I was doing some research into SCA camp furniture this morning to see what was out there, and quickly realized just how many of the merchants that I have visited over the years have given up the ghost and vanished, maybe some are still around under other names, but it looks that many of them have just up and left the business entirely.
A sad state of affairs? Yes most definately, but is it really surprising? No, not really, step on past the cut for my take on merchanting in the SCA.
So why do I say that I am not surprised by this turn of events? There are a number of factors, and I will list them all then give a final thought on how the average member can help out.
1) Obviously the economy, no matter what they are saying about it getting slowly better the fact is that disposable income is still at a premium for many in the society let alone the merchants themselves. The less money to spend, the less gets spent, and the pool begins to dry up, less merchants get patronized and eventally close up shop.
2) Linked to the first is the price of gas, I remember when it felt outrageous going to one of our kingdoms signature events and being a little more than upset with $1.80 gas! Since then we have had spikes above $4 and are hovering still in the high $3 range, this creates the ultimate domino effect because people travel less to events and spend less with the merchants, then the merchants don't travel, lose more of their income and find they can't survive.
3) eBay has a part to play, more and more we are seeing recreation items that are being made in places like India, China, and to some extent Eastern Europe that are of far lower quality and somewhat lower price, this continues to harm our merchanting population that cannot drop their prices to that level and still maintain their quality.
4) Event pricing, events are getting more and more expensive, the $6 event five years ago is now $12 and that adds up over the course of the year, even worse if you are a family with children, the family caps help but not entirely.
5) Art = Quality = $...I have often watched as people pour over an exquisitely done piece of garb and see all the work thats gone into it, then balk at the price, the reality is that high quality beautiful pieces are going to cost money, and sometimes lots of it, but again people look to cheaper alternatives and go from there, further harming the quality merchant.
6) Finally is the derth of quality merchants at many events, I hear people talk about how they don't support the merchants because all they deal in is "Junk" and at events this is often the case. Many times you will see those people who set up a little sunshade with a load of goods that they think are medieval and hock these wares. The problem becomes with people thinking that this all merchants have to offer, instead of looking on the internet and at bigger events for the larger vendors.
Final Conclusions
The SCA/Recreation Merchant has a lot working against them, its a very passionate and dedicated consumer base, but even then its a specific market and hard to make a living at [while my boss at work finds it fascinating he really doesn't have a NEED for a Gothic Sallet for himself and Elizabethan gown for his daughter] these challenges alone are enough to drive even the most dedicated merchants under, let alone the other factors above.
Now, there is nothing we can do about the current state of the economy or the price of gas, both of which impact event prices, but we can do something about our perceptions and buying habits. In the last couple of years I have found myself buying more and more from the merchants, from the book on woodworking I want to a couple of new Cavalier Shirts, are there cheaper venues? Yes of course there are, any number of sites on the Internet that might offer me better prices even with shipping. But when it comes to the beautiful handmade item they aren't going to carry it online, its the merchant at my event that will have it, or at worse can make it, or can talk with me for hours about the book I just bought, its all a matter of patronizing the folks that come to our events and are a part of the community, shop their online sites, not the faceless places that are just into the SCA community for the money, we can help our merchants survive, we just need to make the effort.
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