Artist Back Alley Resources Blog

You packed 200 prints and sold 40. Now you're hauling 160 prints back through the airport feeling like a pack mule. Sound familiar? Overpacking product is the silent tax on every convention vendor's energy. Let's fix it. Start With Last Show's Numbers If you've done even one show, you have data. How many of each item did you sell? Bring that number plus 30%. That's it. Not "as many as I can fit." Not "what if this is my BEST show ever." Your actual number plus a buffer. First-timers without data: ask other vendors in your niche. Artist alley communities share this info freely. A typical small table at a mid-size con moves 30-60 prints over a weekend. Match Product Volume To Booth Size Your modular display kit shows a fixed number of faces. A Core (24 panels) built five high gives you a clean display wall. You only need stock for what's ON the wall plus restocking backup. Here's the maths most vendors skip: count your display slots. Multiply by 1.5 for restock. That's your maximum. Anything beyond that sits in a box under your table gathering dust. The "One Box" Rule Experienced vendors swear by this: if your restock doesn't fit in one box or bag under the table, you brought too much. That box is your restocking station. When a print sells, you reach down, grab the replacement, pin it up. No digging through three containers. What To Cut First Old designs that haven't moved in three shows. Niche pieces you love but the market doesn't. Sizes that overlap (if A4 outsells A3, bring fewer A3s). Cut RUTHLESSLY. You're not curating a gallery. You're running a business at a folding table. Check the full kit range to size your display to your actual inventory needs. Frequently Asked Questions What if I sell out early?That's a win, not a failure. Selling out with low overhead beats lugging home a mountain of unsold stock. Take commissions or hand out business cards for online orders. Should I bring different stock for different cons?Yes. An anime con and a craft fair have different audiences. Curate for the crowd, don't dump your entire catalogue.

We've all been there. Four vendors, one hotel room, a mountain of stock boxes, and someone's gridwall leaning against the bathroom door. Splitting a room saves money, but it turns into a logistics nightmare when everyone's display takes up floor space. Here's what we've learned after years of sharing rooms at cons: the vendor who packs smallest wins. Not in some competitive way. They just SLEEP better because they're not climbing over PVC pipes to reach the bed. Our modular display kit lives in a 56x36x23cm case. That slides under the hotel desk, under the bed, or stands upright in the closet next to your suitcase. It takes up less space than a single stock box. When your roommate's metal frame is blocking the ironing board and leaning against the TV, your display is just quietly sitting in its bag being nobody's problem. The real trick to hotel room packing isn't fancy organisation systems or vacuum bags. It's choosing gear that was designed to be SMALL when you're not using it. A display that packs flat means your share of the room stays your share of the room. You can actually use the bathroom without moving someone's booth infrastructure. If you're doing the roommate circuit this con season, do everyone a favour and check out the full kit range before you become the person whose display lives in the bathtub. Your roommates will thank you. Silently, but genuinely.

You spent weeks on those prints. The last thing you want is to pull crumpled edges out of your suitcase at 7am on setup day. Good news: your panels and your prints can share the same bag without drama. You just need a system. Start With The Panels As Your Frame Your modular display kit panels are 35x35cm frosted polypropylene. They're rigid, lightweight, and FLAT. That makes them the perfect spine for your suitcase. Stack them vertically along one side of the bag. They create a wall that protects everything behind them. Think of the panel stack as a built-in divider. One side is hardware. The other side is product. Layer Prints Between Panels Here's the trick most vendors figure out after their third show: slide your prints between panels. The rigid surfaces sandwich your art and keep it from bending. No need for a separate print portfolio if your prints are A3 or smaller. Place prints face-to-face so ink sides never touch a connector or hook Use a single sheet of tissue paper between every 5-6 prints Keep the heaviest prints closest to the centre of the stack Connectors And Hooks Go In Pouches ABS connectors and PLA hooks are small but they scratch. Toss them loose and you'll find scuff marks on your panels. A mesh zip pouch solves this COMPLETELY. One pouch for connectors, one for hooks, done. The whole kit packs into a 56x36x23cm carry-on bag. That includes panels, connectors, hooks, and your prints layered in between. What About Larger Prints? If you sell A2 or bigger, those won't fit between 35cm panels. Use a separate poster tube for oversized work. But everything A3 and under? It rides with the booth. Check the full kit range to see which size fits your table setup and how many panels you're actually travelling with. Frequently Asked Questions Will the panels scratch my prints?No. The frosted PP surface is smooth and non-abrasive. Just avoid letting connector pegs sit directly on printed surfaces. Can I fit prints plus a Core kit in carry-on?Yes. The Core (24 panels) leaves plenty of room for a stack of A4 or A3 prints inside the same 56x36x23cm bag. Do I need bubble wrap?Not for the panels or the prints sandwiched between them. If you're packing mugs, pins, or other hard goods alongside, wrap those separately.