First time at York with a table - Tips?

1: Arrive early to take advantage of the set-up hours. It's a lot easier to set everything up when the halls and parking lots haven't filled-up yet.  A small cart / hand truck will come in handy as well. 

2: Wear comfortable shoes. It's a long day standing around on the concrete floors. 

3: If possible, see if you can work out an arrangement with a friend to watch your table for a short time so you can walk the halls yourself. 

4: If you truly want to sell what you're bringing, price it accordingly. I've had a table at York for many years, and have found that unless you want to pack everything up and bring it home with you on Saturday,  you have to price your items right and be willing to negotiate. Many people bring the same items to York with them every 6 months, and sell very little, in my opinion because their prices are too high. 

5: Bring money to make change for your sales. 

6: Bring bags or some type of packaging for the items you sell. Your customers will appreciate it. 

7: Bring old sheets or some type of cloth to cover your items when the halls are closed, as well as some kind of table cover to put your trains on. 

8: Call me a germaphobe, but bring a bottle of hand sanitizer. You'll be handling a lot of cash, dirty trains, and shaking hands with many people who may or may not have washed their hands after using the head. 

9: Last but not least, have fun. Talk with people as they walk by and get acquainted with your table neighbors. Now that table-holders keep the same table, part of what my wife and I enjoy about York is seeing our neighbors every 6 months. 

Hope this helps. What hall is your table in?

John

Comfortable shoes - a must. 

A pillow for those folding chairs. 

I usually carry $200 in tens, fives and ones to make change, and I never break anything larger than a twenty, especially for small ticket items less than a couple of bucks (I'm not a bank or an ATM). 

Wow - so many things I did and didn't consider already!

@BlueComet400, I don't know what hall I am in - how do I find out?

Your badge will have your hall color on it. If you haven't received your badge yet (table-holders seem to be last to get theirs) I'd suggest contacting the registrar if you want to know. Did you request a specific hall when you registered?  It's also possible they may not have assigned you to a table yet. I've seen people post here that they already have their badges, but I normally get mine a week or 2 before the meet. Who knows--we might be neighbors--I let one of my 3 tables in the Blue Hall go last spring and I have no idea who will get it. 

John

@BlueComet400, I just registered online yesterday. I was not prompted to specify a hall preference (I wish I was). As such, I have not received my badges yet.

All of the above, very good advice, I like to really deal with TCA, LCCA, members with some history. (You need $500:in change, small bills, 1’s, 5’s,10’s, 20’s, 50’s, 100’s.)The advice on comfy shoes, seat cushioning, excellent tips. If you take checks, get the drivers license number, address for Sure of the buyer, home phone and cell number, and a correct email.  This is a Fun hobby, however there are some folks that break the rules.  When the halls are open to the general public, which is a good thing, you need the best information possible if you need to reach a contact that you sold.  You could say, proper planning prevents poor performance. Have Fun, Sell, Trade, and of course, BUY....York is the Biggest, and Best, Toy Train Meet in the USA. Sometimes over 10,000 folks pass through the halls.   Happy Railroading...

I've always made it a practice to arrive early enough to be able to park close to the entrance nearest my table (a booth, in the Orange Hall.) The reason for that was to make off-loading easier (out of the way of later arrivals) and so that I could go out to the car to rest and have a drink , at times, leaving my station under the care of a dear friend who always traveled with me.

Bring your own canvas-&-metal outdoor-type folding chair(s) for an easier time of it sitting so long, two of which can be seen in this photo of my former booth in the Orange Hall. (I avoided use of those flimsy blue folding chairs provided).

Bring plenty of drinks, especially "Ensure" which will help you stay hydrated and energized. Drink a lot and a variety of fluids. It will help your feeling of vitality and outlook.

Keep a separate wallet for the cash you earn from your sales and from which you can make change.

I always gave price-breaks to children, especially if they were interested in some of the vehicles I had weathered. This engendered, I felt, good will, both with the parent, as well as with any possible future member of our hobby. And besides, it felt good to do so.

Make sure somebody nearby has a readily-available record of whom to contact should something become a medical emergency. Unexpected emergencies DO happen. For example, one elderly vendor I have known personally for decades fell and broke his wrist, while off-loading, one early Wednesday morning, and we needed to contact his wife quickly.

