Biggest Mistake You've Made At a Sales Event?

[OWJones 1,981]

I did a one day vendor/craft show this past weekend.  It did not go well, and I won't go back.  It was a small town festival and they had the event spread so far apart that you couldn't park and walk to everything, you had to plan ahead for where you wanted to go, and for a lot of people that didn't include the vendor area.   They had us set up in the street, facing the center of the road, and about half the people walked on the sidewalks behind all the booths... and the few people who did stop to look were surprised that we actually expected people to pay for things...

 

I sold $2 worth of products (two $1 buttons) and spent $4 on lunch, for a net loss of 200%...  Thankfully the event was free to set up at, so I didn't lose anything there...  And I took advantage of the time to turn out some buttons for a repeat customer, so I was able to make use of my time.

 

Anyways, back to the point - I forgot to take any advertising materials or business cards with me.  Thankfully I brought my desktop printer for printing custom button art and I was able to print some pages out, but I sat there thinking that was a big bone-headed mistake.   Then I noticed that the booth next to me that had brought a popcorn popper, snow cone maker and a cotton candy machine and they were just sitting there non-functional - they had forgot to bring any extension cords and the nearest outlet was 20 feet away...

 

I was running off of solar power, but my little 400W inverter wasn't going to be enough to run any of those appliances... it took over an hour for them to go home and come back with drops cords to get up and running...

 

What's the biggest mistake you've ever made setting up at an event?

 

P.S. I've added business cards and promotional materials to my packing checklist so I hopefully don't let this happen again.

[gcextreme 475]

You win some, you lose some.

Ive only done about 6 shows. And all of them i have lost money, if you factor in drive time and gas, etc. But a few of them i have mad contacts and made my money back.

Some shows and events/festivals just arent set up and organized the right way. Specially with the no electricity within reach part, thats where a small honda inverter generator will come in handy.

 

Shawn, mopar, was telling me about a show he did and he was whipping out shirts like crazy and had to hire some local kids to help and had to go to the local walmart/target to buy more shirt blanks...and i forgot to ask, if he was creating these shirts on the spot, they must have been HTV right? Now HTV and weeding all those shirts takes time. 

 

Of the 6 shows ive done, i have only had my heat presses and shirt stuff there for 2 of them. Mainly cuz if its just me there, i don't have the time to create/weed/heatpress shirts and still help other customers with decals..

So now i just leave my hat/shirt presses at home and i just bring samples and take orders at the shows for apparel items.

 

And yes, having business cards with you is a must! or at least pens or other giveaway items with your business info on them.

[mopar691 281]

Every show that I have done in the last 4 years my only mistake is not bringing enough help or shirts. 

 

I am very selective where I go if I am to go thru the work. I did a ton at first and lost lots and lost even more in the thousands of hours to do them. If I have any doubt that I will not profit over a grand after everyone and everything is paid I do not bother. Only exception is a few small functions that I do. 

 

Some events I have grossed over 8k. All heat press vinyl all cut and pressed on the spot. Takes about 14 people, 4 heat presses, 2 or 3 cutters, lots of tables and a few thousand shirts. I have done some with 4 of us and sold a tad over 1000 shirts in less than 6 hours, but that was with a lot of ready transfers. 

 

I do very few, way to much work than they are worth. I think I am only up for 5 this year. I do travel for them. Big money at big events. 50,000 plus people thru the doors over a day or two. Everyone likes their name on a shirt. 

 

Hometown shows, craft shows, etc all blow imo. Its more people like you that are looking for ways to make the stuff, not have you sell it to them. Chamber events, fairs, and the like have always been a joke. Give them a crafty way to spend money and win it then your onto something but most events will not allow it. 

[MadHatterGraphix 1,258]

I would have to say nothing, the only problem was the event we got set up right next to another apparel guy who was selling unlicensed NFL, and MLB product. I wrote his information down and by the time I got home I couldnt find that information.

[gcextreme 475]

I would have to say nothing, the only problem was the event we got set up right next to another apparel guy who was selling unlicensed NFL, and MLB product. I wrote his information down and by the time I got home I couldnt find that information.

Lol why? Is there a reward?

I got yelled at by a member on here and told that it wasnt none of my business...when I mentioned a guy doing illegal stuff at an event.

[jaybyrd 3,770]

I personally don't waste my time worrying about the "outlaws" of the business but I can tell you that most times a quick conversation with the promoter of the event and a hint that they may be liable for what he is doing will get that person booted out pretty fast.

[mopar691 281]

I saw Under Armour logos printed on Gildan shirts with the Gildan tags and all this weekend in Two Harbors. He was selling the crap out of them for 30 bucks a piece. 

[THEJTINS 29]

mopar that wasn't an Under Armour logo. It was the new line of Under Over apparel. LOL

[kylesmash 36]

At shows we bring banners with decals all over them that are numbered and then have files with the decals filed by the numbers.

 

I arrived at a show and realized I only had 1 of the banners instead of the usual 6 banners. 

 

I usually have about 50 license plates for sale and forgot all of them.

 

no business cards that day either.

 

I basically layed in the back of my bronco intil the event was over.

[MadHatterGraphix 1,258]

Actually there is an award the self justification of being nice to a football team, Green Bay Packers are a publicly owned football team, and every cent they make from sales of their logo helps them out with revenue. Plus never know might get rewarded with some seats in the nose bleed section lol