Anime Expo Artist Table Destroyed (2024 expenses + profit breakdown) 

Genuinely shocked the con did nothing to help smh. Like I know there’s prolly a “sign here so the con isn’t responsibly for damage of your booth” but literally nothing???

That was a fun video. I retired from doing artist alley years ago because it got way too expensive, but I'm really proud and impressed at how booths and merch has grown over the last decade. Thanks for the transparent break down :D

Agree on why artist sales aren't as high the year previous. I just did a local show and didn't hit my goal, and when speaking to the regulars, they all said their sales were down between 30-40% which is a huge chunk. Here's to hoping the economy improves.

Ngl, if I knew food would be that expensive id definitely go prior to a grocery store or something and bring a cooler. I'll definitely keep that in mind if I ever table lol. Love seeing the booths, its like gamers showing off their pc builds, but for tabling artists/creatives.

Your videos are just such a great mix of humor/entertainment value/insightful artist advice and it's the best??? Thank you!!!

Last year, thousands of people complained about the lack of air conditioning, oxygen, and space. I'd think AX learned from that (and wanted to avoid possible legal trouble) by putting a cap on attendees. Pure speculation, but that paired with the state of our economy would def lead to smaller sales for the majority. Hoping for better con turnouts and spending behavior by next year, though!

Hey Inkwell! Love your vids and your amazing transparency! Thank you for it. I was working at AX this year as a booth worker for an industry booth up in the Ex. Hall (not *big big industry* but still technically industry). We were there to make sales primarily, and then do some marketing, but sales primarily. 100,000% agree with you: The main action nowadays for Anime Shows is in the Artist Alley, absolutely. Also very much agree that there was far less attendees at the show compared to years past, which, from a business perspective, feels a bit vexing, but definitely on a safety-perspective and as an attendee feels real nice. I wanted to stop by and say hey but when I walked by you had a mini-congestion at your booth so I let you be. Glad there were no assassination attempts from convention services trucks! Thank you for your insight! Keep up the amazing work and keep continuing to be an amazing resource for new and curious artists! See you at Gen Con in a few weeks! :)

This is interesting, our sales were actually up 20% this year 😮

The way you deliver stories is always so fun! I'm glad that the event still was worth for you. Last year at AX, when we were packing up for the day, one of those forklifts was going around. I assume one of those hit your table. I'm surprised it went off path and destroyed so much. At least someone should've taken responsibility. During the last few days, I was walking around and enjoying the con. The crowd is a lot less compared to previous edition. As a visitor, it was pretty nice. From a business perspective, it was below expectations. Seeing all those creative table setups got me pumped to work on my own. Thank you for showing so many inspirations in your videos!

I'm currently upgrading my booth from the acursed walls built MacGyver style out of grid cube sections to a wood peg board and *I can't wait* to get rid of these spawns of satan! But also, wow those are some amazing and inspiring booths out there! I was going to level it up anyway, but now I want to ~level it up~

Unrelated to anything but want to mention i clicked because i recognize this booth from the convention i went to just a few weeks ago. I love the setup

Thanks for your transparency and entertaining content. I just started doing conventions this year and hope one day I can afford a baja blast too

great insight as always. I'm from Indonesia and sell my works overseas, the majority of my customer/collectors are from US. I also found that my overseas sales has been dropped a lot, and knowing a big artist like you experiencing this too shows that the US economy is in a shaky spot. Totally agree on the diversified price range

On top of always being super helpful - Kokomi stan? call him GOATWELL

I hadn’t heard about you until I saw your booth at AX (I came over because I saw another Howl cosplayer) and I was blown away by your art. I’m someone who has considered selling art at conventions on and off, and this video has definitely encouraged me to try sooner rather than later and at a smaller local convention at least to start out

Great and informative video! best of luck in your future work!! I hope mall security learns how to drive...sheesh

the table with the print wheel OMG this is a whole other lvl of table game ahahushuahsuahushua

XD You are such a storyteller!! This dramatic retelling and the images/videos were amazing! Thank you. Also, need that Howl coat, you look impecable.

To your point towards the end about offering more low-priced items, not a bad thought at all, but if we’re talking about profit purely it helps me to remember that in order to make $100 I can either sell 20 $5 items or, a single $100 item. *Sometimes* it can be more time/more effort/more resources spent to make those 20 sales rather than the 1.

