Bring and Buy - which approach is best

[Bezzo]

At the Border Reiver show yesterday I encountered the hire-a-table by the hour approach to the B & B. I do not get to many shows so this was my first experience of this format.

Basically I don't like it and prefer the 'old fashisioned' B&B where sellers leave their items to be sold among all the others. Here is why:

If you hire a table at say £3 per hour you have to bring sufficient stock to cover costs and make it financially worthwhile. So along with definitely surplus items you want rid of you may bring things you rate more highly to have things to sell. Prices are likely to be higher for these, so fewer great deals. The few items I take to a B&B are things I do not want to take home so I price them to go. I am sure others do likewise. One man's rubbish etc......

Next,  you will bring stock which reflects your interests current or past. A gamer yesterday had only FoW on offer which is fine if that interests you. For me it was a "dead" table for the duration. I knew there would be nothing to appeal there until the hirer changed. Similarly another seller had WH 40K, another blind spot for me. Half the B&B a barren area.

With trad B&B's as stock is sold it is replaced on the tables by other items. Not so with the hire-a-table where the offerings either stay unchanged, or dwindle over time to a lone King Tiger or Blood Angels land Speeder.

Last point is having the seller present in front of you can be awkward. Haggling  with the person who created the item can be embarrassing. You know they have expended time and effort and have invested a bit of themselves and here you are shaving a few quid off the price to get a bargain. Some folks can do that but I feel awkward. I can do it with a third party as I know there is no personal involvement. Saying "the painting is only adequate and I'd need to rebase so would they take £5 less?" and they check is easier for me than addressing this to the gamer whose pride and joy this once was.

So I prefer the trad B&B every time. Do other members have thoughts on this?

[Ahistorian]

I prefer the traditional version as a buyer, but I appreciate that it is more work for the club and ties down valuable volunteers who might be needed elsewhere.

[fred]

I've never bought anything at a B&B at a show - mainly because I rarely get there at the beginning, and even if I do get there early I don't want to fight through a pile of gamers to try to spot something of interest.

So I think the hire a table approach may appeal to me more, as the sellers will change during the day, so there will be less of a rush at the start - but perhaps just a rush at each changing of the guard?

Having tables that have a single area is great if that is your area of interest. And if sellers are changing every hour or then you will see something different a bit later anyway.

£3 for a table hardly sounds a high cost - unless you were selling 1 or 2 low value items. Even then you may be better of getting together with a mate or two and sharing a table.

[robh]

I much prefer the hired table approach.

As someone who was involved in organising shows for many years the traditional Bring & Buy is a nightmare. Takes up too many staff, too much risk of loss or damage (for which the club always gets blamed) and results in club members handling/holding large amounts of other peoples money, often in poorly secured situations.
By renting out a table the seller is responsible for all those aspects himself. Also as a seller you can see what prices other people are selling the same things you have for and price accordingly.

As a buyer it makes no difference to me, if anything I prefer to see the seller directly. Makes it easier to discuss prices or ask questions ("is this model complete?" being a favourite).

[eilif]

Over the years I've read with some interest the habit of the UK "B&B". It's kind of an interesting thing, as we don't usually tend to have that sort of thing here in the States.  Almost all of our transactions tend to be face to face, buyer to seller.  I'm an avid used buyer and I've found this is true with most of the methods I've seen over here.

The first is the traditional "rent a Table" Flea Market approach This is very common. It's usually only for a 2-3 hours that comprise a "Flea Market" session (Little Wars often has two sessions a day).  This set number of hours means that a  seller doesn't loose an entire day of participating in the convention. Also, the more limited number of hours for the Flea Market does help placate the actual dealers who have paid far 4-5x as much for each of the tables they are using and don't want the buyers continually distracted by the Flea Market.   Some FLGS's also have Flea Market. Sometimes these are free and Sometimes they are not.  Sometimes Sellers pay for the privilege and sometimes the sellers receive payment in store credit.

The Second is the Exchange format. It's also set for a certain amount of time, usually in the evening after most events are over.  It was also the format for the "Bizzaire Bazzars" that the Local GW Battle bunker used to have before everything extra that was fun and customer centric about GW went belly up.  In this format everyone shows up with stuff finds a place at a table and folks walk around and buy, trade, haggle, etc. Largely unregulated and without fees.

The only method that isn't really face to face is the auction format and it's a bit different. One of the Local FLGS's biggest events (and one of my favorite) is the twice annual Auction.  It goes for 4 days and is split into various segments based on game type.  Folks bring in their  stuff, it gets auctioned and the seller gets store credit. 

Anywho, a couple of questions for UK B&B participants who prefer the non-paid-table.

1) Is there really an intermediary who will check with a seller when a buyer makes an offer?

2) Does the B&B go on all day?  If so, how do regular vendors feel about this?

3) Is the desire to not haggle directly with the owner a general cultural thing or a personal preference?  Over here, this seems to be some of the appeal, that is, the ability to really haggle and deal because you're speaking directly to the owner. Each year I make some stupendous buys, simply by being able to address the owner with an immediate offer for "this stack of stuff".

4) Do most of the Rent-a-Table situations rent by the hour, by the day, or for a set number of hours?

5) Is the B&B section segregated from the rest of the dealers or near to them?

Thanks, folks. Don't know why I find this so interesting, but I really do.