Hi Nancy,

Thanks for the ideas, do not apologize.

One thing that does worry me is the local society sponsored orchid shows.
These shows count on orchid sales to pay the bills and the current show
trends have not been very good. At most shows it seems that attendance is
down and a more common attitude of the public seems to be "A great variety,
but not
many interesting ones........And of course you can not beat the price at the
box store!" Instead of coming home from the show with two plants, they get
fired up at the show and then head off to the box store to buy three plants
for the same money.

I do not think that there is much the vendors can do about price. I tend to
sell plants at shows for about $30. Of that $30, about $6 from every plant
sold goes directly to the society as a table fee or commission. In
addition, I figure another $2 from every plant sold goes to pay for the
costs associated with putting in an exhibit. If we remove the fees that I
must pay to underwrite the cost of a show, I am receiving about $22 per
plants sold. Not very different from what some box stores receive.

Some societies are already feeling the pinch. Over the past few months two
of my commission shows have announced rate hikes. It is the first time I
have seen rate hikes in ten years. In the first one, all of the vendors
refused to do the show. I attended the society meeting of the second.
There was a general feeling at the meeting that vendors could just raise
their prices to cover the increase in fees. Thankfully my wife was there (I
am too gruff to be allowed to speak in public) and she was able to explain
we deal in a commodity that has it price set by the market (i.e. box
stores.) If we raise our prices too high not only will we lose sales but
the general public will think of the show as a rip-off and never come back.
I did this show and most of the commission increase came directly out of my
back pocket. I do not know if the other vendors were able to past on the
costs or if they ate them as well.

I just got a mailing from New York and they are introducing new rules which
they hope will help vendors. One rule prohibits bottom feeding pricing and
another prohibits Sunday afternoon dumping. The mailing is just about as
adamant as it can be without crossing the price fixing line. I have always
though trying to control a commodity's price was never easy and in most
cases not a good idea. At least the show's board recognized problems and
acted in a mater they felt was best for the show and its vendors. We will
see.

All you guys out there involved in putting on these shows need to be
watching closely to make sure your show remands viable for the number and
type of vendors it involves or the society desires. Creative solutions are
going to be required and show boards are facing hard decisions.


Pat