FrankM, Layout Refinements.com

If this is your first time, and you only get one table, the cart part is maybe overkill, but depends on how heavy what you are bringing to sell is.  If you are just bringing a bunch of light boxcars, hauling them into the hall in a few  boxes is probably as easy as going with a cart.  If you are bringing heavy standard gauge engines, you may want a cart no matter what.

On a similar note, depending on how much you wish to display, having some small shelves to be able to have more to show can be a benefit.  I purchased a small 4 level plastic shelf at one of the home stores (meant for garages/storage rooms), and use 3 levels of it (4 legs and one shelf per) to create small "tables" that sit along the back edge of the table itself.  this allows me to put items on the table itself, and then put some other items on these shelves so they can be seen.   Of course this could be debated a little, as the shelves do then hide a bit of the table surface, but you can certainly at least still use it for storage.  The size of the TCA "table" is 6 feet, but the physical table may actually be bigger.  You have the area between the tape marks before your neighbor's table starts.  This is important if buying such a shelf, as a 2 foot wide shelf will just fit 3 wide across the table space.  Unfortunately I just looked on-line and didn't see an obvious candidate for these dimensions, so maybe they aren't made in this width anymore?  I know I bought it at either HD or Lowes.

Since you are not returning to a previous spot, I don't think you will get your table info until all registrations are received and they mail badges.  I just mailed mine yesterday as I forgot about the small note buried in the notice that they wanted table holders to snail mail (or sign up on line) by 8/24.  Your table will be assigned based upon what is available once they process all the returning members to previous locations.

I'd add large garbage bags if you want to protect whatever you are bringing form the elements if it rains.  This is possibly even on your list form being a buyer in the past, but IMO it's more critical when bringing a huge amount of stuff in or out of the meet for setup/takedown.

Evaluate for your vehicle what will work best for you for packing up your items for transport.  A few boxes from the local U Haul store may be worth the investment to make life easier than winging it.

Bring post-its, tags or labels and markers for pricing items, depending on what you are selling.  Tags being better for unboxed items, post it's being handy for a boxed item.

In case there are slow times, bring a few OGR or CTT to read when the hall traffic slows down. 

Those are just a few off the top of my head.

-Dave

Make sure you have everything priced do it be for you come it will save you a lot of time I have 4 table's some time's it take's me 1- 1/2 hour to set up .

Guy

Make a list of each item and the asking price. Then, on a section on the edge of the paper that can be folded over and hidden, list the lowest price you will take. Show this list to the person helping you. That way if you have a customer while you are in the rest room, or just out shopping, the buyer and the helper can haggle and an actual sale can be made.

I can't count the number of times the friend or wife cannot complete or even discuss a deal because the owner is away from the table. Then the helper/wife calls the owner and frantically/angrily urges him to hastily return, putting him in a bad mood and lessening the chances of haggling for a good deal.

All this can be prevented with a little forethought and preparation.

RoyBoy posted:

Make a list of each item and the asking price. Then, on a section on the edge of the paper that can be folded over and hidden, list the lowest price you will take. Show this list to the person helping you. That way if you have a customer while you are in the rest room, or just out shopping, the buyer and the helper can haggle and an actual sale can be made.

I can't count the number of times the friend or wife cannot complete or even discuss a deal because the owner is away from the table. Then the helper/wife calls the owner and frantically/angrily urges him to hastily return, putting him in a bad mood and lessening the chances of haggling for a good deal.

All this can be prevented with a little forethought and preparation.

Amen to this!

Be mentally prepared for lowball offers.  Be polite even when others aren't.

When you get your location, publicize it on the forum.

And thank you for having a table.  It's a lot of work (I'm done with setting up at meets), but the variety of stuff that people bring to York is what makes the meet what it is.

You should tip the bathroom attendant.  You don't need to tip the hall captain.   

Moonson posted:

I've always made it a practice to arrive early enough to be able to park close to the entrance nearest my table (a booth, in the Orange Hall.) The reason for that was to make off-loading easier (out of the way of later arrivals) and so that I could go out to the car to rest and have a drink , at times, leaving my station under the care of a dear friend who always traveled with me.

Bring your own canvas-&-metal outdoor-type folding chair(s) for an easier time of it sitting so long, two of which can be seen in this photo of my former booth in the Orange Hall. (I avoided use of those flimsy blue folding chairs provided).

