Don Perrin's editorial in Issue #129 of MWAN devoted several paragraphs on the subject of dealers at wargame conventions. He put forward his opinion that dealers should strive to appear and to be more professional with their products, displays, signage, etc. I am a dealer and I agree with Don's comments, but offer these observations of my own. Those of you who know me know being a wargame dealer is not my profession. It is one of the elements of my hobby. I do not need to make a living selling wargame stuff. Last year, 2003, I attended 14 wargame conventions, mostly here in the Midwest. My largest con was Little Wars in Chicago. I went as far east as Nashville, south to Fort Worth, and northwest to Sioux City. Attendance at most of these conventions was in the 50- to 200-gamer range. Dealer table costs range from free to $75.00 each. I normally rent four tables. At all outof-town conventions, my wife and I stay at the hotel hosting the con or as close as we can to the site. For a two-night stay, hotel rooms cost $120 to $200. My wife and I normally eat five meals not including snacks. Meals generally cost from $15.00 to $50.00. In 2003, gasoline was relative inexpensive. Still, I spent $50.00 to $100.00 for gasoline to and from each convention. During the year, I replaced one tire on my van at a cost $200.00. Most important, during the year, I spent about $6,000.00 purchasing wargame stuff for resale. Using the numbers above, any one convention last year could cost a minimum of $650.00 to a maximum of $1,300.00. I could reduce these costs several ways. I could attend only those conventions where dealer tables are free (there aren't many). For many conventions, renting dealer tables is the difference between red and black ink. My wife and I could sleep in our car as we see others do and we could eat next to nothing. Of course, staying on site helps convention organizers make their deals with the hotel. We could skip spare tires, oil changes, and replacing wiper blades. We could sell our nice family van and drag our stuff from con to con in a homemade trailer behind our Honda. I could double the price of the stuff I sell and hope to still set it. I could rent only one table and pile my stuff up in layers and on the floor as I see others do. I'm not a business. I'm just a guy who likes to wargame and pay for attending conventions by selling wargame stuff. That's why my figures are in cardboard boxes with homemade labels and the cheapest prices in the room. Anybody else got a problem with that? Back to MWAN # 130 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com