HuaShan 11/14-15 Last Weekend

Well, I know I should’ve announced it would be my last weekend at HuaShan, but I didn’t wanna call it too early.

Thanks to all who stopped by for a hang: Jaclynn, Mark, Marcus, Max, Jeremy, Marika, Brian F., WeiWei and Justin.

Special Special thanks to my customer who bought the black t-shirt dress with white fringe who hooked me up with a much needed Panadol.

I sold more clothes on Sunday then any other day at HuaShan! Success! I love going home with empty hangers, and especially a lighter bag to carry up to the rooftop. I even sold the wench necklace (that I wore at my BBQ) to WeiWei. Gotta make another one!

OVERALL LESSONS  LEARNED AT HUASHAN:

-The weather in outdoor markets really affects the crowd, which in turn affects your sales.

-Being forced to listen to loud shitty music is not how I like to spend my weekend.

-That my time is best spent making stuff than doing retail.

-Being super talkative and pushy actually works with Taiwanese customers. That’s totally not my style to do, as I hate those sales people. I even would walk out of the store and not buy anything if I thought they were trying to hard. But when I had Lottie and Peggy helping me, and they would talk to everyone and tell them about product, people seemed to get more interested. Weird, I thought, but effective. Yup, retail sales is not my cup of tea. (I’m a coffee drinker anyway!)

-That I hate working on the weekend. I work all day Mon-Fri with children and spend my mornings and evenings making stuff or updating this blog. So on the weekend I really need time to play, decompress, go somewhere, make new stuff, clean my house, and hang out with my friends. Doing 14 hours on the weekend really makes me more tired during the week and also makes my house explode with mess.

-It was a good experience to hear what people had to say about my clothes. Customer feedback is necessary to any business.

-The best support for my business are my friends. Oh how I love my lovely friends. Everyone who came and saw me, bought anything, or promoted me, man, you guys RULE! It makes me feel so blessed to know how much my friends love me and try to support! I always do my best to give back. Kisses and hugs to my amazing friends!!!

-The stuff I made for HuaShan felt really nightmarket. I tried to think of the simplest patterns and stuff that I could make and sell for cheap, cuz the customers that go there don’t want to pay very much. Although I stand behind everything I made, doing higher quality, more complicated patterns sparks my creativity and makes me more excited.

-That I still really don’t understand Taiwanese shopping habits.

-That only a small group of my target market came to HuaShan. There were a lot of older people, people with kids, and students who cruised by my booth who weren’t interested in my style, or didn’t wanna spend the money on it (even though I priced it super low). The younger, cool cats who like to wear bright clothes were few and far between. (Which is also why I included mostly new stuff in black the last 2 weeks.)But when they did stop by, I knew who they were right away.

-That it wasn’t a waste of money, cuz I learned that selling my clothes in a market/nightmarket isn’t my best market. I wanna do higher end clothes, not made in Taiwan/China/Korea factory shit that falls apart before it goes out of fashion.

-I also learned that I can do it! I can make clothes that people wanna buy and wear. I feel so emotionally connected with everything I make, it’s such a compliment when I see someone wearing something I made. I couldn’t believe all my friends rocking Rice Society on Friday night, it made me so happy inside my heart.

-That this was a good place to start. HuaShan really made me step into gear, make more stuff, and try my hardest to get the ball rolling. I’ve done more with Rice Society since Septmeber than I did in the last year! It gives me the inspiration to do more, a lot more. I’m more confident in my ability, and where it could go.

Next up for Rice Society is Internet sales. I’ve learned that tons of people, especially Taiwanese people, love to shop online. This way I can solve my problem of working retail, and just put it up online. I’m also working on a small collection of dresses that will be available exclusively at NEU.

For a limited time, I’m making everything that was available at HuaShan FOR THE SAME CHEAP PRICE in custom online. If you like anything I wear on here that is Rice Society, I can make it in your size. Just email me (ricesociety@gmail.com) or put a comment on that blog entry.

