Need Help? I want to promote a coin show

FrattLaw

I have been considering starting a new local coin show for SoCal. My brother-in-law does group sales for a national hotel chain and I can get a sweetheart deal on a conference room.

The show would be a one day (Sunday) event to begin with and would be in Costa Mesa, California, near Irvine. 1 hour drive from Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, so it would be centrally located.

I need advice & help before I decide I really want to do this.

Dealers - What would be a reasonable table price? Would you be willing to donate a coin/supplies/book as a raffle prize? What security measures are necessary for the show? Is the promoter required to carry insurance? Any other advice would also be appreciated.

Collectors - How many tables are necessary for you to go? Are raffle prizes a lure? Where do you look to find out about local shows? Are you willing to pay $1-$2 as an entrance fee? Any other advice would also be appreciated.

Thanks
Michael

merz2

michael
Contact MICHAELDIXON,he has put on a grass roots show,and is planning another for Jan.

IrishMike

There is one here every month at a Comfort Inn. They run on Saturdays from 10-5 and Sundays 10-3. There is no admission charge and no I wouldn't pay to attend. They run an ad in coinworld section of shows by states. I have no idea what it costs to set up a table but its run by dealers for the dealers so I get the feeling it is nominal. Over the past 3 years attendance has grown dramatically. At each show they hand out flyers with the next 6 months schedule.

JamminJ

Hi FrattLaw,

To answer the collector questions:
1. About 20 tables at a minimum.
2. My willingness to pay an admission depends on the dealer attendence. I'd go one or two dollars for 20-40 dealers.
3. Raffles are nice but not essential. My attendence does not depend on them, although they may cause me to linger a bit longer to wait for the drawings.
4. I'll generally look in Coin World for the shows with this forum as a secondary source.

An additional thought:
For me (a Southern California local) I think the local coin show scene is saturated with good quality shows:
Long Beach - 3 times a year
Buena Park - 2 times a year (increasing to 4?)
Anaheim Monthly - 12 Times
Monrovia - Once
I don't think my schedule or wallet will allow any additional shows so you'd have to bump one of the incumbants to make it worth my wild.

-JamminJ

nwcs

I would not pay to enter a coin show unless there was something nice to get in return. Like pay $2 entry and get a BU roll of cents. The roll is <$2, but makes you feel like you got something nice in return. I learn about coin shows mostly through coin world. As for number of tables... I have no idea. The one I recently went to had about 25 tables and seemed big to me. I guess if I ever go to a show like long beach I'd need CPR.

lathmach

I ran coin shows for more than a dozen years. If this is something you're thinking of doing to make a lot of money, may I suggest a more profitable venture like picking up returnable bottles and cans along the roadways and cashing them in for the deposit money?
If you really want to try coin shows, I'd suggest you join a coin club and help the bourse chairman put on a couple of the club shows. You'd get your feet wet that way, and learn who the dealers are. Then you'll pull it off ok.

Ray

nwcs

Come on, Ray, he can also stand at the bottom of interstate and highway exits with a sign asking for money.

stman

I would rather pay a couple dollars to attend a small coin show, then tip a waitress that is crabby and just brings the meal and that's it. Nothing against a waitress but I see all too often people will leave a complete stranger a lot of money for sometimes doing nothing but their job but a good cause like a hobby we all love don't want to pay a few dollars to support it. Just my opinion.

Bulldog

Michael Dixon will give you the POOP on this one!

