since ive never done much for shows the next time i do a show im going to try both. try some in a 3 dollar box and some at half bv and see how it works.
2011 national card show. dealers advice is welcome
- Thread starter superpieman
- Start date
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since ive never done much for shows the next time i do a show im going to try both. try some in a 3 dollar box and some at half bv and see how it works.
I think $2500-3000 is more realistic for a break even point:
$1050 booth fee
$575+taxes ($115/night cheapest hotel on their list 8 miles from convention, 5 nights)
$335 airfare (I just did a Delta price check for a random Tuesday-Monday in Feb Burlington Vt to Chicago area to get an idea)
That's $1960 plus whatever the tax on the hotel room is, and you still have to get from the airport to your hotel, and hotel back to airport, eat/drink, get the 8 miles to and from the convention center each day, get your cards there and back home, and you haven't allotted anything for buying. That's not counting what it costs to buy cards to sell in those $3 or half price boxes.
Don't forget, you'll have hundreds of competitors on the show floor, and everyone buying knows that, so you can rest assured anyone picking out more than one or two cards is going to ask you for a better deal than the $3 per or half price. The other problem is keeping your eyes on the boxes at all times. With just you there, the potential for walk offs increases, especially since you have to be set up open-close each day. You're making a sale and have 4-5 other people browsing, stuff can happen.
wow i really appreciate this response, you went up and over what i expected from anyone with the researching of prices and stuff. thank you very much.
as far as my break even point basically right now im trying to figure out what i need minus inventory of which 2500-3000 sounds about right now that i think about it. im figuring inventory after i get that figuring that ill want about 3500 in sales. so ill figure that math soonish so on the off chance that i do go ill have a good head start in knowing what i need.
Can't fly really, how are you going to bring all your cards that way?
thats another thing i havnt figured out to this point. i could drive for probably close to the same cost as flying maybe a little more.
thanks to everyone for all the help this is specifically why i made this thread to get advice and for people to point out things i may have overlooked on my own.
Driving VS. flying and rental car cost.
Depending on distance driving is usually going to be cheaper.
chicago is a good distance from me. i live in vermont which is about 900 miles from me. so thats about 2000 miles roundtrip as well as driving while in chicago. assuming i get 20 mpg)my car gets a little better but thats a conservative estimate) thats 100 gallons at an estimate of 3.00 per gallon so thats about 300 dollars. so driving may be the way to go so i save on cab fare or rental car. i could always sleep in there one or two nights to save a couple hundered on hotels. and i could also get a cheaper hotel then driving since i wont be paying cab fare i can get something a little further away from the convention center so the prices might be better.
Just remember to factor in the additional driving time, more gas, and toll roads. I'm not much of a long haul driver, so I'd have to break that trip up, it'd probably add another day each way. Especially if it was just me.
thats true, im not sure if i could do 16 hours in one sitting. i do around 8-9 to get to school and thats not bad but adding another 6-7 on that could be tough. id do it without getting a hotel for a night though. what i do when im tired is ill drive until i feel that i cant safely drive and then pull over for a short nap and that usually gets me going for an hour or two so thats what i would do to chicago so i could do it within 24 hours easy.
Plus you're talking about 2011 and the show will not be in Chicago next year, it changes cities each year.
Sorry, got my years a bit off. I meant it won't be in Chicago in 2012, which makes a difference because there is pretty much no chance of you getting a table for the 2011 show.
yea, i belive the thing i read on the site said if tables arnt reserved by the end of the year there is almost no chance of getting one and i dont see myself having a spare grand by years end.