Sorry so long winded. This is just what was in my head I wanted to share. But I guess, that’s what blogs are for

**Definitely gonna put some more fashion magazine pics up, now that I have a free weekend! Stay tuned!**

Joni Mitchel Never Lies – HuaShan Weekend of Nov 7/8

What a fantastic weekend! Such good weather, and that always makes me (and my shoppers) happy!

Saturday was a unique day, as I had two wonderful helpers come work with me, Lottie and Peggy.

Peggy, of the famous Peggy Teaches Chinese (and YouTube Channel!) came down and was my impromptu star sales woman of the day. She was enthusiastic, outgoing and really, really good at communicating with customers! Thanks, girl!

Lottie was a treat to work with too! She has tons of experience and she attracted more people cuz she had her own jewelry and clothes too. Tara and Sonia (of Kidz at the Disco) came down and put their stuff on the ground in front of my booth. They were selling some clothes and some second hand genuine leather bags. Really nice, REAL leather. That shit’s hard to find in Taiwan!

This chick was awesome, I don’t remember her name, but she spent 45 minutes looking at everything and trying it on. She ended up leaving with 2 headbands (one of which she’s wearing) and some custom feather earrings. Her friend picked up some custom feather earrings too. Had to explain I was cool with her choosing which feathers, cuz she just kept saying, whatever colors you think are best. I was like, but girl, you’re the one wearing them – pick out colors that’ll match your own clothes!

Sherry and her young cute friend dropped by to say hi too. This girl is so nice – she gave me two bottles of wine from her mom! (Thanks a lot, how did you know I sometimes am a wino?)

Eben, Victoria and Nicolene stopped by and Nicolene got one of my favorite items – a copy of the dress I wore on Day 48

Here’s a nighttime shot of my corner booth slot:

And the 3 new dresses I made, only 1 of which I have left. (That means I gotta make new ones for next weekend!)

Black jersey with raw edges and white fringe:

“Batman” fabric black spandex with blue top hue:

Black jersey with white splatter (looks cool under black light):

Sunday, I was a bit tired, but loaded up my Iphone with new music I downlaoded from www.rcrdlbl.com and put on my not-so-new-but-still-so-shiny WESC headphones and danced around setting up my booth.

Amanda came and saved my spirit and I had a blast hanging out with her. It makes me feel so good to have a friend to hang out with while I work. Otherwise I’m just sitting there thinking, should I talk to that customer? are they interested? ok, what should I make now? shit, I really gotta leave my booth for a second, what should I do? abandon ship to go to the washroom, or ask a neighbour seller to watch it? Amanda answered all those questions!

I also ran into the beautiful Jaclynn taking photos with Craig Ferguson. You should check out her interview on My Several Worlds. You should also check out the work Craig does over at his website.

As if that wasn’t enough to make my day, hiphop DJ extraordinairre Marcus came down and graced my booth with his tables and a bottle of Macallan. Then we really had a party! My neighbour sellers were busy taking photos, and we had a dad come by with his boy teaching him how a DJ does his thing.

You know it was a good night when he had to change into multiple outfits – not one, not two but a three-shirter night! Made my weekend!

Max & Jeremy actually left the house and came down to party too! We were the last to leave the booth area. The organizer even came down and hung out for a while. Maybe next Sunday he’ll be on the stage – or right in my booth again! Finished the night over at Alley Cats – which stays open til 2 am on Sundays!

WHAT I LEARNED THIS TIME:

-Friends make my world go round, and they remind me we are all a part of Rice Society.

-It’s worthwhile to share – share my booth, share my spirit, share my knowledge

-It makes it feel more like a community when I befriend my fellow sales people. Most of these folks aren’t there for cut-throat competition, they are there to be part of a hand-made collective! Shout outs to Pedro of RocSoul International (which I picked up a sweet metal heart cut-out necklace I gave to Justin), Yida of Rabbit aka Raxxit (with the awesome Animation), Tara & Sonia of Kidz at the Disco and of course Steven of Moonkey.

