Bothered by a COnvention Policy

[Scribble]

Ok, I don't really like to get annoyed. I'm generally a pretty easy going guy. But this weekend I realized soemthing really annoyed me that conventions do.

So there was a local convention going on near me this weekend. I couldn't attend because unfortunatlely my schedual did not permit it. I DID however have a moment to drop by. I would have loved to stop in at the dealer's room and see what kinds of goodies the dealer's had. The local store I go to has mostly the "top 20" type things...

Anyway, this convention had one of those "you have to buy a badge to even get into the dealer's room"

Fine I used to think... They don't want people just showing up and sponging off the con right? But then I remembered... They charge the dealers to use that space. So why should the customer be charged again? As a result, I wasn't about to spend 20 bucks just to take a look around. And if I bought soemthing, now I'd basically be paying OVER retail price... What?

Is anyone else annoyed by this policy?

 

[Vocenoctum]

It's pretty standard for all kinds of trade shows to charge both exhibitors and attendee's. Otherwise they'd simply charge the other one double.

 

[Alan Shutko]

Anyway, this convention had one of those "you have to buy a badge to even get into the dealer's room"

Every convention I've gone to had that policy, including Gencon. Since there are a lot of people who only show up at cons to check out the dealer room, why shouldn't the con require them to have badges?

I don't know the economics of running a con, but I'd bet they don't charge dealers enough to fully recoup the cost of having the dealer room, and rely on some from badges to pay for it. Or they want to encourage people who come to see the dealer room to try the other events.

 

[Scribble]

Every convention I've gone to had that policy, including Gencon. Since there are a lot of people who only show up at cons to check out the dealer room, why shouldn't the con require them to have badges?

Yes, Like I said, I've encountered it before and thought nothing of it. But it just kind of bothered me this time.

The last time I looked at the rates for dealers it was around 175 bux for a 10' space. And this was about 2 years ago, so I'm guessing it's gone up.

Also, I'm not saying it isn't standard policy, I just think it's stupid.

I don't know the economics of running a con, but I'd bet they don't charge dealers enough to fully recoup the cost of having the dealer room, and rely on some from badges to pay for it. Or they want to encourage people who come to see the dealer room to try the other events.

Maybe, but I doubt they'd make enough from people just showing up to check out the dealer's room. Last time I checked the fee for a dealer's table at a con near here was about 175.00 per 10 foot table.

And personally I think I'd be more inclined to decide to stay and actually attend the event if I was allowed to check out the dealer's room first. You know the old, "Welllll I really don't have time but.. eh those chores can wait..." type of thing.

 

[Samurai]

Not only game cons, but comic conventions, stamp conventions, etc all charge admittance, even if you just want to visit the dealer's room. That's just the way it works. Either you spend enough time and money there that the admittance price is more than balanced by the (usually) increased discounts and opportunity to buy rare items (as well as other activities, like playing a game, attending a seminar, watching movies, etc), or there's no point in going.

 

[Umbran]

Fine I used to think... They don't want people just showing up and sponging off the con right? But then I remembered... They charge the dealers to use that space. So why should the customer be charged again? As a result, I wasn't about to spend 20 bucks just to take a look around. And if I bought soemthing, now I'd basically be paying OVER retail price... What?

Is anyone else annoyed by this policy?

I find it annoying, but it's also generally a necessary evil.

The thing you have to remember is that conventions are insanely expensive to run. Local conventions generally don't make any profit to speak of. They are run by volunteers, and squeak by making just barely enough money to bootstrap another con the next year. The budgets are tight, and every dollar counts.

That being said - the con makes exactly zero money off of you if you walk in and buy something in the dealer's room. The con has a reason to offer up dealers to it's members. It has exactly zero reason to offer them up to a non-member. Allowing you to come in and shop without paying is allowing you to take advantage of resources that other folks payed for.

Now, you may think, "I'm only one guy! How much of their resources am I really taking up?" Not much, true. But the policy isn't designed to prevent one person from taking advantage. It's designed to make sure they don't get a whole mess of people coming in, clogging up the halls, posing security and liability risks, and buying up stuff that the paying con-members may want to buy.

What possible motive does the con have for allowing you to shop on the cheap?

As for paying higher than retail price - consider that if you're going to a con to buy a book, you're dumb. You can get a book on Amazon for less than retail price. Same goes for a number of other common items you might find at the dealer's room. The only reasons to buy at a con are to buy items that you cannot get elsewhere, or for the sake of convenience.

If you aren't already going to the con, it isn't convenience to shop there. So, you're there to buy hard-to-get items. And you ought to expect to pay high prices for rare or hard-to-get items.

Edit addition:
$175 bucks for a 10-foot table isn't all that much. That 10 foot table is usually part of a very large hall. Large spaces are expensive and the con has typically rented that hall for the entire weekend.

 

[KenM]

I have not been to that many cons, but every one I have gone to has had the policy that you need a badge to get into the dealers room. I can understand why.

 

[MaxKaladin]

When I was in college, the cons that were put locally on generally offered a reduced price ticket for the dealer's room only. Generally, it was about a dollar as opposed to $12-$25 for a con badge.

 

[Scribble]

That being said - the con makes exactly zero money off of you if you walk in and buy something in the dealer's room. The con has a reason to offer up dealers to it's members. It has exactly zero reason to offer them up to a non-member. Allowing you to come in and shop without paying is allowing you to take advantage of resources that other folks payed for.

I disagree. The con does have reason. Had I been able to stop in, I may have been convinced to rearange my schedual to get a badge. As it was, I wasn't about to go near the place. Also, having worked in the hotel industry, for a while the dealer admission would have covered the costs, at least at the hotel I worked in. (EDIT) Provided you have more then one dealer. And generally most cons have a pretty sizeable number of dealers who use more then one 10' table. (How else would they store the 10 foot pole? hehe)

I think it's more what bothers me is the fact that they're charging both the dealer AND the customer. It's kind of like the reason it bothers me when you go to a movie now a days and see a bunch of commercials before the film.

As it was, it didn't really effect me. I just didn't stop in the place. If I were a dealer I think I'd have much more of problem with it. To me it would be like if I paid rent on a storefront, but then the landlord charged each of my potential customers 20 bucks to walk through my door.

 

[Crothian]

I think its pretty simple, the convention charges people to goto the convnetion. The dealers room is part of the convention so people need a convention badge to get in. The dealers are being charged to use the space. You are being charged to attend the con.