Right like last year thousandskies had there truck stolen and lost half of their inventory last year (they found out that some people were selling there stuff at a swapmeet in Oakland) and this year quaphadoodle somebody (probably the same people) broke into their van and had all of their most expensive and easy to transport inventory stolen. like what the heck is going??

Omg, I love your Howl cosplay jacket.

Bro fuck the security, they definitely didnt want to have to pay for damages

Keep em coming Dustin, Enjoyed seeing how many artists embraced art caves again for AX! 😅

Love your art business insight as always, but besides that, can I just say the pacing and humor of this video might be your best yet? Loved the energy

Thank you for being transparent as always! I learn sm from ur vids💛

I don't think they capped the tickets all that much lower. It barely sold out the day before the show. The crowds only seemed like less because there were more hangout areas for people to gather in when before their main option was to leave the con or wander the halls. I was in AA too, and despite being basically an unknown artist with no fancy display, my sales were somehow better than yours so perhaps it was more your location than anything? Not sure as I was just 1 aisle over from you. Also, sometimes fancy displays end up hurting because of visual confusion. Customers usually aren't artists and might not appreciate the craftmanship of a themed display if it makes it hard to focus on merch when they're busy with the crowd/friends. Keeping it neat and simple can work wonders~

it must've been shocking to arrive for the day and find that! and even more shocking that the con did nothing to help 😮

Unbelievable that they are quick to take your money but not to help! To the organisers….Look beeches, without the artists you would be nothing!

Was great to see you again this year. I love my new desk mat, it's awesome.

Quality video from a quality artist 🎉 I loved this a lot and it was a nice surprise to see a new vid from you. You and Sang looked very lovely! I enjoyed how informational and humorous this was. I had a fun time seeing everyone’s table setups on instagram as a spectator. I thought everyone’s creativity was on full blast with how everyone set up their tables. Your table setup has always been an inspiration for me. Cool vid 👍🏼

thank you so much for your transparency and your thoughts on products production, it’s quite eye opening and makes me rethink my own product line😅! and daaamn, these tables😮! wow, kudos to artists- they are impressive!🎉❤

We’ve never seen you with this much energy 😂

Always love the fun storytelling of your vids

That was really insightful! Thanks for the breakdown. To your point about anime conventions typically having a younger crowd, it'd be interesting to know how you do at a con like Dragon*Con where attendees are generally older/more established and so many fandoms are present. I see your booth there every year and have a hallway full of your prints now!

Idk why I laughed so hard when you aggressively shaked the pole lol

Loved seeing this video!!! Makes me so excited for my own artist alley journey :D

Great video @inkwell. Thank you so much for being so candid so we all (artists) can learn from each other.

Truck kun tried to Isekai you lol

last time ive been to AX was 2019 the artist alley did not look as extravagant as that. people really popped off with their booths

Wow! I bought some of your art at one of the Sugoi Saturday/Sundays in Anaheim. Didn't get your socials/name and never knew how to find your art. Just randomly got your video recommended today and was shocked to recognize your art!

I'm glad you weren't trauamtized again - and great video, very nicely put together and had some good notes to keep in mind. Cheers!

Just wanted to say how much I appreciate this video, well all your videos, they're always incredibly insightful and the breakdowns and granularity of information you present is top notch. I'm just starting to get back into the con scene and I've been wondering about what the current vibe or feel is for pricing and consumer reaction. I mainly sell prints but they tend to be on the comparatively pricey side because I go with a pricier printer (INPRNT). Will have to consider adding something more budget-conscious maybe. Anyways yeah man, thanks again for another awesome video :)

So thankful for your sharing information and insights. I found you last year at Comic Con. Hope you’re there this year.

Definitely having afew cheaper products along with the higher prices is definitely a good idea.

It was a real help the breakdown for all and the cosplay duo dynamics where in sync for your energy ! Thanks for sharing

Lower priced items have carried me through 2024, it's been rough! My price range is $3-$40 and I'd love to introduce higher priced items, currently my average sale is ~$30. It's getting hard to justify vending at expensive giant cons/travel (even though I love them) vs smaller local events where I might make the same/more with an older audience. I don't sell fan art either, and fine art/oddities events are definitely better for me than fandom cons.