-It helps to take a walk around and support other sellers. I picked up some cool shit (I wish I could’ve bought clothes!)

-Too many options make people confused and unable to decide. Offering custom sounds cool, but most people like to be told what the limited options are to be able to make a decision. That said, if I don’t have your size, or you want a different fabric in another style, lemme know and I’ll HOOK YOU UP.

-New designs every week excites people and makes for repeat visits.

-Music makes people happy. If you’re in a good mood, it’s infectious, people wanna feel good too. Show people love and they’ll give it back!

-That when people are frowning at you, it’s not you. They’re just having a bad day. Smile at them and make them feel better.

-Joni Mitchel never lies.

HuaShan Update – Nov.7/8

GUESS WHAT????

It’s beautiful, perfect, perfect blue sky weather. Leave your house, it’s going up to 30 today!!! There’s a big concert going down at HuaShan starting at 2, and it’s the best day to come down and hang out outside!!

I have some goodies for my loyal shoppers – new items! If you wait too long, I’m gonna be sold out! (I hope, ahha)

In addition to the fringe hoodie, I have 3 skirt/dresses (which I copied from Day 34, 41, and 48) and at least two new t-shirt dresses (same cut as Day 52, but different, different!).

Get yo ass outside! Come say hi!

As a special treat,the lovely LOTTIE will be at my booth with some jewelry and clothes of her own!! You know you wanna see my ish and lovely face!

 

HuaShan Update – THIS WEEKEND CANCELLED

Due to the crazy amount of rain forecasted for this weekend, HUASHAN is cancelled, and will resume next week. October 24/25th NOT OPEN.

HuaShan Weekend 2/5 (Oct 17/18)

The weather was fucking BEAUTIFUL. What a pleasure it was to spend all day outside on both days! It must’ve put people in a shopping kinda mood cuz I went home with empty hangers on both days. Yay!

Saturday booth set up:

Loads of my friends came down to support AND buy some shiiiiiiit. You guys rock!

Here’s a pic of Helen, she got the last black chain with the pliers. She calls it the Nipper-necklace. Funny, cuz it makes me think of nipples. What’re you gonna do with nipples and a pair of pliers? Oh………

The mini-duffel and the wench necklace. I had to keep putting it on my shoulders to show how you wear it cuz many people thought it was this futuristic kinda bra. How metal! If you didn’t see how it’s worn, or just can’t remember you can click here to see how.

Helen’s friend, Liis, picked up the only pair of yellow feather earrings. They go so well with her yellow bag!

Happy Birthday to Amanda! I left her choose some earrings and she got these ones:

So sad to find out later that night that she is allergic to them! She is also the proud new owner of the RS Mini-duffel! Yay, can’t wait to see her rocking it with her new blue rubber boots. Hot shit!

Audrey, Sway, Olivia and Cresencio came with Amanada to keep me company. Here’s Audrey and Sway holding it down in the back of my booth:

Heaps of other people came who I didn’t get pictures of. Shout out at the end of this post.

Sway and Amanda were super helpful, here they are folding up the tarp.

So nice of everyone to always be helping me at HuaShan. I really, truely appreciate every small act of kindness. (Thanks Sherry, for the coffee on both days, you are so sweet!)

Sunday was a banger of a day, Marcus A came down and played some wicked music right in my booth. 3 Cheers to the soon-to-be-birthday-boy for bringing all the equipment and rocking out on Sunday with me. Yes! So much better than the music the organizers were playing – I love hiphop. (If you do too go check out HighHeels & Hi-tops – they always post the freshest music. Marcus is one of the posters, and so is CAP. We miss him!)

Toby got in on the feather earring trend, it’s for guys too:

Here’s the lovely Sherry, one of my previous students who I befriended. We go back – she came with me to get my tattoo a few years ago. She picked up the blue hacksaw necklace. I love her bangs.

