Trade Stands!

From what has been said on here, cost to the traders seems to be a big problem, and thats down to the people who own the location.

If a trader has to get there, spend all day there, and only ends up breaking even, or worse, who can blame them for staying away.

Rockingham was the first time the IAM had been able to attend that venue, as without the good work of John Safe, and the club to BMW comms, the IAM had been quoted a fortune to attend past events, and they are a charity, so what chance do traders stand ?

I'm not sure , perhaps contact the club office, or one of the committee chappies.

They dont all use the forum, so may not even know about your enquiery.

They was a complaint on the e30zone re trade stands and as I told them it is not easy to get the traders to come to a show. You send out letters and make phone calls all at a cost and you get noware. If we could garantee the number of people coming to show we would not have a problem( approx 600 at Rockingham) I have been running a small local show in Taunton for the last 5 years and I think I have the confidence of a few loyal traders> I have spoken to Andrew at the Club office and there will be a big effert to get more at Gaydon. If you were a trader would you want to pay to sell you goods stood in the middle of a field?

Look John

All these volunteers to help you out lol

 Great!!!!!! thankyou.Many hands will make us smile.  Will put up details on site in next week or so, and the How TO.

                                       SAFETYFAST

 Thats y Donington is supported.we both know the "squeZZe-em till they cry" mentality, till no-one comes anymore.Just look at Nurburgrings way of life. Something is going on 365 days a year.from school coaches showing the Famous circuit(ensuring the future PetrolHeads Come see)to pedal biking, walk the Ring, ++++.Car Boot, greens walk about. adopt a Bug etc.SO-It makes Money, not till they cry, but till the next welcome.Maybe!!!!!!! PalmerSport MAY change that????????????????

                                      SAFETYFAST

 Any  Practical help, is more than welcome . It would have to be on a Regional basis, very few traders would GO national due to time & expence.With our regions large and spread out, it needs to be made interesting for traders not to have to drive Hundreds of miles.We need to have  regional , North-South-East-West sections when planning events.This would be more interesting for getting help to run an event, not the same regulars doing all the work, spread it around and Everyone gets to enjoy and look around at whats going on.Plus not all drivers have the time to travel so often.So would 3-4 Trader reps in each Region be able to do the Biz???Gaydon because of its Location and the MWay choice, is as a National, in a fortunate position.We need to help the smaller events more.I think you have to choose the traders to be contacted, with CARE.Local one,s will still benifit after the event has been & gone.So will be happier to come again to another one of our Club events . Costs for them to attend are the KEY, so much care needed to arrive at a cost they have to pay.

                                          SAFETYFAST

 

 

I thought I would add my 2p here. Some of you probably saw me at several concourses last year with my accessories trade stand situated in my gazebo. I had decided to try and attend as many shows as possible to test the water. I live in Sunderland but travelled to the likes of BMW Sunday at Hestercombe Gardens nr Taunton, the SW concourse at Athelhampton House nr Dorchester, the Wessex concourse in Weald nr Chichester (if I remember right), the SE concourse at Paddock Wood in Kent, Gaydon in Warwickshire, Tatton Park near Manchester and although not the car clubs event, Donnington.

It doesn't take much working out that I travelled a good few miles during the year. The preparation for each show plus travel and the show itself amounted to roughly 3 days for a 1 day event if you take into consideration the setting out of items on display boards prior to the event, pricing, ordering and checking of stock and setting up on the day.

I managed to put my entire stock, gazebo, tables etc into my E34 540i not to mention my girlfriend and our overnight bags. Most of the shows included an overnight stay where we had to unload the entire stock of accesories in numerous boxes into the hotel room for security reasons (we got some funny looks!). Then the next morning, we had to load it all back into the car so it all had to be loaded and unloaded 3 times in all for a 1 day show.

Obviously, all of this costs - the petrol and running costs of the 540i, the hotel, food, trade stand entry fees, financial outlay for stock, display materials etc etc

Will I be doing it all again this year??? No is the short answer.

I will be attending some shows but not those that I have to drive to the ends on the earth for as once you take into consideration the effort that it all takes and the profit that you make, it simply isn't worth it for what you can make (I actually made a loss on a couple of shows).

I don't regret doing it because I did enjoy it as well as get to meet many people that I wouldn't have done otherwise, but this year, I had to draw the line somewhere. I will say that I found all of the organisers of these shows to be very helpful and courteous and they couldn't have made me feel more welcome.

Most just simply asked me to provide a prize for the raffle whereas others levied a very reasonable fee. The simple fact of the matter and the reason that more traders don't turn up is that the amount of profit (and that's what it's all about) you can make from a show with around 70 or 80 cars isn't worth the effort. Even if the shows were local, many traders still won't attend because the type of money they need to make simply won't happen at the size of the events concerned. I am in the minority as I do it not simply to make a profit but I enjoy it and the contact with the people that I meet.

This year, I'll only be attending the shows that aren't too far from me or the larger ones such as Gaydon. The fees are a little higher for Gaydon but it's not OTT. I did enquire about Rockingham but the fee they were asking for was much too high for what was an unknown quantity.

With the folding of the BMW Drivers Club, maybe we as a club can do something like Donnington (although I hear rumours that Donnington will still go ahead this year). There is plenty of scope in my opinion to have 2 Donnington shows every year as long as they are correctly spaced apart. This is an expensive show to attend for traders but one that they are prepared to pay for because of it's profitability.

This year, I hope to appear at Gaydon, Tatton Park, Harewood House (if it's on) and Donnington but unfortunately, I will miss those excellent shows that are much further south.

I'll shut up now!

Nigel
(Nigel Marston Motors)

PS. Do I break the record for the longest post or the 540i with the most miles????

Is your 540i the blue N reg one that was at Gaydon next to the trade stands ? Nice colour.

I was looking at this car and comparing the equipment levels with my '93 540i. (Air bag, cruise, high level brake light)

Andy    West Midlands  

 Hi Nigel, If you are going to have a look around, maybe the sunday would be a good time. Car Clubs display of Cars for Concours (your 540!!!) Zed Register Roadsters And Z MCoupe,s having their first Show n Shine in public.Trophy,s and Plaques just waiting for the winners, Club long distance award(if it was Total Miles you would be in with a shout) Plus the Good Guys & Girls from SouthEast Region doing their Cultural tour and doing the Biz on Sunday as well, with Central Region Doer,s .What a Busmans Holiday for you ,

  PS, what sort of things can you bring???