I have been having a think.
Last year I decided that 2015 would be my final year of doing shows.
My plan is to attend all the shows I normally would in 2015.
Or rather my plan was…
I have decided that I won’t push on with shows into 2015, or the future, but will stop now.*
As such the only shows I will be trading at are Blast-Tastic! and possibly Reveille II.
What I plan on doing instead is having a special offer on the days I would normally be at a show.
So keep an eye out for those!
*As a trader anyway, you may catch me stumbling around at some shows, and maybe even putting on a game or two, but not as a trader.
18 thoughts on “The Show Mustn’t Go On!”
02/04/2015 at 23:36
All the best Mike,
If you’re @Devises on the saturday come and see us with our 15mm sci fi game similar to the one we hope to do @BlastTastic.
Regards
Guy T
03/04/2015 at 00:24
This seems to be a trend among smaller dealers. The sales may not cover cost of travel and booth and such.
03/04/2015 at 05:12
Yep. We only do a few now. It’s the costs.
03/04/2015 at 06:47
I doubt many traders have been making ‘good’ money for a while now and probably most hope to use the day as a ‘showcase’ that will pay for itself and that sales will follow on from the show in subsequent weeks.
I attend a few shows simply because I love being amongst it all, but I do try and push my biggest spend into my local show show, simply in recognition that if money is not spent there, traders will not go and the show will go into decline.
I think your solution of a sales day is a good idea.
03/04/2015 at 09:54
Shows in general seem to be less profitable for many traders.
Given I do 6mm which is niche within the hobby, my customer base is smaller than many.
Given then that I also do 6mm sci-fi, that makes my customer base smaller still.
Then when you consider I do 6mm sci-fi skirmish…
The amount of time and effort that goes into getting ready for a show coupled with costs, such as fuel, resin for stock, metal spins for stock, food for the days or days, cost of hiring the stand at the show etc makes it not worth it.
So let us say:
£40.00 resin
£60.00 spins
£40.00 fuel
£20.00 food
£40.00 for a 6` stand
1 week of solid casting and getting stuff ready for the show
£200.00 outlay.
My show takings average at about £250.00 ish.
That is a lot of work and time for just £50.00 in my pocket.
Much rather spend time with my family and be £50.00 less well off, or do a website sale instead of a show and make that £50.00 or more from the comfort of my home.
03/04/2015 at 10:19
Well, come to Joy of Six then!
One thing to consider, does you website sales pick up after a show, if so, you have to factor some of those into show takings.
03/04/2015 at 10:28
JoS is even more outlay than the above.
Though specialist shows are the way forward I think, hence Blast-Tastic!
I used to get orders from the shows location after shows about 5 years ago or so, not so much the last few years..
03/04/2015 at 12:07
I meant to visit/run a sci-fi game, something it does lack.
05/04/2015 at 10:49
I wonder if we need to look at the american wargames convention model?
Just been helping number 2 son with his ICT ‘A Level’, and the effect of the information age on our current work/life balance is quite astounding.
Over the past 18 months in the UK the number of established traders who are stopping going “on tour” is increasing?
To quote Bob D “Times they are a changing”.
05/04/2015 at 11:12
I am not sure that would work here.
The US model seems to be very much geared around playing games, something that we have no issue with here in the UK due to the proliferation of clubs.
There are about 3 clubs within 30 minutes of me that I know of, probably double that or more in reality.
Given the amount of gaming opportunities and that in order to attend a Us style con would mean taking time off work and booking hotels and stuff, it seems an unlikely fit here to me.
I would say that yes the amount of established traders at shows is decreasing, but as there are new traders popping up all the time, the amount of net traders at shows may actually be increasing?
05/04/2015 at 15:39
If Splintered Light does a con, it is first of all because we are game PLAYERS — and now the young man (age 9) can go along and participate. And we know lots of people, so it is a social occasion. And, as mentioned above, internet sales over the next week sometimes pick up, so it can be good advertising.
But even at a “local” con (within 100 miles) where tables are inexpensive, it is rare to sell a lot more than break-even when travel and lodging is considered. And it can be a lot of work to get rerady.
If we have new stuff, and if I can do demo games of PRIDE OF LIONS or BLOODY DAWN while David mans the booth, we might do a little better than okay. Maybe.