Tommy Milloy and his brother came down as well, so glad I got to meet his brother before he goes back to Canada. He picked up a pair of red feather earrings as a gift. Sorry it’s a blurry pic, I really need a new camera:

Thank you to all my lovely, lovely friends who came and showed some love: Marcus, Lesley, Lisa, Billy, James, Olivia, Audrey, Sway, Cresencio, Tommy, Justin, Toby, Amanda, Sherry, Helen, Justin, Chris, and my other little student Jessica. Also, thank you to Fandy who ordered a custom skirt on Saturday and honored our agreement and came and bought it on Sunday. (I can do this for you too if I don’t have your size or you want it longer or shorter. Just please give me a week instead of just one day.)

Mo-Ah! I love you all!

WHAT I LEARNED THIS TIME:

-Good weather = good sales

-Friends are an important part of my business

-Having a sign in Chinese that said “Hi, my name is ZhenZhen, I can speak both English and Chinese. Everything is handmade and one-of-a-kind.” really really helped people not to be afraid of talking to me about my products.

-Having Marcus come really drew a crowd, and made me and those around really happy. Thanks again for that.

-Telling people you can wear it different ways and demostrating. I just say, I get bored easily so I want to wear it different ways.

-I gotta serously remember to bring a lunch cuz I’m getting kinda sick of Alley Cats pizza.

-I gotta bring it next weekend with some new designs, can’t just show the same old shit every week, gotta have new stock!

-Not pressuring people and being Miss PR when browsers come to look at my booth works. I hate those pushy chatty sales people and I am so not being one of them. if they like it, they’re gonna buy it. Nothing I say is gonna change their mind. That being said, I do offer explainations of how to wear something, how I came up with the idea, or how it was made.

-I really want a partner in crime cuz working 6 hours by myself (minus the little breaks friends gave me) is really tiring.

HuaShan Confirmed Times

Hey,

Just to make sure everyone knows – the times are now solidified at 3-9 both Saturday AND Sunday.

I really wanted to do the DIY feather headband thing, but it is a little windy. As Kiah and I learned our first night of making them outside on the patio, birds have feathers for a reason- they fly! But I’ll bring all the headband stuff if you’re still interested in doing it! If you have your own fabric  you wanna use, bring it and we’ll cut it to fit the headband.

Also – sorry about not updating that much this week. It’s hard teaching full time, making stock for HuaShan.AND updating everything. I find the time soon!

The weather’s sunny, I hope it stays that way all weekend – PS I heard it was going up to 30 on Sunday – yippee! I wanna wear sunglasses!

HuaShan Weekend 1/5 (Oct 10/11)

Rice Society Debut was a success! The rain however, was not so inviting to shoppers. Despite that, heaps of my friends showed up to celebrate the occasion! A big thank you to Sandi for the impromptu help with set-up. For some reason, I was hella nervous. I’m glad I got the first weekend outta the way. Popped my first sale cherry, and now it’s all uphill from here!

Some pics of my tent/booth:

Sandi @RS Booth

Rice Society Jewelery

My best sellers were the black crystal earrings, the Hacksaw necklace, and the 2 color small feather earrings. On the second day, I took off the $250 sign for the bottom feather earrings and sold more that way. I thought if I was a buyer, would I think those earrings worth 50NT more? No, but the big ones are 50NT better than the smaller ones. I also added little star charms on all the earrings for added value. Everybody likes stars!

Did you know you can choose any Slasher pendant (hacksaw, hammer, axe, saw, or pliers) and add it to any chain of your choice? I can do it on the spot and adjust the length to what you prefer. Custom is my favorite! Most end up being $450, but if you want a longer chain, the most it would be is $550.

Kiah @RS Booth

Kiah came and hung out for a bit and helped me make back stock of some earrings. The circle skirt (with the blue waistband beside the black discoball, which I wore on Day 33) got the most attention out of all of the clothes. Everyone wanted to touch it, more than anything else. Think I’m gonna make more of those but in different fabric, and warmer for winter.

