Rumblings and Grumblings of an old event vender.

[Neil]

Rumblings and Grumblings of an old event vender.

Bitching not in any order

The worst the economy the higher
the vendor fee
Or the more popular you are the higher the fee

If you make a lotta money in your location,
they will put a beer truck there next time.

If what you offer brings crowds,
they will have several more doing
the same thing next time.

You have been the only one doing this for years,
so a new person shows up,looks you over
and cut their prices to half of yours

You have been in the same location
for years, so they will move you to the outer
area to make room for a new vendor

If new people take over the event,
things can only get worse.

Event coordinator(s) couldn't care less about you
and any problems,they already have your money

The event has been a great thing for the community
so they build a spacial place for it
and off course what made it popular is now gone.

You pay big money for your space doing your thing
but they allow churches, scout groups or
cheer leaders to do the same thing (very poorly)
for free or tips.

The event coordinator watches what you do and
how popular it is.Next year her/his
off spring is the exclusive vendor for this

If there are a number of you offering the same
or simmiler service,they put you all together

Its you biggest paying event of the year,
so it rains every day

[sharonsstudio]

I hear ya Neil... Happens to me all the Time.. Ask for my same spot get to the event and I'm way at the other end in a corner.. Sucks..
I agree with everything you said.. so true..

[Fishboy]

Just out of curiosity... What do they charge you guys for a spot where you're at? I typically do mine at a local beach, because the rent is reasonable. I discussed the possibility of working a couple of events and they wanted $1200 to $1400 for the weekend. Another guy approached me telling me how much he wanted me at his event and how much I would improve his event... then he asked me for $600 for the one day event.

[Stang]

I pay $450 for Nebraska State Fair for 11 days. Arizona State Fair wanted $3000 for a 20 day fair. A 3 day bike rally in Iowa wanted $450 for the weekend. All depends on the area, location, amount of people etc.
I hear ya Neil. THe Nebraska fair asked if I minded if they got a face painter in, I had no problem with that cause I didn't want to do it. The fair moved to the middle of Nebraska where there are very few people compared to the eastern end. Last year they put the face painter in the kiddy section, which is fine, cause tats are mainly teens. But the put me in the farm equipment, military and industrial area. I'm sure you know how well that went over. As I'm walkin around the fair lookin down kickn rocks and hopin some kid drops their sandwich, I see the face painter skippin with a huge smile. THe year before when the Nebraska Fair was in Lincoln they had the food vendors mixed with every body, this year they were in their own section. I use to get a lot of work from whiney kids not wanting to wait in line for food so mom would send them over for a tat and meet them with food, worked great. Yep, I'm becoming a grumpy vendor too.

[sharonsstudio]

I usually do a 3 and 4 day show average price $275 to $$450.. I like doing the church ones they are only one day and about $45 to $80..
I have been considering doing Laconia bike week they want from $1500 to $4000 and some are even more for the week.. but they don't get the people in there anymore too many rules and rude cops.. they are loosing money everyyear.. so I'm hoping the price will drop in a few years..