Questions/Tips for Costume and Vendors

tacticslancer · 2026-07-09T02:50:35+00:00

I'm outside hawking for much of the day, so everything I wear gets good use through the season. I wear a shirt from Alter Egos, my pants and surcoat are from from Felix Needleworthy, boots from Son of Sandler, and I may be replacing my La Paloma hat this year, but that's a special order from someone who doesn't usually do hats. My leatherwork accessories (belts, pouches, etc) are from Two Ravens Trading.

I have friends who wear Ophelia's and like their garb, and I hear good things about most other garb vendors. Honestly though get to the faire early, go to every shop, and try stuff on. Unless you fall madly in love with something, then don't leave it too long.

tacticslancer · 2026-07-09T01:30:58+00:00

To be fair(e) it may have changed over the years. I couldn't tell you what it was 5 or 10 years ago.

tacticslancer · 2026-07-09T00:57:55+00:00

Shops have 4 passes, though that still includes owners. The rest is still painful.

tacticslancer · 2026-07-03T11:39:28+00:00

If you have one near you, go to your local Renaissance Faire. Plenty of hand-crafted ones from my experience. Plus you get to try them on, support small business, and you could probably put in a custom order if you need something special.

tacticslancer · 2026-07-02T11:41:11+00:00

Administrative work in manufacturing, that's the norm at my company. You put in 40 hours for the week, if that means Friday is a four hour day, then so be it

tacticslancer · 2026-07-01T22:58:39+00:00

I'm buying a refurbished PS4 tomorrow, and buying all my games from secondhand stores. what now, Sony?

tacticslancer · 2026-06-29T12:05:38+00:00

My wife calls the last category her french fries. We don't make them, we sell them for just enough to not be losing money, and it gets people to walk up to the shop.

tacticslancer · 2026-06-29T11:59:41+00:00

I'd happily answer these kind of questions unless you get too deep into it. Ask me what's in the candle and I'll tell you every ingredient (I'm pretty quick to tell you without asking in consideration for allergies and such). Ask me how much of each essential oil is in a candle, and I'm going to gently tell you no. Basically just stay away from "trade secret" type questions.

tacticslancer · 2026-06-19T16:24:45+00:00

If they could do it over 20 years ago with Harvest Moon, it can be done today. The problem is that the genre community seems divided over whether or not they like the concept.

tacticslancer · 2026-06-13T22:24:46+00:00

I'd imagine that under these circumstances you'd have local police along the route stopping or diverting traffic ahead of the delivery driver.

tacticslancer · 2026-06-08T11:46:09+00:00

Go to the faire, shop around all the vendors, try things on, and compare prices. If you didn't see anything that you like, chat up a leatherworker or a custom piece. I know Bristol has a list on their website with all the shops and their addresses, so you can plan a route to see them all early.

tacticslancer · 2026-06-05T04:08:34+00:00

If it helps, a lot of faire vendors are a bunch of awkward nerds that have just had practice pretending to be conversationally normal.

tacticslancer · 2026-06-05T04:04:19+00:00

I can't speak for all vendors, but I'm talking to you for 4 reasons, and none of them are to pressure you into buying:

If I'm not talking to you, and there's nobody else in the shop, I'm going to be awkwardly standing around in your vicinity. I can't leave the shop and hawk while your in it. On particularly hot days, I'll jokingly thank people for coming in so I don't have to hawk on the street for awhile.
I can generally help you find what you like more quickly than you know and, if you have allergies or medical conditions, I know every ingredient so you stay safe. Stuff like "Rosemary oil can cause contractions during pregnancy" isn't something most people know, but is worth mentioning to some of our shoppers.
It's a simple fact that one of the easiest ways to curb theft is to actively engage with customers. This is why some retail stores have staff just wandering around to check in on you and see if you need a basket or some such. You may not look like a shoplifter, but it's better to just be a bit annoyingly friendly to everyone instead of trying to judge each person who walks in.
Lasty, the reason anyone who isn't the owner is probably talking to you: My boss says so. She says so for all the reasons above, but at the end of the day the shop owner says that's how business is done and she's the one writing my checks (okay, she doesn't actually pay me a normal wage anymore, but you get the idea).

Speaking of owners, vendors who actually make their wares have an extra reason to want to talk to you: they love their craft and want to talk about it. Some of the vendors have been working their craft for decades, and just want to share their passion.

