I don't know how to go about explaining this in a way that doesn't take up much of your time, so I'll try to be brief.

My name is Jin. I'm an artist/illustrator that does artist alley as my main source of income.

After months of long hours of prep, my partner and I drove from Texas to California to vend at Anime Expo. Unfortunately, the morning of Day 0 setup, we noticed that my two suitcases full of merch, display pieces, payment portals, and artist info were stolen from our vehicle. Those suitcases contained maybe 85% of the merchandise I had made. A police report was filed and camera footage was found of someone breaking in, but the chances of my stuff being found is incredibly low.

TL;DR I am out at LEAST $8000 worth of product on top of personal business property.

On top of all this, I broke my knee only days before our trip, having spent several days in the hospital after emergency reconstructive surgery. We were hoping to forward the profit at AX to paying off a significant medical bill.

I am really at my wits end with things happening to me. Some of my friends suggested that I make one of these so we can at least have some help recouping losses.

I understand that times are hard for everyone and I would never ask you to put me and my situation above yours, but know that I am at deeply grateful for even getting more eyes on this.

Thank you so much for reading if you got this far.