We’ve recently been asked why we have cut back on the number of conventions we have been doing this year. We thought we would explain our decision through a lesson in Vendor Economics. We do an extensive Cost/Benefit analysis when making such decisions. What follows is a basic example of what it costs us to vend at a convention and break even on our expenses. This includes getting paid for our time, which is the only way we actually make a living since this is our full time job. (Most of the time that last part doesn’t actually happen and any “extra” funds get reinvested in the business.)

Below is a Glossary of Terms and explanation of the numbers we will be using in the calculations later in this article:

Booth Fee – Prices for booth space vary from con to con. Looking back over the 10 conventions we did last year, the average price for a booth was about $200.

Hotel Stay – Most convention hotels average around $100/night. For a three day con vendors usually show up a day early for set up. So, that is 3 nights, at least. If you have to drive more than a few hours you may need to stay over an extra night after tearing down and loading up. For this purpose we will assume a 3 night stay. $300

Gasoline – The closest Steampunk con is 3 hours away for us (approximately 150 miles). We have driven farther, but, honestly, it just wasn’t worth it. We have to drive a van to haul our merchandise and booth display. At 15 miles per gallon for 150 miles that is 10 gallons of gas each direction at $3.50/gallon. (150/15=10, 10x2x3.5=70) $70

Driving Time – again, this varies, obviously with your home location and the location of the show. Let’s use the 3 hours drive from the gasoline example for consistency. That is a 6 hour round trip for two people in the car. If we were to get paid a driver’s wage for that, we would make approximately $13.50/hr (based on national averages for delivery drivers). (13.50x6x2=162) $162

Merchandise – the cost of merchandise varies widely as well, but for argument’s sake we will take a conservative estimate and say that merchandise is marked up 100%. Example: you buy an item for $5, and sell it for a $10. If you are surprised at this, we apologize that you are unaware of how commerce and retail works. The discussion of mark-up rates and pricing is the topic of another conversation and we will not get into that here. But, using that example, you must take 50% of your gross revenue to just cover merchandise costs. EXAMPLE: if you make $2000, $1000 of that is up-front capital you have already invested in the sale and is sunk costs you need to recover. 50% of Revenue

Hourly Rate for Work – We arrive on Thursday (after 3 hours of driving) to set up the booth. It takes us about 3 hours to set up including hauling everything in around all the other vendors and getting checked in with the organizers, finding our booth, unpacking, etc. Vendor hall hours vary greatly and are usually at least 8-10 hrs a day. Sunday’s are often shorter and only about 6-8 hours. Let’s assume Friday is an 8-hour day, Saturday is a 10-hour day, and Sunday is a 6-hour day. That is 24 hours of “OPEN” time. (8+10+6=24) Vendors are usually asked to be in the hall an hour prior to opening – add 3 hours; tear down is usually faster – about 2 hours. We are now at 32 hours for the weekend AT the con PER PERSON. (3 hrs set up + 24 hours work + 3 hours open prep + 2 hours tear down.) If we pay ourselves a minimum wage that is $7.25/hr for each person for 32 hours. (7.25x32x2= 480) $480

Meals – Living on the road you can eat pretty cheap. We did a show where we bought a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread and ate for several of the travel days on about $6.75. However, most people eat out while working, if they get to eat at all. If we assume breakfast is included with the hotel stay (which is actually not as common as you might think) then we have lunch and dinner to cover. Corporate per diem rates vary by location, but for our zip code in Ohio the per diem rate for meals and incidentals is $51 (http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287). We will lower that to $30 since we are cutting out breakfast. $30 per person for 2 people for 4 days (1 travel day + 3 con days) is $240. Seems pretty high to us, but even at $20/day it is still $160. Without access to a fridge or kitchen it is difficult to keep the prices much lower. $160

Credit Card Fees – Credit Card Fees vary based on the type of card used, transaction fees, and your card processor. For this example we will use The Square base rate of 2.75%. You have to take 2.75% off the top of whatever you make to cover the fees. 2.75% of gross revenue*

Sales Tax – We will use an average of 7% for this calculation. We have vended in places where it was as much as 10% and as low as zero on certain items (e.g. clothing in NJ is not taxed, but everything else is). 7% of gross revenue**