I also had a lot of people trying on the red feather headband. I think the $500NT price tag scared them all off, but it takes over an hour to make. It’s kinda tedious, with all the superglue and feathers. I took special care to make sure it was good quality.

Here was the view from ZhongXiao:

I had quite a few friends call me driving by saying they saw my banner. The world will soon know about Rice Society! So glad I got two banners made. Not too many other people had banners, or Christmas lights, or even decorations. I guess that’s cuz they’re only selling their second hand junk. I wouldn’t decorate a garage sale either.

Me at my booth on Saturday:

On Sunday, it was a little drier, but still cold and shitty outside. There were probably 60% less people there on Sunday. I was kinda bummed there were not as many people, but at the same time I didn’t know if I could’ve handled a hectic day. I was hella hung over and feeling super rough. Had a headache and thought if I ate something I’d feel better.

I thought, oh my luck! All the VW vans are back with food. Sweet! I grabbed a delicious looking hot dog. However, it gave me the worst gut rot and the spins on top of that, so I closed a half hour early. It was a mission to get packed up and get home! DON’T GET THE HOT DOGS, at least not at the end of the day. Not a pleasant feeling to end the day with.

WHAT I LEARNED THIS TIME:

*Anything priced below $500 are what shoppers at HuaShan are willing to pay. There are some random people who come that are used to paying higher prices, but the environment makes everyone wanna penny pinch and try to get more bang for their buck.

*People are afraid to approach me. Not everyone of course, but a lot of people are shy to come up to my booth. I dunno if they’re afraid I can’t speak Chinese or they’re afraid to speak English or what.

*Having a group of foreigners in front of my booth intimidated some Taiwanese, I watched more than a few turn away.  I wish that it wasn’t a problem, but I guess it’s just a culture difference? I really did love hanging out with all my friends while I was “working” and I really appreciated all their support. I can’t say this made me lose any money, but maybe it was the wrong scene to attract people to check out my stuff. Or maybe this is the wrong kinda place to do that at?

*Standing out kinda makes it hard to be casual.

*Listing all my prices was a good idea.

*Rain sucks. I don’t wanna leave the house hung over on a Sunday to shop in an outdoor market, and neither do many other people. The tarp (thanks again Chad) was a great foresight. Pray for sun next weekend.

*You can’t count on anyone to help you unless you’re paying them or giving them sexual favors (thanks, honey). That being said, I had a lot of unexpected help which totally saved me when I needed it. Also, thanks random vendor Justin for watching my booth while I went to the washroom. I was totally panicking and thought I was gonna pee my pants.

*It helps to make friends with your fellow sales people. Then it doesn’t make it a competition for buyers, but more neighbourly. The old lady next to me on Sunday was really sweet, and helped fill the gap between customers with some insightful conversation. The other vendors are shoppers too, and it’s a good way to cross-promote. I visited a few booths, and had them visit me too.

*I really need a Taiwanese person at my booth, so people aren’t so afraid to approach. I invited Lottie, as she has tons of awesome jewelry to get rid of, and she’s a blast to hang out, nevermind experienced in sales.

*Not everyone knows that all my stuff is handmade, or that I’m not some huge company. (It’s just me, with some help from friends!) I need a sign, and stop assuming people just know it’s handmade. That adds value and justifies my prices. (Even though it’s the cheapest I can go!)

*Not everyone knows the rules for selling at HuaShan – it’s gotta be second hand or handmade. Even some other vendors don’t know, and are selling shit they imported or bought. I kinda wanna tattle on them cuz I think it’s not fair, but I will do the right thing and say something to them first. It’s not a nightmarket, it’s a CREATIVE market. Make it, or resell USED items.

*Next weekend is gonna be even better, so make sure you come on down!

HuaShan Debut Today – Rain or Shine

I’m so thankful to my wonderful friends. Chad is hooking me up with a tarp to cover my tent on 3 sides, so I’ll be protected from the rain! Come take cover and hang out in my dry oasis.

