Vendor Booths, Are They Worth Doing?

There is a question that comes up all the time in direct sales, handmade crafts, food services, etc. Is it worth doing vendor events in general or a specific vendor event? No matter how many people you ask, you will always get a different answer with a different explanation about why. The decision is truly up to you, the person who would be running the booth,  and only you.

I'm going to break down some of the basics that you need and may want to have, and what I usually do to figure out whether a event would be worth it or not.

What to Have

When doing a vendor event there are some basic necessities you need to have: a table, at least one chair, and a table cloth. These 3 items are the first things that will make or break you doing an event. Some events do not provide tables at all, some include them in the fee, and some provide them at an additional fee. Chairs are the same way. I include a table cloth in this because if you are using someone else's table, you never know what they are going to look like, and you want to make sure everything looks as professional as possible. These are all items that are one time purchases, so it will only cut into your budget the first time.

Some of the mandatory costs you have to consider that change each event are the fee to do the event, gas to get there and back, food, beverages (even bottled water), and brochures/books (if your company has them). If you get lucky, you will be able to find events that do not charge you to set up a table, most of them will though. I have seen prices from $10 all the way up to $500, it's up to the event how much they will charge. Gas, food, and beverages are givens because you have to get there, you have to eat, and drinking usually isn't an option either (alcoholic not suggested though 😉). These numbers are again going to vary by location, whether you pack your own food and drinks or buy them from the event. If your company has books or brochures, it is an automatic assumption that you need these to sell from. Your book/brochure is your store front, and if you don't have it with you, what is the point in being there?

Other things that aren't mandatory, but are nice to have: raffle tickets, bowl (to put raffle tickets in), raffle prize, picture frames (to put advertisements/info in), stock to sell, business cards, a way to accept credit/debit cards, pens/pencils, calculator, portable charger (for phone/tablet), printed advertisements and info, recruiting flyers/handouts, demos, samples, candy, bowls for candy/samples, labels for brochures/books, stamp for brochures/books...anything you think may be able to draw the attention of at least one person to have them come to your table. None of these things you have to have. Most of them are attention catchers or something to make the day a little bit easier. If you can afford some of this stuff, great. If not, stick to your budget.

Note: With a way to accept credit/debit cards, there is a company called Square that allows you to accept the first $1000 or 6 months worth of purchases without charging fees. You can get a card reader (swipe) for free, and after the initial period, it cost 2.75% per swipe, and 3.5%+15¢ per manual entry. Also, if you are an Avon Representative (other companies may do this too), you can enter the credit/debit card information into the Pay Avon section of youravon. You put in the customers name, address, etc. instead of your own. It is a completely free way to accept cards, but you just have to manually input the information.

Figuring Out the Actual Cost

Most people are going to end up having a vendor booth at one time or another. It can be an easy way to get your name and products out there without driving all over, and pouring days into it. The key to figuring out if it will be worth it or not is numbers. Numbers will make or break anything you do.

First you need to figure out how much it is going to cost you to do a particular event.  Add up the fee(s), materials to be used (bags, paper, writing instruments, raffle prize, demos, samples, candies, etc.), brochures/books and labels, stock (your cost), estimated gas, estimated food, estimated drinks, and other things that you will only be using for this one event. That is the target number you want to have covered by sales between the time you sign up for the event and the event, and with the stock you plan on selling at the event (if you plan on selling any). 

Another number you want to know is how many people are anticipated on coming to the event. Whether it is 200 or 200,000 this is a number you will need to help figure out whether it is worth it or not. Let the person in charge of the event know that you are not holding them to this number, but you are just looking for their best guess to know what you need to bring.

Let's see an example: 

You, an Avon Independent Sales Representative, have the opportunity to do an event that is about a hour away from your home. The event has a $30 fee for a 10'x10' spot, and you have no other fees because everything is included and you don't need electricity (can be extra depending on the event). This event is going to be 6 hours long, so you need food for one meal and some snacks, and enough beverages for the entire event. The person in charge has also told you that there will probably be at least 75 vendors, and an anticipated crowd of 2,000 people.

The items you are going to pay for this event are your fee ($30), gas ($20 - rather guess too much than too little), food ($20), beverages ($10 - I drink a lot and you may not be able to bring in outside food/drinks), paper ($1 - raffle tickets and flyers ), raffle prize (valued at $50, but as an Avon Rep. it cost you about $30 + wrapping materials and bag; so all together it cost you $35), business cards (VistaPrint=500 for $16 after shipping), 500 brochures (you have to use your best guess here on how many) ($130), labels ($10 - using 3 per brochure). I am not including stock in this because as long as you sell it, you'll get your money back from it.

All this, added up is $272. That's a lot for one event! But remember, the stuff you have to have (fee, gas, food, beverage) only adds up to $80, and that's probably an over estimate on that. But we are going to stick with the $272 number for the examples.

Is it Worth it?

The bad thing about vendor events for Avon Representatives is that you're not really there to sell, you're there to find people who want to become your long term customers. Most of the time, you will earn your money after the event, not at it.

There are a few ways to figure this out. First, can you earn enough extra between now and the show to cover it? Is it possible for you to cover it until you can earn it back? If you answer is yes to either one of these questions, stop hesitating and sign up for that event! 

If the answer is no or I'm not sure, ask yourself this question: how many more people will you get exposed to at the event than you would if you spent $50 on gas, food, and beverages the way you normally prospect? If you answer is a positive number, book it!

The next thing to do is to figure out how much of some quick selling products do you need to sale to recover the cost? I am going to base these numbers of the cost being $272. 

Avon's A-Box cost reps $8 each. When you go to place an order, you can figure out how much you are ordering for you and your customers, and order the appropriate number of A-Boxes to go with it. A-Boxes can sell pretty good at event, and don't cost an arm and a leg for you nor the customer. You can sell them at $15 each ($7 profit) or you can try to sell them for $20 each ($12 profit). Or you can start at $20 then sell at $15 towards the end. Either way, you can make your money back from them, but you need to make sure you have enough to cover it. If you sell the A-Boxes at $15 each, you will need to sell 39 to recover your $272. If you sell them at $20 each, you will need to sell 23 to recover it. While only having to buy 23 would be nice, you need to shoot to have at least 39 on hand in case you have to use $15 as the price.

Skin So Soft Bath Oil normally sells in the brochure for $10.99 for a regular size bottle and $15.99 for the bonus size bottle. This will make your cost for the $8.79 and $12.79 with 20% commission (the lowest you can earn). If you sell them at brochure price you will need to sell 124 regular size bottles or 85 bonus size bottles. Depending on when you're event is, this could be done very quickly.

There are a lot of other items you can buy (deals in the what's new, daily deals, deal central deals, etc.) that will help, but you need to stick to something you know you can sell (even to regular customers). Buying too much stuff can cause you to have too much inventory, too many items to choose you, and if your table looks bunched up, people will avoid it. If your regular customer base is diverse enough, pay attention to what they buy the most, because they are representing the people in your community.

Still Doesn't Seem Worth it?

The final way I suggest you look at everything is to break down the numbers again. If you are paying out $272, then you will be paying $1 for exposure per person. How many times have you been able to visit a customer or recruit a team member for $1 that wasn't a family member?

In my opinion, doing events is a great thing. I've done a few myself in the last year, and while they weren't as successful as I would have liked them to be, I did get some online customers from them, and that is what mattered to me. You have to make sure you give yourself room to grow and most importantly you have to let yourself be a beginner. You may not be beginning Avon, but if you're reading this, you're either here to see what I have to say or about to begin doing it. Remember, this is your business, and you run it the best way you see fit, not anyone else. 

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