[Ansteorra] TRF Fees

[Joel Schumacher]

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I'm looking at Vol 6, #3, Issue #23 of Renaissance Magazine.
This is from last year with the picture of Scarborough's queen on
the cover and the caption: "In Celebration of the Renaissance Faire".

It lists costs/fees/info for 17 different ren faires as part of an
article starting on page 50.  According to it, TRF Fees are:

Cost for electrical hookups: $125   (most are $100-$200, highest 300
     and some have setup + actual use)
Cost of Liability Insurance through the Faire: N/A
Average Booth dimension: 20' x 20'  (on the larger side)
Cost of Deposit: $0      (only 4 others charge: 50,50,75, and $100)
Application Fee: $0  (about 2/3rds charge, mostly $10-$25, highest is $100)
Permanent Structure Fees: $825  (fairly average, many charge per frontage
        foot, but some like Sterling Ren Fest NY: $5000 - $20,000.
        Pennsylvania Ren Faire is $1500 - $2000)
Personal Service/Camping Fees: $0  (only 4 are free, some charge up to $500)
Vendor Tent Fees: $825  (about average, some much higher, Penn is $1400)
Vendor Cart Fees: $825  (Penn charges $1160, but $825 appears on the high side)
Garbage Fees: $0 (only 3 others charge: $25, $25, and $50 canadian)
%Commission on Vendor Profits: 20% with a minimum of $900 paid in advance
     (only 6 others charge commission, and mostly on specialty vendors.
      New York Ren Faire charges $10-20% on everyone)

To me, after looking at this data again, TRF seems "ballpark" in
comparison to most other faires.  Some things aren't charged and for the
most part, what is charged is within the norms.  The New York and
Pennsylvania faires seem most outrageous.

I guess the thing that got me thinking was the 20% commission imposed
on everyone's profit with a $900 MINIMUM.  You have to make at least
$4500 before 20% gets you above $900.  Below and that minimum of $900
means you're paying more than 20% commission.

I don't know what kind of money these merchants make.  I know the
markup is high so the potential is there.  20% of all profits seems
very hefty to me and might dwarf the expenses paid to participate
at other faires.

So, at TRF, you're looking at $825 for your booth, + $900 minimum
commission.  That's $1725  Then, if you make over $4500, you also pay
20% of that.

At Scarborough, it's around $650 for structure fees, and another $100
to $475 if you want to camp.  So, $1125 max?  And no commissions.

By the way, TRF only has booth residency on the weekends.  During the
week, merchants either have to go home or find another place to stay.
Not that TRF benefits, but that's harder for merchants.

At best, TRF is a few hundred bucks more expensive.  At worst, it
could be several thousand more expensive than Scarborough.

Never ran a booth so there could be more costs on each side not shown
in this article.
______________________________________________________________________
Joel Schumacher                    JCPenney Co. - UNIX Network Systems
jschumac at jcpenney.com              12700 Park Central Pl   M/S 6021
(972) 591-7543                     Dallas TX  75251
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