How to price vendor tables at a card show

Table sales usually pay for a card show. Price them too high and the room stays half empty, which hurts everyone, including the vendors who did book. Price them too low and you can't cover the venue. The way to get it right is to start from your costs, not from a guess.

Start from your costs, not from other shows

Other shows' prices tell you what vendors are used to paying. They don't tell you what your show needs. Start here instead:

1. Add up your fixed costs: venue, insurance, rentals, signs, marketing, staff.
2. Estimate how many tables you'll realistically sell. For a first show, plan on filling around two-thirds of the room, not all of it.
3. Divide. That's the least each table has to bring in for the show to break even.

For example, $3,000 in costs and 40 tables you expect to sell means each table has to bring in $75. That's your floor. A price below it only works if admission makes up the difference.

The budget spreadsheet does this math for you and shows how profit changes as tables sell.

Then compare your floor to what shows nearby charge. If your floor is well above the local going rate, the problem is your costs or your room size, not your price. Look for a cheaper venue or plan a smaller first show.

Price by position

Not every table is worth the same. Vendors know it, and charging the same for every table leaves money behind:

Two or three price levels is plenty. More than that and vendors spend their time comparing instead of booking.

Charge more for more space, not just more tables

A vendor who wants two tables side by side takes more of the room. Charging per table is simplest. Some shows offer a small discount on the second table to win bigger vendors, but keep it small, since a second table still takes space you could sell.

If you sell multi-table booths, such as a U-shape of three tables, price them as their own type so the vendor sees one clear price.

Decide who pays the card fees

Every card payment carries Stripe's processing fee, and on CardMap a 2.5% CardMap fee. You choose who pays them, separately for tables and for tickets:

• You cover the fees. Vendors pay your listed price. A $100 table is $100.
• Vendors cover the fees. The fees are added and shown in the price up front, and you keep the full $100.

Line	You cover the fees	Buyers cover the fees
Buyer pays	$100.00	$105.87
Stripe processing (est.)	−$3.20	Paid by buyer
CardMap fee (2.5%)	−$2.50	Paid by buyer
Your payout (est.)	$94.30	$100.00

Stripe's standard rate in the US and Canada is 2.9% + 30¢ per card payment. Premium and international cards can cost a little more. Sales tax is not included here.

Many organizers let vendors cover the fees on tables but keep admission round. Vendors are running a business and are used to processing fees. Shoppers at the door don't want to see $5.37.

Use deadlines to fill early

Tables sold early make the room easier to fill, because vendors book shows other vendors have already booked. Two ways to encourage it:

• An early-booking price that rises a month before the show.
• First pick for returning vendors for a week before you open sales to everyone.

Avoid last-minute discounts on unsold tables. Vendors who paid full price notice, and next time they'll wait.

Write down what the price includes

Vendors will ask, so put it on the table type:

• What's included: table size, chairs, and whether there's power.
• How many vendor passes come with each table.
• Load-in time and where to park.
• Your cancellation policy. Can a vendor get a refund, and until when?

A clear table type answers most vendor emails before they're sent.

Check your price against your floor plan

Once your prices are set, multiply them out across your floor plan. If every table sells at its price, do you clear your costs with room to spare? If not, go back to step one before you open sales. Raising prices after vendors have booked is far harder than getting them right the first time.