Overseas Manufacturers and When to Do Artist Alley Full-Time (ft DrawnbyIvy) EP 2 | Mualcaina

[@bazreadsbooks]

Jumping on the "Just start" conversation, at Kawaii Kon this past weekend there was a young guy who had just moved to Hawaii from America Samoa. His table had three prints and two stickers displayed on cardboard boxes. No business card so I unfortunately can't remember his @. But he was so kind and sweet, my friend was his neighbor and confirmed with him that he was able to make his table back.

[@Mualcaina]

Yes I love that!! It’s definitely more intimidating now for a lot of newbies but the best way to get started is to actually do it :)

[@melodypanic]

Another amazing episode!!!! Thank you so much!!

[@Mualcaina]

Thank you so much for watching!! Hope you found it helpful :)

[@ChantelleArts]

Fantastic video, I am loving the series ☺☺

[@Mualcaina]

Thank you so much for watching! :)

[@LilBunMonstah]

Wow, that was amazing! Thank you both so much for your insight in this Q&A. This was extremely helpful, especially for someone starting out. Please make more of these!

[@dinglelilly]

If you haven't figured it out by the time I'm writing this--you can add the idle screen pictures for your square terminal on your square seller dashboard (I believe on the computer only). Then on your terminal if you go into the settings you can enable it c: always love watching your vids!

[@ClorisCreates]

I jumped when I heard my name 😂 Loving this series! Thank you for sharing your knowledge, Ivy! ♡

[@Mualcaina]

Omg HAHA I had to mention you there hehe 😂

[@Angenarts]

I did 2 artist alleys last year (INK Fest at Columbia College Chicago and C2E2), and I do enjoy the scene. I have 5 events this year, C2E2 again (yay!) and 4 smaller events, and I've prioritized amping my merch and having a clear setup because I was so bare bones at the beginning, so I'm excited to get going! You have been an amazing help to my convention journey that is just starting. I've been doing a mix of creating prints from home and outsourcing stickers and acrylic charms especially when they're on sale. Hoping to make a profit but ultimately breaking even is the goal!

[@Mualcaina]

That's awesome! Glad to see you're doing more events this year 🎉

[@wandering_boba]

Love all your videos. Doing my first event soon, and have watched all your videos for guidance.

[@miadarkarcher]

There is so much good information in this video! OMG I need a pdf for it! lol

[@lowbudgetmic]

Podcast audio listening 😮💛

[@Mualcaina]

Thanks for watching!

[@noebyuu]

loving these podcasts a lot and looking forward to the next one! what are some alternatives to the artist alley network discord? ive been trying to get in and they arent getting back to me/applications are closed. it seems a little unfair to newer art biz owners :[[ since a lot of info gets shared on there!

[@Mualcaina]

Glad you’re enjoying them! Honestly I’m not familiar w other AAN alternatives unfortunately, though they seem to have rolling acceptances :(

[@FrenchFrles]

I was wondering where I could find a list of your products? Thanks!

[@michaelamadeit]

This video has been super helpful! I feel better about my pacing and waiting to dive into enamel pins until now (about 1 year into my business). How much would y’all recommend have saved up for both production and samples for enamel pins? And is this different from the amount people typically shoot for when they launch a Kickstarter?

[@Mualcaina]

Glad you enjoyed it! Assuming you’re talking about self-funding pins (rather than how you plan for KS/pre-orders), I usually just save up however amount a manu quotes me for the qty. I don’t usually do samples for pins now that I have est a relationship w my rep, but I would ask around first to see how much a sample would cost then factor that in.

[@michaelamadeit]

@@Mualcaina yes that makes sense! I’ll definitely work with my manu and get more details!

[@rosaalanny]

Can I ask is it okay if I'm not good at drawing online and did it on paper then copy it onto a tablet or something

[@mecybertronian3970]

Hello! I like your work very much! can i order you some enamel pins characters or do you not do it for the public?

[@ditzkey]

How do you get your liscense to sell anime merch? Do you contact the companies that own the rights to those characters? Or does the copyright not apply here because of your art style and other products you sell (making it transformative)? I would like to make anime merch as well, but I don't want to get in trouble for taking other's characters to make money. Any suggestions?

[@Mualcaina]

Not legal advice, but you would have to reach out to studios I believe if you want to license your merch.

[@alexl1938]

It's not licensed. Any fan art sold without permission from the copyright holders is possible to be removed for copyright infringement. The vast, vast majority of people selling fanart they've made falls under this category.

[@ageeksguidetotravel5326]

After establishing a relationship with a manu and ordering via Alibaba, do you continue communication and orders through that platform or move off eventually?

[@colorreyn]

Alibaba offers trade assurance which gives you a safety net in terms of getting your money back on defective products or shipping issues. My opinion would be to keep it on the platform even with established relationships.

[@Mualcaina]

For my Alibaba manus, I like to keep the conversation on Alibaba bc of the added protection. I do have a few manus that I converse w via email but I send payments via PayPal goods and services for additional protection