Booth/Vendor Events Part 1

This time of year the opportunity to exhibit and sell your products at craft and vendor fairs as well as private fundraisers and shopping events for places of business and various organizations is everywhere.

These events can be a wonderful way to promote your business, find new hostesses and recruits as well as sell product.

For the next several days we will be covering the "how-to’s" of these events; a list of "do’s and don’t’s". Even if you’ve worked these events before, we would encourage you to read on. Based on what we’ve observed other vendors doing at these events, we think that you might find some things that you are doing that you might consider changing and/or fine-tuning.

Q: "How do I find these events?"

TSF: Check your local newspaper and also be on the look out as you drive daily. You will find these events in the classified sections of your newspapers and advertised on the announcement signs of local churches and schools. Have pencil and paper handy in your car so you can write down the pertinent information and investigate being a vendor.

Q: "How much will it cost me to be a vendor"

TSF: This can vary event by event. Some charge a simple table or booth fee, some ask for a percentage of your sales, some just a raffle item and some a combination of all three. It really depends on the organization.

Q: "What questions should I ask when investigating these events?"

TSF: Ask about what the charges are, if tables and chairs (and electricity if you need it) are provided, how are they advertising the event, what attendance do they expect and what has been the attendance in year’s past. IMPORTANT – check to be sure that there is not another representative of your party plan that is already a vendor and that they do not allow duplicate vendors.

Q: "How do I know if it will be worth my time?"

TSF: Unless you’ve already worked the event, this is usually an unknown. Our policy is, try anything once and then re-assess next year based on your results. Keep in mind that if the cost to do the event is under $50, book one party and you will probably have paid for your out-of-pocket expense from the commission earned!

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