Exhibitor Cost Saving Tips

Exhibiting at trade shows is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to drive new sales and market your business. However, like any marketing opportunity, participating in a trade show is not without costs. In an effort to help you keep your costs as low as possible, thus maximizing your return on investment, we offer you the following money-saving tips:

1. Order your booth furnishings and services from your show services providers prior to the discount deadline. Advance pricing is usually substantially less expensive than standard prices
2. Consolidate your shipments. It will be less expensive if you combine your shipments into 1 shipment. For example; if you ship 1 pallet that weighs 135 lbs, it will be rounded up to the nearest 100 lbs, and in this instance billed at 200 lbs. If you ship in a second pallet that weighs 115 lbs, you will be billed for another 200lb shipment, as it is handled separately. If you can combine the shipment, you will have a total shipment weight of 250 lbs, but the billable shipment weight will only be 300 lbs, thus saving 100 lbs of billable material handling. Always try and palletize or crate your shipments- it is easier to handle and is the least costly way for your materials to be handled by the contractor, and you will be billed at the lowest handling rate.
3. Be sure all your cartons are securely labeled/shrink-wrapped to a skid/pallet. Loose pieces incur “special handling” charges because forklifts can’t quickly remove them from vehicles. Also, be aware that special handling charges can apply in various other circumstances (van lines where freight must be removed from side doors, small-package delivery companies like FedEx, stacked shipments, etc).
4. Make sure your shipment arrives before the deadline at the warehouse. If your shipment arrives after the deadline, you will be assessed a late-to-warehouse charge.
5. Be aware of the move-in and move-out schedule and what days and times are considered Straight Time and what is considered Overtime. If the event schedule requires freight to be delivered, and/or event set-up to occur during Overtime hours, there will be costs associated. While it may not be possible to control the schedule and the associated costs, it will help in your budgeting process to be aware of the possible expenses.
6. Installation & Dismantle Labor- if the exhibitor is hiring labor to set up and dismantle their booth from the show services provider, supervising your own labor avoids having to pay a supervisory fee to the service provider. If you are not able to supervise your labor, there will be a supervisory charge that will be assessed
7. Booth Rental- Consider renting a booth from the service provider. You will not pay for material handling charges on the rented exhibit. However, you will pay material handling charges if you ship in a rented exhibit from a third-party exhibit rental company.

Contact US Tradeshows if you have questions about the costs of to exhibit. We will be happy to help estimate your charges, so you have an advanced budget to work with prior to the show. That will allow you if needed, the opportunity to adjust your exhibit plans to stay within your budget.