Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum

Help Support Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
The VHS expo in Melbourne charged absolutely nothing for private herpers selling just animals.

The commercial sellers of product and livestock paid just $450 per table.

This seemed to be a good formula.

From all reports all involved were quite happy with their profits from the day, including the VHS!

It is not about the money, more about getting people through the door and a great day being had by all.
 
making money is a beautiful thing but surely you have to give a little back to the hobby that supports you in a way . the cost of a table is basicly a donation of say 3 spotted pythons so if you sell 4 you have broken even at least and you have helped the industry and the event out .

Couldn't agree more Andy...

Yes this year the cost of the show to exhibitors and breeders has increased more than what would even be considered as a significant increase. However, it is also true that the show struggles to make a profit at the end of the day and it is the biggest and best reptile show/expo in Australia.

I will be there irrespective of the price increase. We have booked a decent size booth and sure it wasn't cheap, but will it be worth it... absolutely!

As Andy said the cost even to small breeders would be around 3-4 animals which if you can't sell 3-4 animals in 3 days at the biggest expo in the hobby in Australia, then maybe something is wrong. Sure that means you have to sell 3-4 animals just to pay to be there, but look at the exposure to the public. Also as long as animals are reasonably priced then a breeder would have to expect to sell a lot more than 3-4 animals... I know I do!

We will be there to support the expo, the hobby, the public, other herpers, the new comers and of course Cutting Edge Morelia!!!

Even if we don't cover the cost of the show, it wil still be a worth while investment to be able to have the public exposure to so many people and for getting more of my animals seen in flesh by the public. Last year we didn't make a fortune at any show, but we did cover our costs, pick up a couple of little bits and pieces and also made a significant number of sales following the shows to people who attended the various events.

I suppose that now with offering the secondary booth space, all those breeders that make heaps from the hobby, but are complaining about the cost that is usually covered by them in the first 1 or 2 sales, will be able to still attend without having to pay a premium price to be able to attend an awesome event, and sell animals at the show. Much better than having to resort to doing carpark deals...

As for the smaller breeders or ones selling beardies and blue-tongues etc, will still be able to be part of the day without having to loose money to be able to attend :)

Zac.
 
Last edited:
A lot of money goes into "advertising" (both on television and radio) the event bringing over 10,000 potential customers through the door at great expense.

So your saying big sellers should pay very little and take home 4K out of the day? I bet your animals move out the door far quicker from this show than they would from home.

To me it looks like some of you think that you guys make the whole show? So your stance is not to support it and to rubbish it on forums to make your point.

So now you have put the pressure on and they have made secondary space available at $300 will you support it? or continue to whinge and do a diservice to the hobby you supposedly represent?

Gird
 
Ihaveherps, these expos are susposably to try and encourage our great hobby , not to line the pockets of the organisors. Will people come if theres nothing to see. I doubt it. And what about little Jonny down the road who bred some baby beardeds and some bluetongues. He might have $600 worth of animals to sell and can do so at any normally priced expo, but not Castle Hill. They want more for a table then he has to sell. This means this expo is only for the big boys, and not the novices or little breeders.

I tend to agree with you on this one bigguy.
Its seems the big breeders with the money want it all to themselves.
No competition means more sales for them.
To much **** slapping behind close doors for my liking.
If this trend continues, small breeders who once could make a few bucks out of their loved hobby will be walking as if they have been touching their toes for a week.
Thats my 2 cents worth.
Cheers,
Aleks.:D
 
re Castle

Three hundred for secondary sellers sounds alright,as long as they dont demand ABN numbers that would be outrageous,NPWS says we can all be amatuers and sell in Mc Donalds carparks,the overheads are low and the coffees cheap! :)
 
Over the next few years i forsee a large shift in the primary focus of reptile expos and that will be towards reptile sales. Wild Expo won't go too far with fees of $770 per table, but that merely opens the door for other expos such as Mac Herps to capitalize on the situation. If Mac Herps can bring their expo a bit closer to Sydney (i realize they can't move too far from home base, but somewhere like Liverpool would be advantageous) and push it as being 'the expo' to purchase reptles, then they will have a great deal of success.

What breeder wouldn't want to sell a season's worth of offspring at one (or a few) expos rather than dealing with countless individuals over many months? Commonsense says that, in time, breeders will look to the expos as their main point of sale. IMO expos that start heading in that direction now will find themselves leaps and bounds ahead in a very short time.
 
1 The sellers and exibitors make the show
2 If they dont go then the gate numbers will be well down (maybe not this year but if you make the trip and its crap(nothing there) then they will not go next year)
ITS A KNOW BRAINER AS FAR AS IM CONCERNED
Look at it this way
tables $770 but they only get say 40 people to sell if that $30800
Tables at $300 they may get 20% more people to sell
48 tables at $300 $14400
Now charge $5 extra per person to get in say 5000 people $ 25000
$39400
And the show will be alot better for visitors may cost them a little more but hey ive never heard any one whinge at the entry fee if the shows good
 
so you guys want the guys that are putting on this expo to put in all the hard work .organise it all . then run at a loss like at the mac herps ? so this whole expo is really just put on as a gift to the same old blokes that are the only ones allowed to make any money ?. cant see this expo thing working real good in the future . pretty sure the organisers will get sick of running at a loss ....
 
Why not charge sellers flat rate of say $350 and then 5-10% of total weekend takings?????
 
as long as they dont demand ABN numbers ,NPWS says we can all be amatuers and sell in Mc Donalds carpark

if they have an abn it is illegal to sell snakes in NSW This would constitute as Commercial supply
which according to NPWL is illegal

NPWS says we can all be amatuers and sell in Mc Donalds carpark TRUE but actually NPWL says its the only way you can sell reptiles.
 
so you guys want the guys that are putting on this expo to put in all the hard work .organise it all . then run at a loss like at the mac herps ? so this whole expo is really just put on as a gift to the same old blokes that are the only ones allowed to make any money ?. cant see this expo thing working real good in the future . pretty sure the organisers will get sick of running at a loss ....

Who said they have to run at a loss?

The cheaper the booths are the more booths will be sold. The more sold, the more herps will be for sale. The more herps for sale the more people will come to buy. Seems to me like there's much more money to be made if anything.
 
Only around 10% of the people who go are there to buy reptiles. Most are families going to have a look.
 
Why not charge sellers flat rate of say $350 and then 5-10% of total weekend takings?????

That's sounds fair to me, but would require sellers to be honest about just how many they sold. If you're talking about something like a pair of albino Olives which might earn Wild Expo a comission of $1000+, what's to stop buyer and seller saying we'll do the deal after the expo and split the $1000 50/50 (i.e. buyer gets $500 off the asking price, seller gets $500 extra, Wild Expo gets $0)?
 
Only around 10% of the people who go are there to buy reptiles. Most are families going to have a look.

Given a wider range of reptiles for sale i think you'd find many of those families may be inclined to purchase.
 
good to see anthony make the change for cheaper booths. i truely hope that changes a few people opinions and more stalls are there!
 
Only around 10% of the people who go are there to buy reptiles. Most are families going to have a look.

true, but that will change with time if it all keeps going in the right direction.... there are still vast numbers of people out there who don't even know you can buy and keep snakes.
 
Only around 10% of the people who go are there to buy reptiles. Most are families going to have a look.

Hopefully it will be far less than this. The expo is many things, and certainly the main reason is not about selling herps. This is not about creating an aussie Hamm. The organiser has done this 'gig' now a few times now and has not made a mint, indeed it's been 'meatloaf on the table' for his family several times. It is about a love of our native wildlife and herps in particular.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top