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First Con Set Up --- confessions of a rookie!!!!

Started by W16227,

69 posts in this topic

W16227

W16227

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looks nice, but it seems like you paid for a lot of unused space?

 

 

With Chuck there - I did lose a table full of selling room (I had the treasuries there - but they could have gone in many areas). I did like having some breathing room. There was an empty booth next to me - so I would have had a ton of extra sales space - but I did want to keep it manageable and not have to watch too many things at once (being a first timer).

 

The upcharge for the double was only $50 - so not really that big of a hit.

 

 

The other side - is that I probably had more than enough inventory to fill that other table (with double boxes) --- but it just was not graded/priced.

 

I could also have really simplified the slabs - and spread out the "wall" books for better viewing,

 

 

To torches comment - yea the tables were ROUGH! the sagging one was holding - and all were WELL used.

 

Load in started at 1 - I got there around 1:30 and was one of the first group in. It was rough to even choose the best three- but it worked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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W16227

W16227

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don't people kick that display in the front of the cheap-o boxes and stuff so low to the ground generally?

 

was the table they gave you too narrow to double up your shorties like you did on the side or did you not bring that many boxes?

 

The display in front worked pretty well - we sunk it back into the table skirt - so it did not stick out too much in front of the edge. If I had longboxes - would not have worked that well for looking at the back books.

 

I could have doubled up the shorties on the front table - just did not have enough priced. We had a row of TPB laid out behind the books to try and use the available space.

 

What I was able to get priced out - would probably be a good match for doubling up with a 10 x 10 booth with 2 8' tables and my 2 taller racks.

 

If I do other local cons - will have time to price more out - at a minimum, this forced me to organize the back stock a LOT more so I can use this as a base to get the rest in order.

 

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W16227

W16227

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Any idea how many people showed up at the con? Looks like they had a big space.

 

I do not know the official numbers - The organizers say it was a big success (lol of course they would) -I do know one of them and will see if I can get a count.

 

For where we were - they had a LOT of cos-players and some were really good. I will post images when my daughter gets home (she was able to watch the contest and take pics). They even had a pet cosplay contest - and a kids one on Sunday.

 

Blob - the ebay only thing really helps enable non sorting too. I had a general idea of what was where- and the items for sale are well organized, but since I only needed to grade/price what I was selling at the time - I never really needed to alphabetize or anything.

 

youmee - it is scary as you never know if things are set right. I met some cool dealers right out of the gate (thinkit was geek inc) - loaned them my dolly. Helps to ease the tension when you make their loading easier. Some of the guys from Dreamland also know me - I spend some $$$ there.

 

 

another

 

Take credit cards. It is SO easy with paypal - and the reader is free. I found a closeout deal on an ipad stand (you can see it in the images) - that locks it in place.

 

 

Still have the smile frozen on my face - will probably fade a bit as I lug in the stuff from the garage tonight. I have several questions for the pros - for improving, but will hold off on those

 

 

 

the final sales looks like this (estimating as I was not keeping inventory all the time)

 

 

SLABS 50% (even without this it would have been a success - as these were lowest margin)

 

treasuries: 5%

 

trades 5%

 

dollars: 20%

back issues: 20%

 

 

 

obviously based on dollar amount - the dollar books moved the most volume (by intent).

 

 

later

 

dave

 

 

 

 

 

 

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robocard

robocard

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I found after my first show on concrete floors that buying rubber floor mats was one of the best purchases I could make. They really cushion the walking area and make a huge difference for you and your customers. Congrats on a successful first show!

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chewy106

chewy106

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Meant to swing by as I'm local but got busy over the weekend and didn't get a chance. Buddy of mine was running the CCG tournaments for the con. Heard it went well and from your report seems the comics side was pretty good too. Will definitely have to carve out time for next year.

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the blob

the blob

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Blob - the ebay only thing really helps enable non sorting too. I had a general idea of what was where- and the items for sale are well organized, but since I only needed to grade/price what I was selling at the time - I never really needed to alphabetize or anything.

 

---

 

same here. i pull stuff that is hot/has a good chance of selling faster on ebay and leave everything else a giant mess. slowly but surely i am getting there. i have 2 long boxes of BA avengers, albeit not organized, which probably represents 90% of my BA avengers.

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W16227

W16227

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Do you say that you made $200 over the weekend? Oh - think that was just the Sunday local Con.

 

I do not mind posting this - but keep in mind this is gross not net sales. By the end of the first day - I was probably 200 up in profits OVER all costs (including booth, paying my daughter and trailer rental).

 

put the full number in spoilers for those who really want to see

 

 

 

 

each day I took in ~ 1500

 

:o

 

 

 

 

Keep in mind - half of that was in 4 nice slabs - and those have much slimmer margins than the raw. They would have sold for similar online - but then I would have had to pack and ship and I have many others in the queue anyway.

 

 

Raw only would still have been a great haul. Overall - we did NOT seem that busy - but we had steady people in and out. I also understand fully - that this level of success may be WELL outside of normal. I try to stay grounded and realistic when looking at things like this. If/when I do more events (ok - when I do more) - my realistic goal is to make enough "net" to at least pay off the expenses of the show. This will help reduce the inventory of the harder to ebay items, generate cash flow, and also have the chance of more profit.

 

I do not know how the others book dealers did. There was one with a quad booth (20 x20 think they were geek inc) - that I chatted with - the boss was not that happy with sales (the first day) - but they are on a different scale as they have a brick and mortar shop. So - my idea of a :banana:

day may be their :censored: day. For their four corner booth - they had 4 or more people there to pay. Me? - my daughter worked for a VIP pass - and some $$$ each day to wander and shop. My friend who helped Sunday - refused any offer of pay (so I bought him a bottle of Patron).

 

 

Another good tip for rookies - know your stock! My daughter and Angelo - -- did not know what I had but I made sure that I was there and they pulled me in when people were looking to find something specific.

 

got any deadpool? -- NO, !@#!#$ I sold most of it to 1Cool at the VCC (:

 

 

 

______________________________________________

 

 

Floor mats ---- saw someone with them and was very jealous! If I can get the wife to buy in on me doing this several times a year - that will be in the works for sure!

 

 

 

later all - thx for reading (and comments and suggestions)

 

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1Cool

1Cool

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Very nice! That's in line with how much I pulled in per day at Heroes. The best part of the smaller shows is its easy to be the big shark in the pond where as the bigger show you pretty much are one of the small fish grabbing what sales you can. Congrats again!

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