Licenses – Getting a business and/or tax license in a foreign location (not your home county/state) can be free or cost upwards of $150. You might not think this should count in the calculations, but it is a cost for doing business in the location and does have an impact on your bottom line. Average $50 ***

Here are the numbers we are working with:

Booth Fee   $200

Hotel Stay   $300

Gasoline    $70

Driving Time   $162

Merchandise   50% of total revenue

Meals   $160

Hourly Rate   $480

Licenses   $50

Sales Tax   7% of revenue

Credit Card Fees  2.75% of revenue

59.75% of revenue + $1422 = what you need to make just to break even on your investment.

100%-59.75%=40.25%. $1442 is 40.25% of what you need to make.

1442/.4025=gross revenue needed = $3582.61

Most Steampunk conventions we’ve attended seem to be thrilled reporting attendance numbers of 500-1000 attendees. The question about these numbers is: Does that include all badges (performers, staff, and vendors as well as paid attendees) or just the off-the-street attendees? For argument’s sake we will give them the benefit of the doubt and say it is unique attendees. (Some large cons claim 15,000 in attendance, but use each day’s individual numbers and add them all together so people get counted every day they attend. Thus, one person attending all three days gets counted three times. In effect making their attendance number only 5000 in reality.)

If there are 1000 attendees, to make back your investment and break even (not having any profit), each attendee would need to spend $3.58 in your booth alone. (3582.61/1000=3.58261) It is highly unlikely to have every attendee spend money in your booth. But that’s okay, because most sales are an average of $17 (based on our personal calculations), so not every one needs to spend money with you, you just need the people who do spend with you to spend more than $3.58.

If there are 20 separate vendors (which these days is a conservative number) and we assume each vendor has similar monetary break-even needs, then the vendor hall needs to gross, on average, $71,652 for everyone to make their costs back. Thus, with 1000 attendees, each attendee needs to spend $71.65 in the vendor hall. Again, this doesn’t seem unreasonable, but remember this is just a BREAK-EVEN analysis. This isn’t anyone making a profit, funding their up-front costs for next year (or the next con), or making more than minimum wage. And, let’s be honest, who wants to start their own business and only ever make minimum wage? It also doesn’t give them any capital to invest into their business for new merchandise, tools, supplies, workforce, etc.

A few extra costs of doing business that we did not include in this analysis but bear mentioning include: Marketing (business cards, posters, flyers, etc.); Change (most banks are not open during convention hours and you need to prepared to break the $20s people get from the ATM on their way to the con); Parking (some hotels can charge upwards of $28/day for large vehicle parking); Travel Expenses (costs increase exponentially if you need to travel longer than a few hours); Damaged/Stolen Merchandise (yes, it happens, probably more than people want to admit); Time Away from Your Business (time not spent making new merchandise, managing web sales, answering phones, etc.); and Incidental Costs (booth display, zip ties – we go through A LOT of those – shopping bags, internet access for credit card processing, vehicle maintenance, chiropractor visits, attorney fees, insurance).

We understand that each vendor is unique in their goals, business objectives, reasons for vending at conventions, etc. The numbers above are generic averages pulled from our experience. They are also based on the most conservative situation of travel we have in our experience. We have vended at shows in Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Detroit, and Oklahoma, so we are no strangers to excessive travel for our business. We also run our business as the primary source of income for two people, therefore we think more in cost/benefit terms than many people we encounter who have other sources of income to pay for their hobby businesses.

When vendor hall organizers come up to us at the end of a show and ask us how we did, we often say, “Well, we had a good time, but we have to do the final numbers to see.” That is not a way to avoid the question or avoid potential judgement of our opinions on the show at hand. It is simply the facts.

If you have other ways of determining if a show is successful for you and your business or you would like clarification on any of the information provided above, we invite you to comment and/or ask questions. We welcome open discussion of this topic and believe everyone can benefit from honest communication and sharing of information.

 

* We are aware that many transactions are on a cash basis, but because of the varying rates charged by credit card processing companies the 2.75% is a conservative estimate and it is simpler math to take it off the top of all $ made, instead of trying to guess what percentage of sales are credit vs. cash for this example. DISCLAIMER: we do not use The Square, we are not affiliated with The Square or the company that makes it, we have a credit card processing account with a company that covers our website AND onsite sales at conventions. We are simply using it as an example that is familiar to many vendors.