Bring plenty of drinks, especially "Ensure" which will help you stay hydrated and energized. Drink a lot and a variety of fluids. It will help your feeling of vitality and outlook.

Keep a separate wallet for the cash you earn from your sales and from which you can make change.

I always gave price-breaks to children, especially if they were interested in some of the vehicles I had weathered. This engendered, I felt, good will, both with the parent, as well as with any possible future member of our hobby. And besides, it felt good to do so.

Make sure somebody nearby has a readily-available record of whom to contact should something become a medical emergency. Unexpected emergencies DO happen. For example, one elderly vendor I have known personally for decades fell and broke his wrist, while off-loading, one early Wednesday morning, and we needed to contact his wife quickly.

FrankM, Layout Refinements.com

Frank, I have stopped by your booth, but had no idea it was your's.  I won't be there in October, but I'll look for you next time I can attend.

Everyone, This has been a great topic to read!!  These are all great suggestions.  I have wondered what goes into setting up a table, but have never done it.  Maybe someday I will.

Mark Boyce, I have retired from that aspect of my little business of Layout Refinements, not presenting at a booth in the Orange Hall, any further.

I believe Andre has had his beautiful work displayed in that spot, these past several TCA Meets @ York PA.

Ah ha!  Then that may be what I saw.  I'm picturing a walk-in booth like that by the doors, but it could have been another.  Regardless, I did look up your Web page.  2013 is the date listed for York.  Fantastic closeups of your work!  What else did I expect?    Great photograph of you and your wife as well!  When my younger daughter's in-laws were in NYC, they stopped in FAO Schwarz not long before they closed.   I told them you did the layout.

It was a worth my while to make my initial comment, as I think I know you a little better now.  

Well, sorry to digress from the topic at hand folks!

Thank you, Mark. I enjoyed our little conversation and do hope, like you, that it was no intrusion on the topic at-hand.

FrankM

Mark, sorry to hear you won't be there in October. I enjoyed speaking with you at my table. Hope to see you in April. 

John

John, I enjoyed talking with you as well!  I too hope to see you in April!

Ideally it would be nice to have a helper to be at your table when you leave for various reasons. Without one, perhaps you could work a deal with the table next to you that would take exact cash for a marked item (I think everything is supposed to be priced). I've been frustrated when a seller was gone, even after I returned 45 minutes later. The item in question was a $10. book.

As far as price tags go, a lot of professional sellers (jewelry stores, pawn shops, etc.) use a code so they know the actual cost and/or lowest price of the item they are willing to take and, without having to hide anything, buyers can't decipher that number.

Any 10 letter word that doesn't have repeated letters will work, say "CHARLESTON", where the letters represent numbers 0-9. The tag would have the retail sale price marked at, for instance, $75.00. Let's say the lowest price you would take is $62.50. Therefore, you would write the letters, "SAEC" on the back of the price tag and you don't have to hide anything. You could also put the date of the show before and after the code to further complicate the wholesale price, like "10-SAEC-2618".

Maybe more info than you needed or wanted, but good to know (and don't ask me how I know this) !

Got my badge and it seems as if I will be in the Red hall.

This will be my first York ever. I hope to put a lot of faces and names together. 

Pete, I went to York for the first time last October.  I won’t be there this time, and I’m sorry I will miss seeing you.  I think you will like it enough to go back, and then I hope to meet you!

Have a great time!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Mark! Sorry ee’ll miss each other this year. 

I wish there were a way to ID guys from this forum while there.

HCSader73 posted:

Thanks, Mark! Sorry ee’ll miss each other this year. 

I wish there were a way to ID guys from this forum while there.

You are aware we all have OGR branded engineer hats with our TCA number and OGR handle embroidered just for that purpose? Did you not get yours yet? =D

Great idea BMoran4!  Didn’t I see they used to have an OGR badge or something?

bmoran4 posted:

HCSader73 posted:

Thanks, Mark! Sorry ee’ll miss each other this year. 

I wish there were a way to ID guys from this forum while there.

You are aware we all have OGR branded engineer hats with our TCA number and OGR handle embroidered just for that purpose? Did you not get yours yet? =D

I have the OGR secret decoder ring but didn't get the hat.

Secret handshake 

Oooooohhhhh, so THAT's the Secret Handshake! No wonder nobody acknowledged me when I did this...FrankM

(They just sort of moved away....)