$40 CAD is my cap at conventions per art piece. Something not huge and hard to get around a convention, but bigger than a postcard is what I'm looking for. ^^

Yeah, the artist alley at the local con in my area has had the same problem, just easier to see since it's been shrinking every year. Artists aren't making the money back to justify it, and you can tell by how the con is starting to fill floor space in the artist alley hall with other stuff to make it look more alive by condensing foot traffic. Doesn't help that it happens the same weekend as another major con 2 states over and still charges an arm and a leg for a 1-day table.

I like cute decorative pins as a cheaper thing I tend to buy to support artists I like. I used to buy tons of prints, but I just don't have space to do anything with them now, which is the sad inevitable result of someone that's been to almost 2 decades of conventions. A $10-20 pin with a fun character design is easy to keep and display. I do notice you're have those big decorative playmats. Those are great. I use those as mouspads and tend to go through one a year as they wear over time. It's consumable art.

i am a casual artist but your videos always make me wanna go ham and put up a booth and at least try it out once. i don't need that "car into booth" experience tho

I love your videos so much! They get better and better every time you upload. This entire thing I laughed and cried for you. You’re such a great story teller with how dynamic your body language and voice are in this and the memes had me. I am so sorry you had to deal with all of this good lord.

"Nobody tried to murder me, so good year." 😂

None of the magnitude and splendor of Anime Expo could hope to match that outfit you're wearing! ;)~

AX was my first time selling my art, although that was over 10 years ago. after seeing these booths i can't imagine doing it now 😭 i wouldn't even know where to begin with building mine. that being said i did pretty well for myself at the time and actually turned a profit. i didn't attend AX this year, couldn't afford it, but man idk if i would ever vend again. that competition is so steep. i'll probably stick to just shopping.

Possibly your most fun video to watch yet.

I recently went to an anime convention on a much smaller scale, and I'm not surprised your Dungeon Meshi print was your top seller. The majority of cosplayers were either cosplaying a hoyoverse (genshin/star rail) character, OR Dungeon Meshi. I went as a genshin character, but the thing I most wanted to see in artists ally was Dungeon Meshi art, of which there was sadly very little. If you had been at that convention, I would have 100% walked away with at least one copy of that print :3

@ 4:43 that unfortunate foreshadowing, someone clearly went "bet"

I think Anime Expo needs a separate area for the artists where the public can actually go. Give the people cap times and sell them a ticket. If anime expo chibi can be a thing, we can do one for artists

great video! also now realizing I need a chubbyemu and inkwell colab hahaha

We must RIOT against the machines! >:( But in all seriousness, please keep these videos up! I haven't started vending at conventions yet since there aren't many fitting ones around me, but I sold at a music/art festival for the first time last month and would not have been able to do so without all the advice and insights! Thank you so much for sharing all this ❤❤❤

I still want a ticket just to go to Artist Alley for LAX, because that's 90% of my visit (the other 10% is just me trying to get my money worth) Also, shocks me that AA attendees leave their products behind- so much trust that I dont have haha

This was a fun watch. I have never been to an artist alley, but they look interesting.

Not just the US economy. Had a similar experience recently at Japan Expo Paris

NOOOO! Bro that sucks so much! I always love your booth! It's by far my favorite booth when when you come to Fanime where I live. ; n;

Great video. Just came back from a con myself as an attendee and yes I did feel like I wanted to spend less. Gosh the drinks at every restaurant I went to cost half the meal cost. I went with water all weekend. There were loads of different artist alley stickers I wanted to buy, but even that ($7 for a sticker at one booth) was over my budget. I ended up turning down many items after I heard the price ($40 for a manga book). I was looking everywhere for Dungeon Meshi stuff. I see why that print did well.

Lovebot always attacks between 2-3am.

Ngl i managed to scrape as much as I can for just entry in anime expo, it did blow me away when i saw these cute tiny gold key chains with spinny arms for 20 dollars each, but all i could think about was that I could just about afford food and lunch for the next day from the marukai Market in little tokyo. Or even buy groceries for the 4 days I was there.

I need to know where you have that howl jacket from, pretty pretty please 😭🙏

It took me seeing this post to realize I passed by your booth and was near multiple times at AX 😂😂😂 it didn’t click til now

Loved this video. I really appreciate your transparency with how much money you made.

amazing and underrated video 🙌🏻

I'm new and don't know the full story from last year, did the convention reimburse you guys for the damaged booths? Or did all of you have to pay for the losses out of pocket?

SOOOO FUNNNN!!!! WISH I CAN BE THERE TO SUPPORT!

