once, twice, three times...... still talking on the phone.  She just kept on going around in circles in our booth... It was crazy. In on one side, through the booth and out the other side. Walked around, entered again, etc.  Finally after 3 or 4 laps,  she finally left and walked down the aisle still talking, still babbling.  I certainly hope that she does not use her cell phone while driving or even crossing the street.  click here to read more



                                      ANIMAL FARM
There was this lady riding around on her white horse.... or maybe we can say that 'she was on her white stallion'. She went up and down the street letting all the kids touch the horse, etc. and providing some attention for the skinny, 45-year old lady. When the two of them (the horse and her) strode by my canopy the horse dropped several huge, smelly loads about 3 feet in front of us. I walked over and asked her if she would get it cleaned up and she told me that it wasn't her fault, so she refused to get it cleaned. 
 
 For the next hour or so, several dozen people stepped in it and dragged the remains all over the place. And of course, it smelled pretty bad. The pooper scoopers came by about 90 minutes later and cleaned it up. Too late, though. They followed the horse's trail up and down the street cleaning up that awful mess


                                                SPADE IS A SPADE. 

Telling like it is.  Sometimes I really wonder if I am doing the right thing with these reviews and I am pretty certain that I have pissed off a number of promoter's.  Quite often I do feel sorry for certain one's because I know that they are really trying to promote their events but for some reason, their shows in particular are just not cutting the mustard.  What am I going to do?  Come in here and tell you that every show is spectacular - tell you that they get thousands upon thousands of people who are excitedly buying everybody's products. 
 

                           BARKING DOGS 
Every week or so, I'll put a litte something about dogs that happened at our shows.

 SNIFFING DOGS were numerous throughout the day as they would run up to one another and...well, you know.  But I didn't see any large dogs.  They were all under a foot tall.... and some of them dressed up like they were going to be in an Easter parade.  Or, maybe they marched in the parade during the morning.  I'm wondering how come there weren't any larger dogs. Where are they? Seriously, I saw maybe 20 dogs today and they were all little pooches.  Where did the big ones go?  I know the economy is bad, butt.......  Or maybe they all took their dogs to the Good Guys Car Show in Pleasanton this weekend to keep them company while they sit around for three days in back of their cars.  Hey Bowser, why don't you run over there and pick me up some ribs.  I'll give you the bones.  Hey Ralph, anybody touches ma cah. chase them away.  Sick em, Frazier. There are some shows that people just love to show off their dogs...like in Foster City. Winchester Bay (OR), etc.  Or maybe they have the Doggy Olympics someplace?


 
Before I make any comment that could be construed as detrimental to their event, I carefully evaluate how everybody else is doing.  Seriously, I really do.  It's a tough world out there and if I see that the promoter made a serious attempt at putting on a 'correct event' then I will really cut some slack and perceive the show in as positive a way as possible.  But I owe it to myself and other's to let people know that there are major problems with a number of events and vendors really need to be informed of what is going on.  You can take what I have to say 'with a grain of salt.'  Take a look at the reviews for particular shows in Craftmaster News to see what other's have to say.  I may  eventually be cutting my throat and I personally have to weigh all the issues before telling about an event.  Quite often I try to present the review in a humorous way; a way that we all can connect to.  Many people will come to me and tell me that I am 'dead on' with the show. 

I love to do the shows, event though it often sounds like I am not, as we all struggle through week after week with this woeful economy.  Believe me, I have cut a lot of slack for a good number of promoter's and have pretty much layed off them because of this crappy economy.  I don't want to ruin anybody's show, trust me.  I find that a good number of my reviews are making it to the top of google (and other search engines) searches and they are just staring the reader's in the eye.  It's nice to be noticed and more so, appreciated.  I am quite sorry to the promoter's if they feel slighted by what I have to say but I'm merely mentioning what really goes on in these shows and how it affects the vendors.  I would really like to see a number of Chamber's and groups putting on shows be a little more courteous and understanding toward the vendor's that want to do their events.  Make them want to come back and act in a timely manner when receiving applications.  I am going to slam these promoter's that are inconsiderate and don't give a rat's ass about us.  I am not going to explain to you exactly what we feel 'inconsiderate' means and I don't need to go into detail as to precisely what 'rat's ass' means. If the shoe fits.......   If you wish to comment, please do so

Have something to say?  Tell me about it.

Email address                                comments?

                

  
OUR BANNER.  Link to us  If you have a website, you can place this banner on it.
EVOLVEMENT OF REVIEWS.  For many years I had been placing my show schedule on our business website.  After time, I decided to put a one or two line summary of the event and that went on for about two years, with these 'summaries' getting a little larger as time went on.  A couple years ago, I created the Starving Vendors website and began dedicating pages to reviews for each and every show.  These reviews started off as a couple of paragraphs telling about the show.  As time went on, I began adding things to the reviews and over the past six months, have expanded  the 'stories' that I write for each show.  Occasionally I added pictures, etc.

                   VENDOR NEWS  FORUM
Approximately a year ago,  I created a board/forum where we all can tell about our experiences with various shows, promoters, etc.  I think you will enjoy reading about what many of us go through in our weekend rituals.  Come on down and check us out.  It doesn't cost anything and hopefully you will contribute with some of your own

                           2009 Oregon County Fairs
    You can read about our Summer of 2009 trip to Oregon beginning with the Winchester Bay Oceanfest and continuing through the 3 succeeding county fairs; Jefferson County Fair, Coos County Fair and then Tillamook County Fair.  I have a good number of interesting and informative reviews. If you ever give thoughts to selling at fairs, you should read about our experiences up in the beautiful state of Oregon.  We have been making this trip yearly, switching some of these events.

Check out the Daily Dose.  An excellent place to start your tour of the Starving Vendors website.  A daily log of events, stories, links, gas prices, weather reports, commentary, etc.  Anything goes.  I think that you will enjoy reading it.  Just click on the image to the right.

 If you want to check out some of the reviews go to  'Guide to Shows>reviews>dates>name of event.'


 		 

 

 
LIST YOUR EVENT FOR FREE
on Upcoming Events.
Click here to submit.