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ldl1017 Elite user 476 Posts |
Hi Danny,
I was wondering if you could give some advice on how to price your first trade show. I have done corporate strolling and would like to start in trade show work. Thanks, Lou
“I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.”
Billy Joel |
Danny Orleans V.I.P. Chicago 119 Posts |
Pricing trade show work is a very complex question.
Short answer? I think that most of the people doing the Big League Circuit, and by that I mean the National Trade shows in major convention centers that are annual meetings and groups of 5000 - 100,000 people attend,… I think that most magicians are charging $1500 - $2500 per day + expenses of travel, hotel, and food allowance of about $75/day. There are lots of factors that go into my decision when I quote a client. Where is the show, how big a booth do they have, how many hours per day is the show, how many days is the show. Sometimes clients spend $10,000 to participate in a trade show for a few days. Sometimes they spend $500,000 to participate in a trade show for a few days. It is important to consider their budget overall, and how early in the process they contact you, when giving a quote. Remember this when quoting price: The client is spending money on a "per show" basis. Carpeting, booth set-up costs, shipping, advertising, etc. These are all "show" fees. So DON'T quote by the hour like you would a strolling gig. Most trade show pro magicians quote a day rate or, even better, a SHOW rate. Lately, I've been quoting a show rate which includes expenses. I have one client for whom I'll do 6 US based shows for this year. Each two-day show I'm doing for him is the exact same cost, including my expenses. This way, it's easy for him to budget for me, cause he knows the exact cost in advance! If you do this, you must be careful, because there are ALWAYS surprise expenses that you didn't plan for. All this being said, Lou… I would STRONGLY suggest that you price on the low end --- or even lower than the numbers I've quoted. It's very hard to get a trade show gig without ever having done one. Don't let money get in the way of you getting the opportunity to experience one of the most lucrative markets in the magic business. And once having done a day on the trade show floor, you'll know whether or not you'll ever want to do it again! |
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