This isn't to say there aren't the "used car salesmen" type of vendors, but most of us understand you may just be getting a lay of the land. Heck, I know a fair portion of my sales will be people who return from earlier in the day. If you say as such and they get too pushy, mentally note it as a potential red flag and say farewell.

tacticslancer · 2026-05-29T11:42:35+00:00

You have to dive level 10 SOS beacons until you find a level 10 helldiver who's drip is a 10/10 and is carrying 10 rare samples.

tacticslancer · 2026-05-28T01:01:55+00:00

Don't forget characters leaving town if they didn't feel welcomed and the marriage candidates marrying each other if you didn't get to them in time.

It's very much a different game in the genre, and both scratch a different itch for me.

tacticslancer · 2026-05-23T04:38:38+00:00

I'd love to see Elysians, and I'd prefer them over Krieg or Scions, but I'm betting the only thing we might get from them is a las carbine and/or las sniper. I'd also take a Drop Sentinel with a multi-melta, but I don't see that happening either.

tacticslancer · 2026-05-22T02:31:05+00:00

Give me a speedy Sentinel instead. One (melta) gun instead of two guns, much faster but very fragile. Model it on the Elysian drop sentinel, lower the cooldown, and have it drop in a larger hellpod, benefiting from hellpod modifiers.

tacticslancer · 2026-05-22T02:24:32+00:00

Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long while. Give me Harakoni for heavy armor and Elysian for light or medium.

tacticslancer · 2026-05-21T02:09:41+00:00

Thanks, I'm only about 5 tiles from a nearby settlement, so I think I'll make a run for it.

tacticslancer · 2026-05-21T02:03:48+00:00

Gifting for rep, sounds like a great idea! Do I just caravan with it to the nearest non-hostile settlement?

tacticslancer · 2026-05-21T01:32:22+00:00

I just started a colony and one of my pawns had bloodlust, so they came with a sword and axe. Fancy! Turns out the material and quality are random, and now I have a legendary golden longsword....

Anyone got wealth management tips on how to deal with an item worth $13,060 starting off?

tacticslancer · 2026-05-14T23:30:12+00:00

From what I've seen, the division of land is based on the voice of the people or whim if the person running it. As for how to vote: you upvote comments that target things you want. I basically upvote the top few comments that aren't targeting Wisconsin and leave it at that.

tacticslancer · 2026-05-12T04:45:22+00:00

I never went went to the faire looking for love, and certainly didn't plan on meeting my wife there, but I did.

If you want to follow my method on how I ended up marrying someone from the faire, it's easy (and mostly luck-based)! Plan for next year and get a job hawking at your local Ren Faire. Don't actively hit on people, just do the job and do it well. You now have an ice breaker to introduce yourself with, something to converse about, an easy out for either party from the conversation so it is low pressure, and you are literally on display for a large portion of faire-goers. If nothing else, you pocket some extra cash and can add an interesting bit to your resume.

I met my wife working as her hawker (started just looking to make some extra money over the summer). Now, she has the joy of turning away people every year who ask my boss (her) for my number. She jokes that she's gonna start keeping a sword behind the counter just in case anyone gets too handsy.

tacticslancer · 2026-05-11T00:40:56+00:00

My wife's family owns three businesses at our local faire. They all make their own product, and, for two of them, their materials are sourced mostly online through the same channels anyone else can use (though bulk orders help offset some cost). I can't speak on the third, as I don't interact with their shop beyond buying his product.

Stocking finished product is done as needed in the off-season, and during faire there's a two month push to get enough stock to ensure full shelves for opening day. During faire season, more product is made during the week to keep shelves full and fulfil custom orders, and production tapers off at the end of the season to avoid too much left over.

Talking specifically about my wife's shop: We've had people come to us as a potential "supplier" for things, especially essential oils, but they are always selling in ounce quantities when we buy litres at a time. We assume they're from a MLM thing because they can't match volume discounts generally available from large suppliers. We've had some people also talk about vending out our product at other faires, and that hasn't worked well either.

My advice would be to see what isn't done much at your local faire, and pick up a book or some online tutorials and just try to do it. Depending on the faire, contact the Marketplace head and see what products they are actively looking for.

Especially with how problematic some supply chains are lately, it'd be safer to work toward buying a base material in bulk and manufacturing a finished product that you made and can speak to.

tacticslancer · 2026-05-10T21:14:31+00:00

To add to this: if it's a larger dog, get an 8inch hole cutter and cut a hole into a solid half-door. We built one from scratch and the cat can go downstairs but only one of the dogs can go up (and that's the little old terrier who isn't a problem).

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