Sell your old exhibit – it’s as simple as that. Pack rats are obvious critters. Heaps of old record albums crowd the cd’s off their shelves; worn work shirts and bell bottoms spill out of their closets. They are graduates from the school of "you never know - I might need/want/wear that again someday." Pack-rat-edness among exhibit display owners is especially hazardous, since exhibit storage space comes at a premium far higher than a closet shelf or a dresser drawer. In many cases display owners are paying by the cubic foot to warehouse that old exhibit, and it hasn’t seen daylight since The Greatest Show of 1992. If you are not paying for outside storage, then you are using your own valuable warehouse space.

Why not sell it? There is a growing market for used exhibits - plenty of up-and-coming exhibitors want the look without the price. You’ll bring in some revenue as well as get rid of those nasty storage fees. To make the selling process easier for you as well as your prospective buyer, keep the following guidelines handy when prepping your exhibit for the market:

• Papers, papers, papers - Proper documentation is the key to selling an exhibit. Pull together all records you have for the exhibit and its operation. Include: blueprints and set-up drawings; inventory and crate packing lists; I&D and service bills; and especially photos.
• Selling parts - If you can sell 85% of your booth in one shot – do it. However think through the idea of selling certain parts – selling the centerpiece by itself may leave you with items that you can never sell.
• Repairs – Buyers should know that they are buying “as is.” Cosmetic changes do not increase the value of your exhibit. And, forget selling the sliced and diced carpet – it has no value.
• Pricing – this is a real guessing game and negotiating is the rule. This sale is definitely not a profit center – set a price and be prepared to bargain. Remember the buyer has to make alterations, add new logos, buy new fixtures and carpet – so think 30% of the original cost as a starting point and be prepared to go down from there.

See you on the Show Floor!
Jan Koren - jkoren@AbsoluteExhibits.com

In the past 3-5 years exhibit houses have been seeking out partnerships with exhibit houses in distant venue cities to keep the costs of their clients rental exhibits low.  Although we see an upturn in the exhibit industry – everyone is still concerned with their budget and we all must work together to keep costs down.

If you own your exhibit, and many still do, then your exhibit company can send a supervisor and use I&D labor from the show city.  That is pretty much a done deal.  However, be aware that show labor costs are all over the board and are sold in different manners and as the owner of the ultimate pocketbook you need to find out how much your exhibit company is being charged and in what manner and do some comparison shopping yourself.  As an example one of our venues in which we offer I&D is Las Vegas – I recently had sent our I&D rates for CES and one of our exhibit house clients called and told me that they were being charged $28 and hour more than we were charging!  So buyer be aware.

What if you are procuring a rental property?  We have found that most people still like to deal with their local exhibit house as their go-between – even if their exhibit house does not have rental equipment.  And even if they do are you really willing to pay for cross country shipping and then local I&D labor charges?  Ask your exhibit house if they possibly have a partnership with another exhibit company that can bring your costs down.  We have a division called Wholesale Exhibits that sells only to exhibit houses and with the discounts we give – the end-user’s prices are still very much in line or less for this service.

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