- Mark Valentine
- May 8
- 2 min read
Walk into a guitar show. Is this your first time?
I have been a busy professional entertainer for over 50 years.
I went to my first guitar show 2 years ago. I always bought new guitars and gear. Imagine walking into a room with hundreds of guitars. Rare, vintage or even custom guitars in large numbers are an attraction to any guitar lover. Assembling that group is not easy.
Here is how a guitar show happens.
First, the promoter has to secure a venue.
This is not a small decision.
Is it big enough?
Is it expensive?
Is there enough parking?
Do people like going there?
What extra expenses come with the venue like
Insurance and security?
So, Mr. Promoter, how much can you gamble?
Second, Marketing is crucial and complicated.
The promoter has to market to two crowds.
Dealers are a key to success.
If too few dealers show up, there is no show.
Most dealers go to multiple shows in a year.
Most guitar shows have dealers from at least 4 states.
So, Mr. Promoter, pick a date that doesn’t conflict
with another show that will drain your region of dealers.
The other crowd that requires marketing is the attendees.
If too few walk through the door, the dealers will not come back. If they walk through the door and see too few dealers, the attendees will not come back.
So, Mr. Promoter, market on multiple fronts.
The flow of a guitar show has 4 kinds of transactions.
Set up day is not open to the public. It is dealer day.
They talk. They check out each other’s offerings.
Sometimes they buy before the doors open. Often,
they make a sale and use that money to purchase something they saw from another dealer.
The next kind of transaction is attendees purchasing something
from a dealer. That’s easy to understand.
Another kind of transaction is an attendee who wants to sell or trade to a dealer. In my experience, this is as important to the show as purchases. The dealers often judge a guitar show by how many guitars are coming in for them to buy.
The last common transaction starts at the guitar show, but finishes later. Someone wants to deal, but for some reason,
it happens with follow up calls.
There are some attendees that bring a guitar because they are not sure what it is. These are usually inherited and guitar shows are full of experts.
In the next 5 years, the guitar business will be about $30billion per year. The after market is probably about 30-40%.
Guitars are passion, art and commodities.
Check out: http://KCGuitarShow.com.
Also, Please subscribe to Every Guitar Has A Story YouTube Channel
as you watch this episode focussed on the currency of guitars:
