DSF

Interesting blog post on this here:
http://www.matthewlewisdisplays.co.uk/2 ... -the-cost/

But basically "...my stand which will be in hall 3 cost £375 per square meter, I have a stand which is 6m x 1m and comprises of a shell scheme and carpet. If I want lighting that will cost £90 per strip light, electrical socket with hook up will cost £80 per single socket."

Maybe walking around as a visitor with an ad on a tshirt might be cheaper. Until you get thrown out that is!

Lots of companies use trade shows like Spring Fair, Top Drawer, Home and Gift as a place to conduct meetings - everyone you need to see is under on roof, so even if not exhibiting, they are great for networking, and there's plenty of people with wheelie suitcases full of product samples using them to pitch their wares without paying for a stand.
Expect to pay between £300-500 per square metre for a stand, depending on which hall you're in, and where in that hall.

Well just back from the NEC (Spring Fair) and was blown away by the hall sizes and quality of all exhibitor stands. Just as a visitor (not buyer) I managed only four halls out of 20 in about 4 hours of walking slowly. The hidden gem I found though was a German company oddly positioned near to greeting cards and gifts that had a white toner solution to take on Oki. Basically, they produce white toner for colour lasers as well of course as various papers for different substrates. So impressed that I bought their bundle (a4 HP laser printer, 4 colour toners and their white toner for around £225! Apparently one of the best selling NOTHS items at a Xmas was a small glass bottle with cork and white printed wording on the side. This used their white toner solution. So for anyone else interested in heading this route and do not want to pay Oki prices then check out http://www.ghost-white-toner.com/?lang=en

Thanks for the tip ... we're always looking at the other NOTHS sellers for what's selling well, and what we could try next.
We're off to the NEC for next 3 days, so hoping to see some inspiring things, as well as get to some of the talks, as well as meet clients.

Can you tell me the company name/stand number for the white toner people?

Don't think I remember seeing the bottle you talk about - our best seller on NOTHS this Christmas (from Black Friday through to the end of the January sale) were sublimation passport covers ... sold 1500 of them, hence my previous post asking if anyone had any spares, didn't expect that product to be so popular at Christmas!

Impressed, I hope the first thing you do on Monday morning is ignore the weekend orders and do some samples. I was about to buy an OKI tomorrow so will hang on for your results!

The size of the Spring Fair has always been both impressive, and its let down. Because it covers so many different markets and is so big, most of the potential customers see very little outside of their particular field of interest. When I was in retail, it took me two days to see all my suppliers in the Luggage and Leathergoods Hall. I had a couple of hours to see the rest of the show, and to be honest, I was so knackered could hardly be bothered.
Unless your product is suited to an 'obvious' hall, getting sales leads is totally hit and miss. I had suppliers who were happy to get a handful of new customers at the show. Most were happy to simply show new lines to existing customers.

If you are going to exhibit, why not try something smaller, such as 'Giving and Living' in January at Exeter? Most attendees are in the giftware/tourist retail trades, and most of the regional tourist attractions go to buy. There are less people but most are potential customers, and you are guaranteed to be seen by everyone.

If you do exhibit, be aware that you are signing a binding contract, even if they ask for no upfront payment. There is no backing out if your bottle starts to twitch, or you can't get the money together. The organisers do chase people who don't show up for the money.

http://www.ghost-white-toner.com/?lang=en
Thanks for this link , I will look into them as they are only 50 mins away from me in Düsseldorf. Oddly, they are just over the river ( Rhine) from the OKi main dealer in germany.
It will be interesting to hear your thoughts on this product too.

But...Ive just looked on their website and the white toner for the Oki is about 50€ more than the origional Oki.

Hi all. Just to say that we couldn't take away the printer and toner from the show as they were only taking orders. Delivery will be in about a week but we are soon moving premises so I don't think we would do an unboxing until set up in new studio. These though are the links to the products sold on NOTHS using the same printer and toner:
http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/bread ... are-bottle
http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/bread ... hing-stars

I would dispute that those were best selling products whoever made that claim, they would have a ton of reviews if that was the case. The only best selling cork bottles I saw were these, but they're not printed.

http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/holly ... n-a-bottle

The toner prices vary, it's a case of choosing whichever HP printer you like and checking the cost of the white toner. But waaaaay cheaper than 2 grand for an OKI white from TMT. Cheapest cartridge was for your bundled printer. It looks as if they use Forever transfer papers, I've got the samples, just need the printer!

Does look interesting the Ghost toners, I was there on Sunday and totally missed their stall. How do they transfer the white toner image to the bottles themselves?