Planning Inventory Drops Around Your Convention Calendar

If you sell online and at conventions, your inventory calendar is basically two calendars fighting each other. Drop a new print line online the same week as your biggest con and you've split your own audience's attention. Time it right and each event feeds the other instead.

Figure out which shows deserve a new release

Not every con needs new merch. Honestly, most don't. Save genuinely new pieces for the shows where you'll have the most foot traffic or the most engaged existing fans, since new work is what gets people talking and coming back to your table on day two of a multi-day show. Smaller local markets can usually run on your existing catalog without anyone noticing or minding.

A decent rule of thumb: reserve new releases for maybe 3-4 shows a year, your biggest ones, and treat the rest as opportunities to sell through what you already have.

The online drop vs con-exclusive question

This is where a lot of artists get stuck. Two approaches that both work, just for different goals:

• Con-exclusive for a window, then online. New prints are only available at the show for the first few weeks, then go up in your online shop. This rewards people who show up in person and gives you a reason to post "now available online" content afterward that keeps the piece's momentum going.
• Simultaneous drop. New work goes live online the same day as the con. Good if your online audience is bigger than your local con audience, or if you don't want out-of-town fans to feel left out.

Neither is more "legit" than the other. It depends on where your actual sales come from.

Don't let a con date sneak up on your print run

Print lead times are the thing that wrecks inventory plans most often. If your printer needs two weeks and you're placing the order nine days before a show, you're already in trouble. Build backward from the con date: shipping time, plus printing time, plus your own buffer for something going wrong (a file issue, a color that comes out wrong, a shipping delay), and that's your real order deadline, not the date you feel like ordering.

A simple backward-planning table

Selling through old stock without it feeling stale

Every artist ends up with prints that just aren't moving. Peak season is actually a good time to clear them, bundle a slower seller with a popular one, or mark it down at a smaller show where the discount will actually get noticed instead of getting lost in convention floor noise. Don't be precious about a piece that isn't selling. Give it a good sendoff and make room in the bins.

Keep a running list, not just a plan in your head

The artists who manage this well aren't necessarily more organized people, they've just stopped trying to hold the whole calendar in their memory. A simple spreadsheet with con dates, what's launching where, and order deadlines saves you from the moment in July when you realize you forgot to reprint your best seller for a show in ten days.

Curious what a Shapeshift kit actually looks like in person? Head to the Artist Booths homepage to see the full lineup and find the one that fits your table.