** Many people don’t collect, file, and/or pay their sales tax, but it is the law and we consider it a cost of doing business. While it is a break-even cost usually (i.e. what you take in is what you pay out), it is an expense that comes out of your total intake at the end of a convention and therefore you cannot look at your gross revenue without taking it into consideration.

*** While we are aware that many vendors do not apply for business and/or tax licenses in the locations where conventions occur, many of the planning organizations put it in their contract that you are responsible to do so and we take that seriously.

 

What follows below is our humble opinion. While being respectful of the hard work and dedication of convention organizers, volunteers, guests, performers, and attendees, we just needed to have our say!

Much has been said recently about the challenges of being a con planner/organizer and being a con guest/performer. We thought we’d take this opportunity to add a third perspective – that of con vendor.

We acknowledge the difficulties faced by both planners and headliners of steampunk cons. On one hand, con planners are trying to fund and organize a weekend-long fun and informative experience involving diverse groups and individuals. On the other hand, guests and entertainers’ livelihoods depend on promoting themselves and getting paid or being treated to certain perks. However, we feel that none of the recent posts on this topic has indicated an awareness of or has acknowledged the vital roles vendors play in the success (or at least the occurrence) of conventions and the challenges faced by vendors.

When sourcing funds to secure both a location and entertainers to draw attendees, vendor fees play an important role in providing the funds that get a con off the ground. Most cons, even first-year cons, charge between $100 and $500 for a single table/booth space. Vendors pay this price up front, commonly before any details of location, entertainment, and attendance are available. This speculative investment makes vendors a solid part of the financial foundation of a convention.

Vendors also play a vital role in confirming hotel accommodations and establishing convention room rates. Vendors reserve rooms early and commonly reserve extra nights before and after the convention, which is an important step in convincing hotels that the convention can provide the room-nights that make it worthwhile for the hotel to reserve the block of rooms at a lower convention rate and allow the convention to take over essentially the entire hotel.

Vendors themselves are often a draw to the convention, attendees visit the vendor hall to see their favorite makers/sellers, to see what’s being made and sold, to get inspiration, to buy hard-to-find costume pieces, and to keep up on new developments in literature, gaming, technology, art, costume, and film. The vendor hall is the epicenter for this type of activity and information.

The problem is, once vendors have been contracted, vendor hall operations commonly take a back seat to other convention organization. Here’s a summary of potential pitfalls for convention vendor coordinators (in no particular order):

• Careful vendor selection and balance must be maintained, so that you don’t have a room full of vendors selling similar wares. (And while we understand, for the above-mentioned reasons and for increasing attendees – shopping options, trying to book as many vendors as possible, planners really should consider the vendor-to-attendee ratio to ensure that vendors feel that the competition is reasonable.)
• Often vendors arrive at a con having very little information about vendor hall layout, set-up/load-in, and tear-down/load-out procedures. This causes a lot of stress on vendors and can set the tone for the weekend.
• Vendor hall hours are long and may fluctuate. Please consider how long your vendors will be cooped up in the hall, and make sure the hall hours are reasonable and solidly established before the day of the con.
• Communication between vendor hall coordinators and vendors is frequently spotty. When one vendor asks a question, assume that other vendors want to know the answer. Set up a forum or other easily accessible way for vendors to get and share up-to-date information.
• Most vendor halls have poor lighting and climate control, and sometimes security is sketchy as well. (Several conventions we attended last year did not even have locking vendor hall doors!)
• Vendors aren’t always aware of who is con staff/volunteers and who is an attendee. Make sure the contacts and lines of communication are clear so that issues in the vendor hall can be handled in a way that is least disruptive to the vendors and to attendees.

Worst of all, vendors have to MISS the convention. That’s right, vendors pay the most to be there and get to experience the con the least. We stand on our feet for hours, watching the con walk by, but we don’t get to engage in the panels, workshops, entertainment, or leisure like everyone else. In exchange for this, we have the opportunity to present our wares for your perusal and the potential to make a little bit of our initial investment back as sales. All we ask in return is a little respect. Even if you never say, “Hey, man, thanks for being a fundamental part of my con experience,”please visit the vendor hall, interact with us, and leave us feeling like underwriting the next con is totally worthwhile.

