Sale of merch at shows

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Nesolagus
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Sale of merch at shows

Post by Nesolagus »

Whenever i go to a show, merch is always sold as soon as the doors open. Or at least pre-show. You're lucky if the merch table is even there after the last band/musician.

If you go to a fairly large pop/rock/hip-hop etc show. At least in the UK, plenty of merch is sold after the show. You don't have to carry it throughout the entire night. Often large que to the merch table after the shows.

But more importantly. As long as i have the money to spend. I buy merch if you're set is in some way impressive, interesting or something i want to support.

If editions are small, you might need to hover the merch table as soon as you get there. But sometimes when seller has multiple copies it's a different story.

A lot of the time i go to shows of stuff i haven't heard yet. And generally it's often more fun to see new stuff than someone you know exactly what to expect. If the show is good enough you get my money. If i have any. Which i rarely have. Another story.

What's your thoughts, experiences and impressions connected to this?
adult human
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Re: Sale of merch at shows

Post by adult human »

Curious what shows you’re going to. Most nights I put on (in the uk) the merch rarely gets touched.
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SS1535
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Re: Sale of merch at shows

Post by SS1535 »

It depends on the scale of the show and the significance of the band. When I saw Brighter Death Now on the most recent US tour, stuff was mostly sold out. I had no trouble getting a few things, but that's because I made sure to get there a few hours early. When I saw Boris a week or so later, getting there early was essential because the line would be too long to get merch and still see the show from a good spot. Again, though, arriving early was the key. Both of these were at medium-sized venues that were pretty full.

On the other extreme, when I saw Bastard Noise last year at a super small punk venue, people seemed to more or less not care about merch too much. I was able to get stuff and talk to Eric for about 45 minutes no problem.

I find that a lot of openers/local bands never sell merch at all, it seems, which is unfortunate.
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papp diin
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Re: Sale of merch at shows

Post by papp diin »

Eyehategod's merch guy gave me a sock for free because it was the last one they had, it was the last show of the tour. Going to sew it on my jacket as a patch at some point.
"He jämnar no ut se", sa finnin tå an skeit i böxona å peeda heim
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Cruelsymphonies
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Re: Sale of merch at shows

Post by Cruelsymphonies »

Sure wish I could sell more merch lol.
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moozz
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Re: Sale of merch at shows

Post by moozz »

Bigger artists have someone taking care of their merch so of course they can take more with them and the aim is not to get rid of everything but to give everyone a chance to buy whatever they wish. If it is the artist who is carrying all the merch with them then space can be very limited. If the artist is on tour it is even harder to have enough for multiple nights. And yes, editions are much smaller. If the artist received 20 copies of the latest tape it will not last forever (unless it's a really shitty tape).
FLORIDA MAN
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Re: Sale of merch at shows

Post by FLORIDA MAN »

Trades welcome
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xIncorruptibleCorpse777x
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Re: Sale of merch at shows

Post by xIncorruptibleCorpse777x »

If you're on tour, you should be making at least slightly higher pressings in the first place.

That is, if you have the space for them.
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Bubble-Congeries
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Re: Sale of merch at shows

Post by Bubble-Congeries »

xIncorruptibleCorpse777x wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 6:50 am If you're on tour, you should be making at least slightly higher pressings in the first place.

That is, if you have the space for them.
100%

Given only a choice between bumrushing the merch table or "riding the rail", where two sets of people are immediately running to do one or the other, I'm picking the later every single time. The live show is my main reason for being there (my pit days are basically over, mostly because I don't have an endless supply of spare glasses, TBH) and I hate having to crane my neck around people and their phones.

I also hate being loaded down with merch the whole time. But I almost always visit the tables at the end. Sometimes, for bigger events it's just down to the "scraps" and high-dollar collectibles by the time I make it, unfortunately. I think tour exclusives are great, but it's never a bad thing if there's a few left over at the end. If nothing else, it gives those who chose to prioritize a front-row seat a second chance at it.

I must say, I was really glad about some of those alleged "lost shipment" items from NWN/Hospital, because I would've missed out on all of it for how long I waited to buy merch.
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