Weekend sale

This weekend we were part of a high-end craft sale that I had committed to months ago. Since I really haven't had much time in the studio, the stock I took was mainly what had been left from last summer's sales.  I took in enough to cover expenses, and a bit more, so a reasonable sale but not a great one.  Several of the vendors were talking, especially as one vendor had significantly lowered her prices, in response to weak sales over the past year.  Most of those there have concluded that their sales are down as a result of the economy, and no other reason.  Between them there was enough of a history with this sort of activity to make them believe that their prices are appropriate to what they are selling, but, given that this sort of thing is really a discretionary or optional purchase in the scheme of things, sales drop when the economy is poor.  There was excellent feedback on my items, and several people commented on how reasonable my prices were, so this downturn is just something to ride out.

I have no more sales like this scheduled at this point.  ( I have an exhibition/sale later this month, but this is quite a different type of event)  Before I apply for any more high-end craft sales, I need to look at whether or not I'm interested in producing more stock.  No, I'm not--I want to explore my creativity--but--will I continue to participate in sales?  I've been doing it for 30 years.  So, yeah, I'll probably spend a bit of time doing the "donkey" work, but I'm determined to find a better balance between the mind-dulling stuff and the creative stuff.