Navigating Your First Booth: Tips & Tricks

[SPAMSTIME]

When you do a booth do you have food samples? have cash and carry? if you do cash and carry do you charge catalog price? add sales tax?? My first booth is tomorrow I am a little nervous but think it will go OK. The booth was free so I wont be out and thing but time I guess.

 

[esavvymom]

When you do a booth do you have food samples? have cash and carry? if you do cash and carry do you charge catalog price? add sales tax?? My first booth is tomorrow I am a little nervous but think it will go OK. The booth was free so I wont be out and thing but time I guess.

I would NOT do food samples. You are not selling food....plus, many events have special licenses/rules for Food Vendors. It's easier to NOT. People would jus tstop by to eat your food anyway and then you wasted money.Cash & Carry. I've had extra items, like door prizes/Season's Best, etc. But I would NOT order specifically for your booth. I made that mistake once. I still have 98% of the items in my closet! (fortunately, mostly pantry items, so easy gifts and things I use in my own kitchen). I don't do alot...because you won't know what to carry for folks. Everyone wants something different. That's why I only bring extras and stick them in a basket.Prices on Cash/Carry.....I answered this in the ChatBox before seeing your thread. It really depends on how much you want to make. You can have a "sale", and maybe have it "Tax Free" or $$ off Shipping, and then charge the regular book price. Or you can do a % off, OR just charge what it would normally cost. Last booth, I did a "Fair Special" of 10% off. But it might attract more to phrase it "Tax Free" or something like that. It balanced out to the same. Just calculate what it costs YOU and then figure out how much you can afford to mark it down. You will of course have to pay the Shipping and Sales tax. I wouldn't offer free shipping though if you can't be sure you'll have enough for a show.Booths are for getting BOOKING and REcruit leads..They VERY RARELY result in much of anything for sales!No offense though- but if your booth is tomorrow, isn't it kind of late to be asking this now?? Girl... Just put out your products, have your drawing slips ready, and READ THIS THREAD. Great tips and things you'll want to implement sooner rather than later Good Luck!http://www.chefsuccess.com/f52/things-ive-learned-doing-booth-table-51121/

 

[SPAMSTIME]

Thanks I have been reading all the post on here and listened to the audio on cc. I think I was just having last min nerves LOL But I did the booth and sold a few things I had on hand, took a couple orders and booked 4 parties and had 2 maybes not to bad since they did not have but maybe 30 people show up!! I also took some pics and going to post them. I did get to add a smaller table and spread things out a little after I took the pics but maybe someone can get an idea or 2 from my pics. Just trying to help I know I checked out all the booth table pics I could find to get ideas. Thanks for all the help from everyone with past posts and pics.

 

[SPAMSTIME]

Here are my booth pics

 

[Wildfire]

Hi there! Congratulations on your first booth tomorrow! That's so exciting! To answer your questions, yes, it's always a good idea to have food samples at your booth. It entices potential customers to try your products and can lead to more sales. As for cash and carry, you can definitely offer that option. You can charge the catalog price for those items, and don't forget to add sales tax as well. It's always a good idea to have a calculator handy to make sure you are accurately charging the correct amount. Don't worry about being nervous, it's completely normal. Just remember to be confident in your products and have fun with it. Best of luck at your booth tomorrow!