Is it illegal to set up your own security cam at your booth? I feel like theft and things like this happen way too often now at conventions :( Other than that, thank you for the breakdown! I honestly never considered fluctuating my prices based on consumer market, but it makes a lot of sense.

I've been booking hotel block for AX, the last 2 AX, for 4 nights, was like 1k lol. So yeah you're right about that, although I expect artists to come earlier to prep so total for 1 room would probably at least 1.2k. But yes I also spent a lot less at AA this year than I did in 2022 and 23, I came with a set budget and didn't go over. I've moved away from buying keychains and small items and prefer one big central piece of something I really like (ihave a whole collage wall of prints in my room..idk what to do once i move lol or get married) BUT my friends bought a ton of cheaper items this year. In my experience since my friend and I had different fandoms, we bought more often from artists who had those buy 2 get 1 etc deals for multiple fandoms (or really cool original art). We probably wouldn't have bought otherwise if one of us didn't pitch in for the deal. I hope next year AX will be better for artists, but this year its definitely the uncertainty of the economy that impacted buying habits..I knew it did for me. However as a congoer I was very happy with the reduced amount of people and felt like this year was one of the best AX in a long time. Also your food costs were kinda insane to me! But its why I avoided the cafeteria as much as I could

I’m an artist in the Southeast. Vendors and Artists have been struggling down here too. At one Con, sellers were increasing their prices on Sunday to try and break even. I do one of a kind paintings but I keep my prices very reasonable ($40-120) to be fair. I’m now branching out with other products just to break even

artist alley used to be easier for sure XD 10 years ago you hardly saw even charms at AA, you could sell laminated paper charms, or shrinky dinks, button makers were novelty. it was a different time AND i'd make more money then too. i don't hate the current AA vibe but going in as a noob is going to hurt so much more than it used to just in growing pains of having to compete with a mostly manufactured AA. i want to do AX at least once in my AA career, so gonna give it my all applying for next year.

sounds like a forklift accident. someone should get fired. 8:46 That is a Prinny from the Disgaea series

This is why insurance in critical.>.. all of that would have been paid for

Your videos are so entertaining!

I was wanting to know if you are willing to share what kind of equipment you use for your setup that you were referring to. The camera/streaming rig etc.

You briefly contrasted the Anime Expo with other types of shows, but unless I missed it, what other broad types of conventions are you comparing with? More locally-focused anime/fandom conventions? Broader fan events, like Comic Con and PAX? Or dedicated art events? Love the videos and the continued insights into the business side of the fandom-art industry.

woah wait was that you at connor's charity auction?

the only thing i would say though about less crowds is that people like me will have more inclination to actually browse the aisles and buy things. I did not buy anything last year or the year before that. I took one look at those crowds and dipped lol

How did you design the thin banners on the left side of your booth. I'm wanting to design book marks

This vid is iconic, instant subscribe

new inkwell video fuck yessss

aw man! i didn't get to see your booth! because artist alley was super duper crowded (at least for me) I only went through about 5 rows out of however many there were. i would of bought that magikarp bag right away! someday i want to have a booth in artist alley AX! someday... i have some art that I do think people would love haha,

10:56 OMG LILIUHMS!!

Should have gotten police and a lawyer involved. FOIA all the security cam footage from the venue. The fact that the venue did not help and kept the security footage concealed suggests they knew exactly what happened and who did it and did want to fork over insurance money to pay for all the damages. Honestly if a venue is going to behave like that then they should be boycotted from hosting any convention.

This made me a bit more confident about doing artist alleys. Now to get over that fear of flying 😮‍💨

I want your editor ❤ these fricken edits kill me

Always wanted to do con but i dont got the money, the skill or the will to draw fanart of popular stuff lol

Love your breakdown videos @inkwell ! Have you considered doing Anthrocon on that weekend instead? The furry cons are rapidly becoming my best events out of any genre.

NGL at anime con, you will find people asleep under tables. I believe this man when he says he has slept underneath his table before. It happens, sleepy time comes for us all. Ok I found where you messed up. You jinxed yourself when you shook your table and said "Knock this over, i double dog dare you" universe said "bet"

Oh girl I hope you had insurance for that show 😭

13:15 sounds like a warzone to me 😅

What is the stamp rally at AX like? Is there a gift at the end?

You sound like Alan from smiling friends but genuinely,I’m sorry that had happened to you and they did nothing and took no responsibility for

Iis that table fee average? For such a big show I would have guessed higher.