05/04/2015 at 16:44
If not the Full US monty, more like the old Poole convention which was a bring and battle, not a purchase and demo convention.
For some of us conventions have become the only time we can game.
Whether I’m just becoming a grumpy old grognard, but having been a gamer for over 43 years some of my regular conventions that I have attended for over 30 years have lost their shine and my interest in the last couple of years.
06/04/2015 at 11:30
This year’s Salute will be Fighting 15s’ last as a trader. Although the show produces huge turnover from advance orders, sales on the day are pretty constant year to year and don’t really cover the costs. For the advance orders, I might just as well offer free delivery and stay at home. I realise it’s important to maintain a presence, to remind customers that I still exist, but catching someone’s eye with something new in such an arena is a hit and miss affair.
My whole shows experience of the past few years has been one of falling sales, to the extent that three major shows – Colours, Derby and Warfare – all lost money or barely broke even one autumn. Internet sales remain strong and continue to increase, and not going away so much means I have fewer periods of catching up, which used to just add to the stress of going away for a show.
What I am doing is something I’ve done before: base a show attendance around holiday. Two years ago, I did Carronade and Triples with a week’s holiday in-between: that worked well and I arrived at Triples refreshed. And then the parking system at EIS and the appallingly slow Sunday sales got me down. 🙂 So this year I’m again doing Carronade, having a week’s holiday in Scotland and Yorkshire, and then coming home. The first time I had to drive around with a car load of stock, but this time I’m going light on the grounds that the show is incidental to the holiday, and may just pay for my diesel and accommodation. And I’ll repeat this around the country when I feel like it and if a show has a slot for me.
06/04/2015 at 11:56
Yup.
07/04/2015 at 00:58
I wouldn’t recommend trying to copy the American model of the ‘con, since that is currently dying. Attendance is in a downward trend, and fewer dealers are going. There are plenty of games being offered, but fewer attendees means a lot of empty or half-filled tables.
I stopped putting on demo games in 2009, and I haven’t missed it. I now only go to one ‘con per year, and usually only as a day trip.
08/04/2015 at 08:36
interesting conversation, I certainly do not see the benefit of losing money, or breaking even, if there is no lasting effect from attending shows. My alter ego and co conspirators have decided that we would attend maybe a very few, but not for sales, simply as a promotional tool to display the wares. Personally I would like to see shows become more about developing the hobby and making it accessible to the punter rather than what has become a trade event that is more often than not preaching to the converted.
note: all puctwashun and spelling errors are solely the fault of tww, poor syntax I take complete responsibility for, dead knackered me.
08/04/2015 at 08:51
You o have to treat shows as a form of advertising so if you only break even on some of them that is fine – people have seen your figures and know you exist.
Having said that, my show takings at shows like Colours, Warfare, etc have stayed pretty static for the last 6-7 years meaning that in real terms I am taking less money.
I am no longer doing shows due to health reasons – I have ME/CFS and I found that the preparation for a show (2 weeks casting stock/preorders), 2 days on my feet, etc meant I then lost a week after the show because I was too tired to do anything.
I miss the social side of shows – talking to customers and other traders and hope to get back to doing 1 or 2 in the future in a very reduced way (I attended Salute last year with no figure stocks and took orders on the day which worked out quite well).
Shows are competing with shopping online in the same way that bricks and mortar shops are so I guess it is inevitable that there is going to be a decline in the larger traders attending…
Mike
08/04/2015 at 08:56
I know there is always the argument that a show will produce associated sales throughout the year from customers who have seen a trader at a show but ordered later. However, the effect is hard to quantify. Slashing the number of shows I do has had no perceptible effect on sales.
What I have noticed at shows is that 15mm is out of favour. It’s my main line… it sells very well online, but barely at shows any more. I take comfort from the fact I have breadth in terms of scale and periods.
Also, the poor economic conditions of the past few years saw a lot of window-shopping at shows – busy around the displays, but few purchases. I’m sure it’s a great past-time for attendees, but it doesn’t help cover the costs for traders. I may of course reap the benefits of that window shopping once everyone feels they have money again, but I might well have retired by then. 🙂