Collectors nationwide gather for trade fairs where they can meet others who share their passion and learn about the newest developments in their field. If you're a collector yourself, or are a dealer of collectibles, you almost certainly attend these conventions, and may do it with the intention of selling. By carefully designing your trade show exhibits, you can create a space that's optimized for moving inventory, whether you're a small, personal dealer or represent a larger company.

Basics Of Trade Show Exhibits For Collectibles

Collectibles provide a unique sales challenge because they are non-standard items. It's rare to see a collector selling just one type of coin, or just one form of historical weaponry. At most sales conventions, a booth can be targeted to promote just one product. When dealing with collectibles, however, it's necessary to promote one style or particular group of items.

In most cases, trade show exhibits can display a small portion of their stock while keeping the rest in reserve. If you are dealing with a large volume of distinct collectibles, you can't keep most of them in the back or they won't be visible to people who pass by. In addition to ample shelving, you need to ensure that the trade show stands you choose are strong enough to safely support valuable merchandise. Many collector items are fragile and must be handled with care. Although some of the most fragile (or valuable) will require containers and handling all their own, a well-built booth can handle most needs.

Creative Advertising Through Banner Stands

Although it's difficult to promote the booth as a whole, many collectors find that promoting your most specialty item works well. In some cases, this item need not even be for sale; if you have a particularly rare collectible that would sell in the same market as your actual merchandise, then you can show it off simply to attract attention to your booth. When you have a showpiece to promote, using banner stands is a great way to communicate the rarity. Banner stands can be printed with images of it and draw visitors toward your booth from afar.

If your chosen item is rare enough, you may even be able to arrange special publicity with the people who run the convention. They are collectors too, and their foremost objective in running the exhibition is to provide a chance for their fellow enthusiasts to connect. If you have something everyone would want to see, your hosts might well give you a prominent listing in the program, or perhaps even let you move from among the trade show exhibits into a room where viewings of your rare item can be conducted in front of a larger audience.

Trade Show Stands And Security

For the most part, purchasing trade show exhibits is a minor expense for serious resellers. The most common cause of elevated prices is a simple one: the need for extra security precautions. When you move from more common merchandise into rare finds, there are always those who would threaten the security of your stock. One possibility is to simply guard your items yourself during the day, and take them back with you every night. This technique quickly becomes infeasible if you have a lot of inventory, but certainly saves money on secure display. In the long run, it is usually wise to consult with a specialty company and get a quote on upgrading to fully locked and secured units.