The amazing Dominik helped me solve my banner/sticker crisis, so it’ll be super easy to spot my tent.  You can have your very own Rice Society sticker! Where you gonna stick yours? Think outside the bowl!

The first Rice Society sticker!

I have lots of stuff prepared that I haven’t posted, so you’ll have to come check it out to find out what they are.

Saturday hours are 4-10

Sunday hours are 3-9

I’m also gonna have a little DIY section – you can make your own feather headband! If you’ve got the time and imagination, pay only half price ($250) and you can choose what you want your headband to look like and I’ll show you how to make it. If you don’t wanna, you can just buy one that I made for $500.

**BLOG SPECIAL ** mention the words “TEQUILA BANANA” and receive a free pair of feather earrings of your choice with a clothing purchase! I gotta hook up my readers/friends, yo!

See you later alligator. Or Sunday.

NEW Rice Society items for HuaShan & Beetlemania

Here are a few pics of what Kiah and I have been doing. They look so much better on a person, so please don’t judge my floor!

The A-line dress/shirt is now $600 (aka mad cheap) and the high waisted ones are $700 a pop. You might wanna come down the first weekend and snap them up before they’re all gone. Limited runs, folks. That means we don’t make a lot of each style so you don’t show up at a party rocking the same frock. (Although if that happened and I was there, I would be so happy and have to take your picture and post it on here.)

I like to price my stuff using a formula which consists of material cost, time to make it, and difficulty of sewing/pattern. If it is complicated, I think it should cost more.

Rice Society A-line skirt/dress

Rice Society High-waisted spandex skirts

I also am super interested in beetles and bugs. Maybe my grade one boys are rubbing off on me, but they’re pretty cool. I used to take rubber centepedes and stitch them onto the back of my jeans. I’ve had a fake cockroach for months now cuz I dunno what to do with it.

Here I tried spray painting them:

Picked up the spray paint (DIY brand, haaha) at S&L, the magical wonderland of everything stores. IT DOESN’T WORK ON RUBBER. Now everytime I try to pick them up the paint comes off on my hands. I thought maybe it was just Taiwan weather and the humidity. Nope. The paint doesn’t stick to the rubber. FAIL. What to do with them now?

HuaShan Update & RADAR – Featured Sellers

I went to HuaShan on Sat. to confirm my table and check out how White Label was organizing things. Originally I wanted to sell this weekend, but for some reason, the dude in charge said it wasn’t allowed. But I was pleased to see many of the same sellers I met the first 2 times.

UNfortunately, they informed me that my first weekend to start selling, Oct 3/4th, was postponed (canceled) because of Mid-Autumn (aka Moon) Festival. The organizer thought most people, including other sellers, would want to take this weekend to par-take in the BBQ tradition and be together with their families.

Fair enough, but thanks for calling to inform me. Good thing I happened to swing by and hear about the news. I wouldn’t have been too happy to find out that morning, or only a few days before. Confirmed dates are at the bottom of this post.

The crowd on Sat, however, was the largest I’ve seen so far, and so full of awesome new people!

These peeps were all watching/listening to an incredible violin musician. Such a nice change to have classical music at the venue instead of the usual up and coming but not that appealing hodgepodge of bands.

Met up with Kiah and decided to make some new friends with our fellow-to-be-sellers.

This dude, Steven (Moonkey) was making these awesome handmade key chains or key covers (and rings!) out of glass (or resin? plastic?) tiles with a custom picture on the bottom.

*Correction** – He sells tailor-made rings or a key chain for only 200 NT, and a key cover also only 250 NT.

I might order 10 custom ones with my logo, 米 inside. Steven said, he can do it on the spot with a picture you have (just smaller than 1″ squared) or you can email him and he can do it. If you want 10, it would take about 3-5 days.

