Packing list for vending

A packing list with many ideas—these are some standards, but each artist and event will have their own needs. This can form the basis of a personal template which can serve as a packing checklist.

This article is built from lists published by various presses, including:

• ANEMONE's personal packing checklist.
• What's Fair and what to bring? from Taxonomy Press.
• Top 5 Ride-or-Die Items from BearBear.
• How to Art Book Fair by Shortt Editions.

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Inventory (things to sell)

• Books, zines, publications.
• Art prints, cards.
• Other merch (t-shirts, totes, sculptures, keychains, pins, pens/pencils, etc.). (Be sure to check the restrictions provided by fair organizers—many fests require some portion of each table's inventory be books/zines.)
• Freebies, either to display on the table, hand out to visitors, or slip into purchases.
  • Business cards
  • Publication catalog
  • Project info sheets
  • Free items with purchase (postcards, bookmarks, small art prints)
• Inventory count sheet/spreadsheet—a record of items to sell and cash on hand before and after events (as each item is sold, mark it off of the sheet or create a tally, etc.).

Vendors traveling for events should consider mailing boxes of books ahead of time, but there needs to be (A) LOTS of advance lead time, and (B) a safe mailing address to send things to.

Ways to accept money

• A phone and means of charging it (portable charging blocks are nice for when there is no access to outlets).
• Printed QR code(s) for any cashless payment methods (Venmo, PayPal, etc.)
• Cash with small bills to be able to make change.
• Point-of-Sale (POS) for accepting card payments—generally these have inventory listings set up on them.
  • Some phones can accept tap-to-pay with an app, such as: Square, Shopify, SumUp, Zettle/PayPal, etc.
  • There are also dedicated credit card readers (tap and/or chip and/or swipe), some of which work in coordination with a phone app, others are standalone.
  • Most POS systems will require an internet connection of some kind.

Table display

• Tablecloth (check the table size ahead of time—a full size table cloth can be folded up for a half- or quarter-table).
• Display racks, stands, boxes/bins.
  • For travel, collapsible displays are important—a common supplier in the US is Clear Solutions Displays.
  • Print artists often will build a "house" with snap-together square grid pieces—prints can then be attached with tape or magnets. (Some fairs have restrictions around blocking line of sight—so assembled displays can't be too tall.)
• Clothespins or weights for outdoor fairs.

Signage

• Name of the project/press.
• Perhaps signs that answer any repeat questions in advance, i.e. "Cash, card, or tap to pay." "Everything risograph printed and assembled by us." "Feel free to pick up the books."
• If the work is hard to interpret from the cover, consider a one-line description for each piece.
• A system for displaying pricing. There are many different approaches for this:
  • Price marked or stickered on a display copy—sometimes these are larger cards which include a title, artist, and blurb.
  • Each item individually marked.
  • A "menu" which lists everything on the table and its price.
  • Alternately there could be no prices displayed and people must ask for pricing.
• Newsletter signup sheet or QR code.

Packaging

• Paper bags/sleeves.
• Plastic sleeves for prints (if packaging sets of prints from stock as buyer picks them out), potentially chipboard.
• Freebies to tuck in with purchases.

Extras that come in handy:

• Pens + pencils
• Scissors (if a local fair or checking a bag)
• Masking tape or washi tape
• Additional magnets (if building a house)
• Paper clips + binder clips

Self care

Staying fed and hydrated

• Water bottle and/or thermos for tea/coffee.
  • Consider for a local event: going in with friends on a cooler full of ice and drinks to share.
• Electrolytes?
• Food to eat—snacks, lunch. Ideally something that’s easy to eat and won’t leave fingers or clothes messy.

Staying comfortable

• Cough drops or throat lozenges for after you've talked a lot.
• N-95 or KN-94 masks.

• Medicines (prescriptions, over the counter things, etc).
• Layers of clothing to adapt to temperatures.
• Hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, sunscreen chapstick (esp. if it is an outdoor event).
• Anti-fatigue standing mat (kneeling mats for gardening do well in a pinch and are easy to travel with).
• Earbuds, noise-reducing earplugs, other hearing aids. (e.g. Loop or Flare Audio calmer earplugs that don’t block sound, or noise canceling ones for listening to music on breaks).
• Face mist, moisturizer, hand salve, or lotion.

Related: Business tips and resources