Good Luck

Dog97

To ne successful it needs to be sponsered by a club because it takes a few people to pull it off.
You need members to distribute flyers and help set up and you have to pay to have the flyers & raffle tickets printed and help feeding the hungry dealers.
We list it in Coin World etc.
We provide free food to our dealers so they don't have to leave the building and they are already paying $$ for the tables so the free food is a great PR thing. Nothing fancy, just a roast in a crock pot, sandwiches, cookies, cokes, ets, and maybe a cake or 2.
You gotta have several gold coins like 1/10, 1/4 & 1/2 oz to raffle off and hourly door prizes like silver eagles or proof sets, etc. Heritage donated our door prizes and the cost of the $400 gold giveaways came from selling $1,000 of raffle tickets.
Gotta have security 24/7. We use off duty cops that we TRUST.
We only do 20 tables but we have dealers from FL, across AL and from MS & LA and includes most every kind of coin and slab and the ACG dealer from Flordia is always set up across from the ANA booth for some reason.
You have to do at least this for any dealers to even think about attending. Even though it's called a coin show the dealers are not there to show coins but to SELL them so if it don't sound profitable to them it will be a bust.

FrattLaw

Great advice so far. And I realize it won't be a smashing sucess money wise immediately.

I like the free food idea from Dog, and I think I could probably pull off coffee, tea, soda, ect for the attendees for free as well. I guess free drinks with free giveaways might make a $2 entry fee okay.

Dog -- How do you get the ANA and Heritage to come to the show and donate prizes? This show will literally be in PCGS's backyard, I wonder if I could get them to show up for the day? Free table to accept submissions?

Raffle tickets are also a another good idea.

CoinWorld and various pubs will be my main advertising source.

What about table prices? I was thinking $75 small $100 large. Is that reasonable?

Instead of joining a club and helping, what about offering smaller clubs the opportunity to sponsor the show and receive a free table?

Keep the good ideas coming

Thanks
Michael

barney

Hi Fratt-Law,

Costa Mesa, eh? Hmm, it's still a ways from San Diego. Also, there is a monthly Sunday meeting in Anaheim which is not too far from CM.
That group is going well according to 'nucklehead and others. I contacted a guy who is going to give me information on
local coin meetings in town. I'll see what he says.

thanks,
Barney

Dog97

The ANA & Heritage doesn't actually come. The ANA has a rep there with brochures etc. I don't know if he's official or not. The guy we had tasked to get the door prizes and grand prize sent out some emails to some dealers and Bob Marino from Heritage FedXed a box of cheap mint sets in Capital holders and some other low value stuff for the hourly prizes.

TomB

Here's some advice from the east coast. The show I do each month in Parsippany, NJ has 50-60 tables and some of them have very high end material on them. The table fee is $75 for the afternoon and there are plenty of plain-clothes officers present. We also hold the show in the Police Athletic League building so there is a large force of visible security. Surplus Coins and Coin World magazines are left at the door to be given away to anyone that is interested. Dealers get free coffee and donuts before 9:00 am but must pay for food afterwards. There are no raffles or other giveaways.

PS: As a member of the general public I would never pay to go to a coin show unless it were dealer day.

nucklehead

Sorry I'm answering this so late,I had a busy out of the house weekend.Mike I would GLADLY pay 2,3 or 4 dollars to go to another coin show.Costa Mesa is even closer to me than Anaheim so it would be just as easy to get to as Anaheim or Buena Park.

coppercoins

I personally wouldn't pay to get into a coin show, it's just not like that in this region. Possibly Southern California is different, but you'd have a hard time getting people to pay admission here. Even the big shows in St. Louis and Kansas City don't charge admission.

As for food, I'd just as soon it not be there at all. Just something I nor any of the other collectors I attend shows with (half a dozen or more) even care about or partake of.

Raffles - well, they're okay I guess. I don't enter them, I don't want to be bothered while looking through a dealer's coins. I've lost a good die variety before to having my name called to come to the front and give my spare keys to my wife so she could get hers out of her locked car. I'd merely get ticked if I went up front and lost a $50 coin for a $5 door prize. If others are into it fine...I'm just speaking from a personal point of view.

As far as how many dealers have to be there, I'd say at least 20-30 or I wouldn't bother going.

Your table fees are nominal, and a good price to get started. Even a collector with a lot of extra coins could afford a small table.