I don't think it was about it looking too bad, it was more about your actual well being. It was just a bit concerning considering the position you're in. Theres a lot at stake you know? And yeah like the other person said, who knows if your landlords are trust worthy enough to /not/ throw your things out while you're gone. People do some mean things..uuhgg.

Ah and if you really think going to a con will help you then its all you,, go for it. People just expressed their concerns for your safety is all!

Well, if I had of went I actually would have asked to store stuff at my friend's who's apartment I may or may not be subleasing...basically. Like I actually wasn't gonna make the decision to go until I heard back about it so I wouldn't find myself risking a whole bunch. ;;; But I mean, you all are right. Too much is at risk and I don't even have a way to use money right now. I feel stupid for even mentioning it..

Ah don't beat yourself up, you're in a tough spot and trying to think of ways to help yourself get out of this rut. I know the people of FA will try to help as best they can, I have faith in you

Could you not send the merch with your local friend to sell for you? IDK how good of friends you are, but.. then you wouldn't have to worry about putting yourself out financially right now, or worry about the shop setbacks quite yet. Assuming everything sold?

I could ask, we're pretty good friends.. .I'm actually about to head over to their house right now to get some work done. I'll ask her when I get there, see if something could be arranged. I also know a few others going to where I can drop my stuff off at their house..

Is there any way you could get someone to sell your stock on your behalf and then give you the money? I would seriously consider looking into that if it's at ALL possible. It's definitely risky going to the convention yourself, and it would look suspicious, but if you really think you could make a decent amount of money, it's worth trying to figure out how to sell the items without you being there for sure.

Edit: Haha, Charmsey beat me to it!

Yeah, and I agree. Like I can see where people would find it suspicious..

In the end I'll just... get my store set up and get everything sold online. I think the people who could sell stuff for me have limited space and I'd feel kinda bad asking for them to do it for me tbh..

Even people who sell merch at cons don't break even a lot of the time. The cost to go alone isn't worth it.

*Nod* I think that that's for the best. As far as the con goes...maybe see if your friend who's going could sell your merch in your place. That way you could make a profit without having to worry about the expenses of being there yourself. Then you could put some ads around here and other site advertising your merch and your donation fund. That could help you a great deal.

pbbbt it dosnt 'look bad' if youre like going to go and sell stuff i mean all i can really say on that is more or less like look at how much its going to cost to go there and with travel-hotel-food and such vs how much youll make o: If you can profit off of how much youll make then of course go but if theres a chance that youll lose money by going then yeah just do the online store man

Vani, do not feel bad about having published the previous journal or wanting to make decisions without sitting down to analyze.
You are in an overpowering situation and therefore may not notice it but you may unwittingly make decisions that would not take if you were relaxed.
The best thing is that you tell the people that follow you, the options you have and what would be the best way to go forward since 2 or more heads think better than one and you will find many points of view.
I would love to help you too but I'm not at all good with English yet.
But I wish you the best of luck and be calm that you are not alone.

Hugs. Just take care of yourself friend. Stuff happens to all of us all the time. That is life. Do what you can.

As others have said your safest bet is to discuss the possibility of one of your friends selling your merchandise on your behalf. I can totally see why you'd want to attend the con, but with the situation you're currently in, you'd have to shell out money (gas, food, con tickets, hotel, etc) when you're already in a financially strained situation, and there's a possibility that if you were to attend the con you might not be able to break even with your profits.

You definitely shouldn't apologize though! You're clearly just trying your best to get yourself out of this situation, and I dont think anybody should be upset with you over that.

I have definitely been in a similar situation before, in terms of needing money on a deadline and debating about preexisting con plans. There are obviously people who will judge you for going to a con when you are dealing with other expenses. There are benefits of going to a con if it's local enough, won't cost you much, and if you have a history of doing well when selling at cons. I wouldn't base it on the value of the merch you're bringing, I'd base it on past sales, but also account for your speculated level of productivity if you're stressed out. If you go to the con and end up barely breaking even, it might not be worth it to your anxiety. Speaking here from experience. I also agree that leaving when there is a risk that the people you're renting from might take that as "evidence" you've unceremoniously vacated, that could be a significant issue. You want to leave that situation as professionally and in as much control of your direction as possible (granted, I don't fully know the details).

Regardless of what you choose to do, since paypal is a problem right now, have you considered taking payments via alternate payment methods? Square Cash (https://cash.me/) and Google Wallet (https://www.google.com/wallet/) are both options as long as you have a checking account with a debit card. I've used both and it's so nice to have the funds be able to go into your checking quickly.

I hope things improve and you are able to do what you need to get done with minimal additional stress. <3

It's your own decision after all. You should do what you think works best for you.
Some of the comments against it had actually good arguments but both options (con yes or con no) can
make it better I don't know?
It could help you to go to this convention if you're lucky with selling your work but it's not for sure.
So you'd do it at own risk.

Maybe it can help to do some YCH auctions or design auctions? I'm sure you can sell them for a good prize.
I don't know if something's wrong with your paypal or anything because I haven't read it all.

I just want to wish you the best. It makes me really sad to read that some of biggest idols
has so much trouble. If I had enough money I'd donate right away D;

Vani, i heard about Paypal fuckup.
I dunno if it will help, but there are other paysystems out there. I use payoneer, it's somewhat less strict. Best thing about it - once you recieve muns, you can immideately withdraval it from the system. The thing is that they produce their own credit cards. Real ones, that comes by mail to you. If you have questions about this system - pm me, i may try to help.

I'm decently surprised at all of the negative feedback on the convention idea. Cons definitely can be expensive, but if you can manage the expenses so they're small and split the big costs (like hotel, registration, booth fee, etc) between friends, I don't think its a bad idea at all. Especially if you already have stock made and ready to sell that you just need to bring into the public eye, you have nothing to lose there. Even without much stock you can still sit and do quick sketches for people.
I do freelance art full time and while I can get a normal trickle of income throughout the year on my own publicity and storefront, the yearly cons by FAR make up the most of my income. I would be incredibly surprised if you only broke even at a con, your art is legendary. I don't think you should write-off this con idea so quickly just because of what other people say about "your image" or whatever. You don't really have the option of looking good when you're desperate