How to Sell at a Reptile Expo: The Vendor Checklist

Vending at Tinley this weekend, or setting up your first table ever? This is the whole checklist, in the order the weekend actually runs: what to bring to a reptile expo, how to pack it, how to price it, and how to drive home with every animal and every dollar accounted for.

It works for a keeper selling three animals off a shared table, and for a vendor with a full row of bins. Read it here, or grab the phone version and tick it off as you go.

Two weeks out: plan the weekend

Most of a good show happens before you load the car. Two weeks gives you time to fix anything you find.

• Read the vendor packet. Load-in time, table size, what the show allows on the table, and what it needs from you.
• Check the rules for your species. States and shows differ. Know what you can bring and sell before you pack it.
• Plan your table. Count how many cups or bins actually fit. That number decides how many animals come.
• Decide your hold rule now, not when a buyer is standing in front of you. How much down, and by when is it picked up?

Which animals to bring

Bring animals you would be proud to hand to a stranger. A buyer will ask what it eats and when it last shed, and you want a real answer.

• Eating on record. Animals with steady feeds behind them. Anything off feed stays home.
• Clean sheds and healthy. If you would not buy it, do not sell it.
• Holdbacks stay home. If it is not for sale, it should not be on the table. It saves you a dozen awkward "is this one available" questions.
• A spread of prices. A few easy first animals pull people to your table. A standout animal gives them a reason to stay.

Deli cups and labels

Deli cups are how most snakes travel to and sit at a show. Size the cup to the animal: hatchling ball pythons commonly travel in 32 oz cups, and bigger animals need a bigger tub or a snake bag inside a box.

• Air holes from the inside out, so the sharp edges point away from the animal.
• A folded paper towel in each cup gives grip and soaks up any mess.
• Spares. Cups split and lids crack. Bring more than you need.
• Label every cup: ID, sex, genetics, hatch year and price. Put the label where a buyer reads it without picking the cup up.

Your table sheet or price list should match the labels exactly. When a buyer points at a cup and says "how much," the answer should already be on it.

Pricing your table

Set every price at home, with your records in front of you and nobody waiting on you. Know two numbers for every animal: the price on the cup, and the lowest you will take.

• Price on every cup and on the sign. People walk past tables where they have to ask.
• Decide your deals in advance. If you will do a pair price or a cash price, write it down before Saturday.
• Print the list. A printed table sheet is your backup when the hall has no signal.

Cash, card and holds

Buyers pay every way there is. Miss one, and the sale walks.

• Change in small bills, in a cash box that locks and stays within your reach.
• A charged card reader, plus a backup battery and a phone hotspot in case the hall wifi gives out.
• Printed QR codes for Venmo, CashApp and Zelle, taped where buyers can scan them.
• Write down every sale: the animal, the price, how they paid and who bought it.

Holds, done right

A hold on a sticky note is how animals get sold twice. Every hold needs the buyer's name and number, the deposit, the balance due and when they are coming back. Put the hold on the cup too, so nobody at your table sells it by mistake.

Your table setup

Your table has a few seconds to stop someone walking past. Make the animals the brightest thing on it.

• A dark tablecloth. Colors pop against black.
• Risers or display bins so cups sit in rows, not in a pile.
• A small light, because convention halls are dim.
• A sign with your name and where people can find you after the show.
• Care sheets and business cards for every buyer, with your contact info.
• Hand sanitizer on the table.
• Nothing near the front edge that a bag or an elbow can knock off.

Transport and temperature

The ride there and back is the riskiest part of the weekend for your animals. Plan it like it matters, because it does.

• An insulated cooler or foam box holds temperature far better than an open tub.
• Heat packs in cold weather, cold packs in hot weather. Follow the pack's directions so it is warm before it goes in, and tape it to the box wall, never touching a cup.
• A thermometer inside the box. Check it, don't guess. For ball pythons, aim for the box to stay in the high 70s to low 80s Fahrenheit.
• Warm up the car first. Animals go in last and come out first.
• Never leave them in the car, and never leave them alone in a hotel room you cannot watch. Snakes do get stolen at shows.

Show day

• Arrive early and set up before the doors open.
• Count every animal at your table, against the list you packed from.
• Someone at the table at all times. Bring a helper so you can eat, drink and take a break.
• Keep a running count. Sold, on hold, still on the table. If the numbers stop adding up at noon, you want to know at noon.
• Hand every buyer a care sheet and a way to reach you. Happy buyers come back next show.

Packing up

Do not leave the hall until the count balances: every animal you packed is sold, on hold, or coming home.

• Count every animal back in.
• Collect hold balances, or confirm the pickup time for each one.
• Fresh heat for the ride home.
• Log every sale that night, while you still remember who paid how.

Getting set up is the easy part

Questions vendors ask