As a small vendor that attends a few of these events a year, I can say that the cost to be a vendor at events like the Southern and the Vintage Cup is sinply way too high to make sense. At $600 or more for a basic booth, plus the cost of travel and hotel, you have to move a lot of merchandise to cover that. And most do not. The way I see it, most are lucky to sell a gun or two or maybe trade into something and not many have the sort of margins to cover the expenses.
It is turning into a chicken or the egg scenario. The buyers want the vendors, but the vendors NEED the buyers. People need to spend money or the vendors are not going to turn up. They can book losses for only so many shows in a row before they stop attending.
Other shoots are much more reasonably priced for vendors, which makes it better, but people still need to soend money.
