$5 Price Limit
The Feedback

When we opened the registrations for the Winter Zine Market, we also introduced the $5 Price Limit.

​

When booking stalls, zinemakers were invited to give their feedback on the limit. The vast majority of these were supportive of the limit.

However we'd also seen kōrero on social media that suggested some people were upset. For whatever reason, they'd chosen not to speak to us directly.

​

To better gather these perspectives, on May 12 we opened up a survey for people to give anonymous feedback.

​

We were really encouraged by the level of engagement in this survey. Thank you to everyone who participated.

​

We've taken the results of this survey and turned it into some quick stats to show everyone the findings. This is just an overview - there was plenty more to the survey, but we found these points to be the most significant.

Part One

Participants

A total of 48 people filled out the feedback survey.

41 of these were in the first 24 hours.

12 people were considering stallholding, but the limit stopped them.

Part Two

'General Feels'

Participants were asked:

​

"If you could sum up your thoughts on the price limit, they would be:"

​

Positive

Mixed

Negative

Positive

50% of participants selected Positive.

Anonymous comments from Positive participants are listed below.

​

As a Stallholder:

​

“it feels like less pressure on me to make amazing expensive zines to match the talent of some of the more seasoned stallholders, so I feel less stressed. I'm excited to see what I make encouraged by the lower budget!”

As a Patron:

​

“It really appeals because it means I can support more creatives than just one or two. There's been such a price hike in recent years and it makes it harder to spread the support around when you can only buy one thing.”

Mixed

33.3% of participants selected Mixed.

​

Anonymous comments from Mixed participants are listed below.

​

As a Stallholder:

​

“It severely limits what I can make without selling at a loss. I like the idea of experimenting and it has encouraged me to think of new things, but over all it means I can’t make and sell the things I love.”

As a Patron:

​

“I prefer to have the option of purchasing bigger, pricier zines (like up to $10 say) but like that lower cost zines are being encouraged to be the main star of the market.”

Negative

16.7% of participants selected Negative.

​

Anonymous comments from Negative participants are listed below.

​

As a Stallholder:

​

“I don’t think it’s fair to restrict people wanting to create more polished work, myself included."

As a Patron:

​

“I'm absolutely okay with spending a bit of money to get pieces that are made with love if it means the artist can keep doing it, and I absolutely prefer buying fewer more expensive items."

Part Three

The Place of Zines

In the past few years, we've received steady feedback that Wellington Zinefest markets feel increasingly less zine-focused and instead about selling other items. To explore this, participants were asked:

​

"Should people without any zines have stalls at Zinefest?"

Positive

Of the people who felt Positive about the limit, responses to this question were:

​

96% Opposed

4% Supportive

​

A comment from this group reads:

​

“No, unless there are still stalls left after the zinesters have been accommodated. Some actual zinesters might be being bumped out by people selling jewellery, art prints, etc.”

Mixed

Of the people who felt Mixed about the limit, responses to this question were:

​

81% Opposed

19% Supportive

​

A comment from this group reads:

​

“It's rough. The name is zine fest so it should be zine focused. But more is more.”

Negative