7/05/2011

The Cost of Attending A Convention

I've been asked many times how much it costs to attend a doll convention. So I'm going to attempt to put together an outline. There are many  unknowns because each person's costs will vary according to what they buy and participate in.  I am taking the costs of the convention and the convention collection from the 2011 Wu Convention list.

Convention Attendance $380.  You get the souvenir doll and several other dolls and accessories.
Early Bird Welcome Cocktail (Optional) $15.
Transportation
-Airfare: This depends on where you're coming from.
-Taxi-Shuttle Service to and from hotel.
-Gasoline and Tolls if you are driving.
Hotel $139. plus tax per night for up to 4 guests. After taxes are added, the cost per night for a room is probably about $160. If you share, you can reduce your costs by a great deal. $320 +/-
Excursions away from the hotel. (Optional)
W Club Luncheon (Optional) $60.
Food  You get 4 meals. You may want to have other meals and drinks. $50 +/-
Tips (Bellhop, Housekeeping, Porters, etc.)$10 +/-
Table Gifts (Optional) $20 +/-
Lottery Tickets (Optional) $20 +/-
Room Shopping (Optional)   $200 +/-
Souvenir Store (Optional) $200 +/-
Souvenir T-Shirt (Optional) $18. - $20.
Convention Collection (Optional) $890.  Add 9.5% IL tax if buying at convention for $974.55. (Shipping about $20.)
Centerpieces (Optional) $125. - $150. each. No tax.  $300 +/-
Dynamite Girls Design A Doll$50. per doll.  Everyone gets to attend. No Lottery Required

Workshops  Workshops are free but attendance is via lottery.
Workshop Kits & Dolls are an Optional Purchase. $175 for 2? +/-
_Flocking
_Styling
_Doll Process
_Royal Hair
_Poppy's New Groove
_Back to Our Roots (Free Practice Kit)
_Fashion Illustration
Postage  If you are not driving, you will probably want to ship some items home.



I'll throw out a figure which doesn't include transportation or excursions away from the hotel: $2774.55.  It includes some of everything and 4 nights at the hotel sharing with one other person. It could go lower or higher depending upon how many centerpieces you buy and what you spend room shopping and in the store.
The numbers in red above are the numbers I used to get to that figure.


Optional Mudslide Workshop

4 comments:

  1. thanks as that is really informative and good figures for people like me who have never gone to that type of doll convention [I hope some day to go to a Tonner or like Modern Doll] I have been curious about how much the dolls would cost at one of those even with admittance.

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  2. $2774.55? What a coincidence, that's usually the BIN price of the first convention doll listed on eBay. :-)

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  3. I think your low balling it!

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  4. now when i think a doll is a lit bit overpriced, i will know how the seller got to that amount. They have to make a profit or else it is not worth it.

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