Another cool thing was that they were all glow-in-the-dark. Steven was all too quick to show this off, as he had set up a lamp to prove it. (I have no idea how he got power on a mat on the grass, but props to dragging the extension cord!) He could speak English and Chinese, and was an interesting character to talk to. If you want to inquire about his product, please email Steven: dingli168@gmail.com

Pictured here with his friend and neighbor seller, wearing her custom made mask (Have I seen these somewhere before?):

She had some self designed glow-in-the-dark rings, but I didn’t get her real name, only K82 on her sign:

Not too far away was this cool chick(on the left), although I really should’ve gotten her picture before she was handed her noodle dinner. Sorry, girl.

She said she’s part of the collective KIDZ AT T DISCO, and they have a party coming up n HsinJu. Their slogan is “We make things happen.” I got a free sticker too. Check out their blog, they got some posts of interest, and some music vids too. Pretty Sure she’s one of Jo’s friends (of Pet Shops Girl) If you haven’t clicked any links on here, these are the two to click. Excellent display of brave Taiwanese style!

This is the purse I bought from her. It’s actual thick rough leather, painted on the outside only. (The inside is grey.)

Did it come from Bangkok? Some people think so…they say the same company also makes leather bracelets that snap on. Hmmm

It didn’t come with a strap and she told me I had to add my own. The strap in the picture I found over at the Shadow booth:

These two were fun to talk to. I’ve seen them before, set up in the Red House Theater market in Ximen. I like Shadow because it has a really strong brand identity, and the cut-outs are cool. I first saw them maybe 1 or 2 years ago. About half or more of the designs are the same. An experienced seller told me it’s smart to sell what’s selling, so they must be doing something right! I’m looking forward to seeing them in October!

If you want more of their stuff (necklaces, phone charms, straps, & more) you can email them at: shadowboss_inc@yahoo.com.tw or go on Yahoo Auctions, but only in Chinese, sorry foreigners! Just scroll to the bottom of their Yahoo page to see their products and prices in $NTD.

On our grand tour around all of the tables, booths, and blankets on the grass, we came by these two lovely young lads, of FUCK BARBIE:

They made hand-made jewelry. I thought they had a creative point of view, and I really liked the styling of their suitcases. (Gotta get me one of those!) They had towering cake rings, little zippered change purses with stenciled cameras, metal/resin? collages as necklace pendants (like a picture of Mary with a Picasso face holding an AK47 with the words, I am NOT your Mother across the top), huge plastic jewels and real Barbie dolls, bunch more stuff. They are also selling on Yahoo Auctions, (although when I check they didn’t have anything listed), as well as XinMen Ding (in the Red Theater). If you wanna inquire, email janwa93@yahoo.com.tw.

Here’s Kiah with Mr.Still-Don’t-Know-Your-Name-But You’re-Pleasant Guy. Both rocking the Rice Society necklaces.

I was sad to leave around 5, just when it was starting to get good. I heard the crowd for the bands was intense, so many people there.

Words through the grapevine about selling there:

*Don’t be sitting out in the sun the whole day. It’s fucking hot and that makes you tired.

*It’s the cheap-o gimme a deal or I’ll walk crowd. Low prices make the sale, more expensive items, almost no interest.

Things Kiah and I realized after doing the rounds and scoping everyone’s booth:

*Color and branding are the two major draws to any booth. Others just blended in.

*Sign/banner is a must

*Don’t block yourself in with you on one side, customers on the other.

*Have a mirror!

It’s super easy to tell which people selling there took their business seriously and professionally, and those just out to do their best (low-quality) efforts. It makes a real difference when you take the extra step in quality, instead of just choosing the cheapest materials to complete your project. There were some accessories I would’ve bought, had I not noticed the sloppy glue job, or that they used really low-quality material.  It’s that extra little care and attention that makes the purchase worthwhile.

HUASHAN CONFIRMED DATES:

Oct 10/11

Oct 17/18

Oct 24/25

Oct 31/Nov 1

Nov 7/8