How to Sponsor a Collectible Toy Show
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For the past eight years, my husband and I have been sponsoring collectible toy shows in our area. We started sponsoring toy shows after having our own antique and collectible toy business for two years. We were finding many things about the toy shows we were dealers at that we didn't like and we kn 
ew that if we put our heads together and avoided the mistakes we were seeing being made, that we could be a success.
It has worked out very well for us and we have other dealers calling us all of the time wanting to know what our "secret" is to sponsoring a great toy show. Our "secret" is nothing more than a black binder notebook that I consider my "Toy Show Bible". I have everything organized for paid advertising, free advertising, television advertising, and press releases. I have checklists for every step of the process and although others have tried to duplicate our strategy, they have yet to accomplish the success that we have had. Organization is the key and because of my previous career, I had to learn how to be a very good organizer.
The tips I am going to provide can be used really for any type of event where the public pays an admission to attend. You might have to tweak the timeframes in which you send out advertising but you will still have a guideline to follow.
Antique and collectible toy shows have lost some of their popularity due to EBay, but your die-hard collectors would still rather attend a toy show than purchase a collector's piece off the Internet. Purchasing items off of EBay, no matter how many pictures the seller takes of the item just isn't the same. You really don't know what you are getting and it is a lot easier to get ripped off this way also.
Setting a date
Your first step in sponsoring a collectible toy show will be to set a date. You need to take into consideration:
Are there other toy shows being held on that same date that you are aware of?
Is it a good time of year to be holding your toy show?
How many toy shows are held in your area throughout the year?In our area, we are the only toy show. This has helped our traffic from year to year.
Once you have your date decided, you can move on to the next step.
Renting a building
It has worked out very well for us and we have other dealers calling us all of the time wanting to know what our "secret" is to sponsoring a great toy show. Our "secret" is nothing more than a black binder notebook that I consider my "Toy Show Bible". I have everything organized for paid advertising, free advertising, television advertising, and press releases. I have checklists for every step of the process and although others have tried to duplicate our strategy, they have yet to accomplish the success that we have had. Organization is the key and because of my previous career, I had to learn how to be a very good organizer.
The tips I am going to provide can be used really for any type of event where the public pays an admission to attend. You might have to tweak the timeframes in which you send out advertising but you will still have a guideline to follow.
Antique and collectible toy shows have lost some of their popularity due to EBay, but your die-hard collectors would still rather attend a toy show than purchase a collector's piece off the Internet. Purchasing items off of EBay, no matter how many pictures the seller takes of the item just isn't the same. You really don't know what you are getting and it is a lot easier to get ripped off this way also.
Setting a date
Your first step in sponsoring a collectible toy show will be to set a date. You need to take into consideration:
Are there other toy shows being held on that same date that you are aware of?
Is it a good time of year to be holding your toy show?
How many toy shows are held in your area throughout the year?In our area, we are the only toy show. This has helped our traffic from year to year.
Once you have your date decided, you can move on to the next step.
Renting a building
- We have people calling us all of the time wanting to know what our "secret" is.
- I have a very organized "Toy Show Bible" that I use that has made us a success.
- The tips I am going to provide can be used really for any type of event.