# Event tips, please



## Ice Titan (May 10, 2013)

Hello,
I am taking my clothing to the next step.

I am starting to book events to sell my garments. I have a line that works well with Rodeos and a cowboy style garment.

I can rent space, do they provide the table and such or is the price of the space just that, open space? 

I need advice on how to display my shirts, use a grid board? Just hang them on racks? What's the most professional way of doing this?

Any tips or advice would be welcomed!


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## fdsales (Jul 1, 2007)

Each event offers different services, some offer just "air" space, others will include a table, chair, etc.
If the event has back drops, then you can hang your garments along the rails. If not, you'll need some type of rack to display. Also, customers want to be able to feel & hold up the garments. They want to make sure a large fits them (or someone else). Don't put everything into plastic bags marked Large, XL, etc. Customer will always unpack to make sure the garment looks like it will fit, and is not defective. We sell screen printed tshirts at events; generally we hang one of each design along the rear of the booth to catch their eye as they pass, but have all the shirts folded, labeled w/ a size tag, & on a front table for easy access by the customer. Yes, it;s a lot of work to have to keep refolding shirts after a customer unfolds & then throws back onto the table & walks away, but that's the nature of this "event" business.
You'll make more sales on impulse if the customer can see, feel, touch the garment, than just having everything hidden & out of reach on a rear table, or wrapped up in plastic.
If the garments are expensive, have some samples of each size on the front table, and then give them a "fresh" garment when they purchase.
Walk thru an open food market, you'll see products are displayed up front & accessible to the customer.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

It depends on the event but generally you bring your own setup


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## MaziMan (Jul 19, 2014)

If it's an outdoor setup you will most likely have to provide your own stuff. If there's an indoor place for merchandise with the actual rodeo outside then the Venue may have stuff you can use. It's up to what's in your agreement with the venue.


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## Stefano (Aug 5, 2013)

Ice Titan said:


> Hello,
> I am taking my clothing to the next step.
> 
> ...
> ...


Hello, 
There are tens of thousands of shows/fairs across the country, each with it's own set of rules, so who can say what yours will provide? Contact the organization sponsoring the event to see what their guidelines are. They can also tell you if you will be welcome or not. Some shows in this area won't rent space to vendors selling certain products (like T shirts) because there are so many other vendors doing it that they want some diversification. Others will want copies of your reseller certificate, vendors license, and other red tape paperwork (MA is especially bad).

Some ways to display shirts are pinned on a wall (if you are lucky enough to have one), hung on a clothesline between 2 poles, on hangers on a couple of 'coat trees", and under plexiglass on the table top. People will want to fondle them though and hold them up to see what their friends think.

Instead of pre-printing a bunch of shirts and guessing at sizes, I'm looking at a portable press so I can display a few samples and press to order. That's a 2 or 3 person job though.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Printing on demand is a tough market. We tried it a few years at a street fair that is right in front of our shop and we couldn't keep up. So even having everything here it was still very hard.


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