How to find new train show vendors?

ncng Oct 21, 2018

  1. ncng

    ncng TrainBoard Member

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    We had another great train show last weekend here in Chehalis WA. At the end of the show, one of our vendors informed us that instead of his usual 16 tables he would be going down to 10 tables for our next show. Another vendor informed us that he would be dropping from 14 tables to 10 tables. The decline is due to their not being able to handle the work load. We haven't changed our table charges or entrance fees in 10 years even though our venue keeps raising what they charge us.

    A lot of our vendors are getting older and are in declining health. We aren't sure how much longer they will be able to come to our show.

    Any ideas on how to find new vendors? We already advertise in Model Railroader, Classic Trains, Railroad Model Craftsman, and numerous model railroad forums. Flyers are taken to all of the shows within about 100 miles.

    Thanks for your ideas.

    David
     
  2. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    How many visitors typically go to your show?
    One might imagine that prospective vendors would want to see some evidence of a large crowd.
    The following video appears to indicate that attendance is fairly sparse.

     
  3. ncng

    ncng TrainBoard Member

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    We normally have around 550 paid attendance for the combined Saturday/Sunday show. That is about 400 on Saturday and then 150 on Sunday. The video was taken first thing Sunday morning before the show opened. Children 10 and under are free. In addition to the Sunday paid admission, some of the people that come on Saturday return on Sunday. They don't have to pay to get in the second time. Some of the biggest purchases from the dealers occur on Sunday.

    Our club layout is located in the former NP depot in Chehalis which is now the Lewis County Historical Museum. I normally handle the free open house at the depot which is the Saturday of our train shows. I am not able to film on Saturdays. About 150 of the train show attendees come down to visit the club layout.

    David
     
  4. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    Given the drop off in Sunday admissions, is it worth holding a two-day show?
    Do all the vendors stay for both days?
    Is it possible that the added cost of overnight accommodations is discouraging some vendors from participating in your show?

    Presumably the big purchases on Sunday happen toward the end of the day when dealers determine that they'd rather sell it than lug it back home.
    Wouldn't that be just as likely to occur late on Saturday if it was only one day event?
     
  5. ncng

    ncng TrainBoard Member

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    Our largest vendors will not attend the show unless it is 2 days long. It isn't worth their time. They typically live within driving distance of the show or they sell enough to justify coming for 2 days. I am talking about dealers that rent between 20 and 10 tables. There are some sellers that only come for Saturday only. We try to limit this because we don't like to charge full admission to an empty show on Sunday. If a person leaves, we offer the empty tables to the other vendors for free. They can then spread out there merchandise that is under their tables.
     
  6. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    You might want to look at how the Great Midwest Train Show operates. They are a monthly show in Wheaton Illinois, in the Western Suburbs of Chicago. They are my go-to show. It is one day, once a month at the Dupage County Fairgrounds. It takes up five different display halls at the fair grounds-this thing is massive. We have no problem attracting people to our one day show. I was there last weekend and it was as packed as ever. So the question is why I should it different for you? We have permanent guys like you who rent the same tables every month, so the sellers are familiar, but it is a one day show, the thing your sellers don’t like.
    Who sells at yours? Are they traders, people selling off their collections? My old elementary school gym teacher sells at the Midwest show. He has made a retirement business out of buying and selling other people’s collections, so my show is pretty industrialized. You may want to attract sellers like that, ones who can’t really run out of inventory. Try to see if other clubs in the area have stuff they are trying to sell. Maybe they want to fill in those empty tables. You seem to advertise relatively well, so sellers probably know about the show, they just don’t come. I think you just need to build reputation as a quality show with good things to buy.
     
  7. ncng

    ncng TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for the input. Most of our sellers are repeats. They always want to be in the same place each time. Most of the dealers are traders that buy collections and then sell at the shows. Most of the people that are clearing out personal stuff end up selling out to the dealers at some point during the show. Once their stuff is gone, we never see them again.

    It would be nice if there were other clubs around. Other than small round robin groups, the Lewis County Model Railroad Club is the only club within about 40-50 miles. We do have a club that is about 50 miles away that always comes to the show to sell stuff that has been donated and is excess to their needs. We are centrally located on Interstate 5 between Seattle and Portland so we get custom from both directs. We get a few shoppers that come down from Canada each time. At this last show we had a couple of guys that drove 6 hours from a small town in Oregon. They had seen an article about our club layout in Model Railroad Hobbyist so they came to the show and to see the club layout.
     
  8. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    I don’t know why my last comment is double posted, but we can ignore that for now. I dont know how the show near me does it, but it might have something to do with the population. The Chicagoland area is much larger than the Seattle Metropolitain area, so we have a larger customer base. I can also name 3 or 4 clubs in my relative area, so it seems our railroader population is denser too. Boosting your show may be a little more than passing out flyers. This might take some demographic research or something.
    Or another take: you said that your older vendors want to drop out, and that some of them buy collections. If they aren’t there anymore, then there are collections waiting to be sold. We need to get younger railroaders to come in and take up the business where the old timers left off. The only problem is figuring out how to do that.
     
  9. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    The loss of their table volume seems to be no fault of the show organizers. I know you lose that fee revenue, but it is an issue within the vendor's operation which you cannot mitigate. Unless (wild thought) a show volunteer worker could step up and help the seller? Yes. An added burden upon the show and volunteer.

    Advertise, word of mouth, any and all shops, (B&M or etailer), through whom you can get the word out. As much (print, 'Net, video, voice, TV, historical societies & museums) media (PSA and interviews) around the region as possible. After that, what might be possible? I wish I knew... If you have explored and pushed all of these standard venues, I am out of ideas. What might be done, outside-of-the-box? Or is there even a box?
     

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