Tabling at My First Con

As a creator thats trying to slowly build up my side hustle into a full time gig, I’ve always known that getting into conventions to sell my wares is an important step. But it’s a step that is rife with confusion and self doubt. Can I afford the table fee? How much stock should I prepare? What should I price my items at? Will I even sell anything? There are so many questions and no clear answer, because every persons experience tabling at a convention will be different.

Personally, I had an amazing time at Arcanacon. The atmosphere was very welcoming and accepting, and the event itself ran pretty smoothly. Of course some things went awry and changes had to be made, but that happens every time you get a group of people of any size together. I made a nifty profit, got to see a bunch of friends and make a number of new ones, and got to sus out a few new games I’d heard of. All in all a wonderful experience that I hope to have again at the con next year!

Arcanacon 2020 promotional banner - Art by Helen Graham of Juimon Illustration

So how did I go about it?

1 - Make sure the convention is relevant to your products
Well first, I was approached to see if I would like to table at Arcanacon. It’s a smaller convention here in Melbourne that is primarily focussed on table top role play games, but does branch out a little to other board and table top games, and live action role play games. I did of course say yes.

My products and creations are designed around my interest in Dungeons & Dragons, though are just as relevant to other rpg systems, or completely system agnostic. So I was quite sure that my products would be of interest to the people that would be at the event. If it had been a knitting market, or a Star Trek con, then I highly doubt I would sell anything and almost certainly not make back the cost of the table.

2 - Determine how much space you’ll have, and what you’ll fill it with
Table sizes vary significantly from convention to convention. Will you have a booth, a table, two tables, or are you going halves in a table with someone else? Whatever you decide, you need to know how large an area you have to work with. Once you know that, you can begin working on what items you will bring, how many of them, and how you will display them all.

Before the con I had a number of products, including enamel pins, handmade reversible dice bags and weather resistant vinyl sticker packs. Of those items, All were more than $15AUD except the 4pc sticker pack. I realised I needed to make some more cheap items to cater to the people that may want to support me, but were unable or unwilling at the time to spend their hard earned money on more expensive items.

So I set about making some much cheaper mini kiss cut sticker sheets (of label paper not vinyl). Next I thought about the kind of con I would be at and what products I could create to meet their needs that I would also like to have amongst my range going into the future. Notebook sets were the next thing I created. Almost all role playing games require you to take notes at some point or another.

Lastly, I had bought a sample pack of dice from a manufacturer, and thus had about 50 random sets of dice laying around that I wanted to sell. I knew there would be a well established dice retailer at the con and did not want to directly compete with them by selling dice sets on their own as is (not too mention i didn’t have a lot of stock and only 1 of each kind. i didn’t want it to come across as me selling of my secondhand unwanted dice). So I came up with the idea to create Adventurer Starter Sets. I chose a set of dice and one of my existing dice bags whose colours looked good together, and then made a little notebook to match. Finally I added a colour co-ordinating pencil. Boom! Everything a new player needs to get started with any rpg they could want to play at the con.

Would all this be necessary at every con? Of course not. I did things this way because I create for a niche market, and the con itself catered to a niche market. It doesnt hurt to have a wider variety of products and prices though, and any stock I have left over can be sold on my online store (which you can find here) or can be used as stock for another con. Travelling ith all my stock isn’t a problem for me at the moment either, as I have my own car, live in Melbourne and have family in Sydney. I will probably be focusing on events in VID and NSW only for a while.

3 - Displaying your products
First rule of displaying your products: Make sure everything is actually visible! When I displayed my items I made sure that each category of product had its own seperate place, and that items that had a lot of variations or only 1 of each kind were easily visible or were displayed in a way that was easy for customers to rifle through them.

As a graphic designer who used to make signs at IKEA, I can tell you with absolute certainty that most people just don’t read signs. No matter how clearly you mark the price of your items be prepared to answer the question “How much is ____?” from everyone that appraches your table. It is what it is. That being said, having a clear price list in one place where all items and prices are listed together can really help once someone asks that question. You can tell them and then direct them to that ONE sign, and from that point on they’ll know where to look for all future questions.

4 - Taking payments
Make sure you can accept card payments! There are numerous devices out there that facilitate that process, and a good number of them are quite affordable. You do not want to miss out on a sale simply because you didn’t want to spend $50 on a Square Reader. I use a square reader (so thats the only experience I have with taking card payments) But I genuinely love it because the app allows me to have all my items saved beforehand so inputting the amounts is super quick and requires no on the spot maths from me.

It is also extremely helpful as you can do the whole transaction and then choose cash as the payment method, in which case it can calculate how much change you need to give, keeps track of your inventory, keeps a record for you for later, and allows you to still send a digital receipt to the customer if they want.

Don’t be like me and make sure you have your float sorted out at least 3 days before the con. I forgot I would need money on hand to give as change and didn’t have a way to exchange the large notes I had withdrawn at the ATM into change without buying something as the banks were already closed. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CASH FOR CHANGE!

5 - Look after yourself
Finally, I made sure to have plently of water and snacks, and a plan for lunch as I would be spending almost all day at my table, for the most part by myself. If you have a helper then you have more flexibility in regards to wandering away for food and drinks, but I’d still recommend having your own little stash at the table.

I learnt a lot at this con, and I hope that it means you’ll be seeing me at more cons in the future!