Thanks!

the frenzygals

One of the biggest issues we struggle with in the concept of a project revolves around the materials we use. We often repurpose old things by taking them apart, using their bits, and making something completely new. Sometimes we just start with the item intact and add to it. The issue comes in when it is something that is awesome just as it is, but non-functional in its current form.

So, here’s THE Question: When is it okay to transform something old into something new and when should leave well enough alone?

We currently own 7 old manual-style typewriters dating from around 1913 through the 1950s. They are all complete, but not in working condition. We had intended to take them apart and use their pieces, but something in our hearts dies at the thought of all the old typewriters in the world being scavenged. So they sit in our workshop being adored by us, but serving no purpose.

Question #2: Is it better to take an object whose sole purpose in being created was to be used and enjoyed and give it a new life as something used and enjoyed, or are some antiques off limits for use and should be left as is to be visually enjoyed only?

We recently posted a photo of an old wardrobe trunk on our Facebook page and asked our friends to guess what it was going to be. One of our friends commented that they thought it was pretty awesome just as it was. We tend to agree when it comes to old trunks, we own about 8 of them, but this particular trunk is in pretty rough interior condition. It is missing all of its internal bits such as the drawers, hangers, shelves, shoe box, and anything else it might have contained. It was pretty beat up on the outside as well, with a few of its sides showing cracks and warping. And, as most of the old trunks you find, it needs its lock latch replaced. No one would be storing anything in this without some major overhaul work. Thus, we feel justified in turning it into something other than a wardrobe trunk so it can continue its life as a useful thing.

Question #3: If something is in really bad condition, how much of it do you try to salvage?

As we don’t have millions of dollars to spend restoring things to their original glory, we err on the side of keeping anything functional and replacing anything broken, soiled, or damaged beyond our repair skills. We like to believe that sometimes things find us, instead of us finding them. We take that trust seriously and do our best to care for these items and create a new existence for them.

We struggle with these questions about 5-10 times a day. M even has trouble making a decision about what to make out of the mountains of fabric she has hoarded because once it is turned into something it can’t become anything else. Yes, she worries about fabric reaching its full potential. (Nutter!)

If you are at all like us (which for your own sakes we hope it is a minimal amount, at least in this area) you know the pitfalls of second guessing yourself at every step and the paralyzing indecision that can result from being concerned about the fate of objects and pieces of history. No one wants to refinish that old side table only to find out on the Antiques Roadshow that it is now worthless but would have been worth a fortune had it been left alone.

On the other hand, if it is yours and you will only use it if you make changes to it, then by all means make it usable! We like to treat our precious objects as members of the family. Personally, we don’t want to be put on a shelf and left to gather dust when our current state is no longer useful to those around us. We want to be reinvented, reinvigorated, and invited back into the fold with a new sense of purpose. And so, we try to do the same for our “stuff.”

The bottom line, for us, is to treat items from the past with the respect they deserve. Quality workmanship, interesting features, and decorative elements should enhance our lives. The world is as beautiful as you see it. Spend a few moments imagining what amazing stories these little gems could tell. They have witnessed countless moments of people’s lives and by using them you are inviting them to witness yours. And THAT, we think, is the loveliest purpose of all.

We like trying out new art mediums every once in a while, just to see if we have been missing out on something. K is the baker. She likes the science of it and has skills that I will never have. But that’s okay, we are good at working together and meshing our respective skills.

This weekend, however, was a test for both of us. Our nieces share a birthday and they were turning 4 and 3. They decided they wanted cake pops. They wanted Robot and Strawberry cake pops, to be exact. Enter the challenge: we had never made cake pops before and they had both wished for “the best birthday ever.”

Working with melted chocolate wafers is not what I would call easy. Getting the temperature right is tricky; getting a smooth finish on the cake is impossible for me; and doing it all under pressure with a hodge podge of tools is, well, that extra bit of hell. (K is a consummate professional, and handled everything very well, which is good since I was internally stressing like mad.)