You should sell merchandise at your event: Here’s why...and how.

Events bring people together, but they’re also a great place to sell merchandise to attendees. Your guests get something they want, while you get an extra source of revenue in addition to ticket sales. Everybody wins.

When you sell merchandise at your event, you don’t have the same challenges as webshops. You don’t need a warehouse, a digital payment gateway, or a shipping setup. Your attendees will all be in the same place at a specific time, so logistics are pretty much taken care of.

Ticketing platforms often let you sell merchandise vouchers ahead of the event itself. When people show up at the event, all that’s left is to exchange their voucher for the merchandise.

At Billetto, we even have a specific ticket type for that exact purpose. It’s called...wait for it…”merchandise”:

The cool thing about selling merchandise vouchers in advance is that you get a good idea of how many items you’ll need before guests ever show up. Also, you’re selling at just the right moment: People are already in buying mode when purchasing a ticket to your event. Seeing a relevant piece of merchandise at that point makes them more likely to grab it as well.

So what type of merchandise do you sell at events? We hate to give you the old “it depends” spiel, but it does depend on the event itself. Vodka vouchers might be great for nightclub events, but disastrous for an alcoholics anonymous gathering.

To get you started, we have a few ideas as to what merchandise to sell at your next event:

Music events

It it a loud concert? Sell a pair of earplugs to leave your attendees’ hearing intact.

Or how about a voucher for drinks at the bar? If the performing band has branded t-shirts, albums, or any other merch, you may well pre-sell these in advance. Then they’ll know how much stock to bring as a bare minimum.

Talks & book presentations

With book presentations and signings, copies of the book itself are no-brainer merchandise.

If you have a famous speaker, you can also sell copies of their book. Alternatively, if the topic of the talk lends itself well to being a merchandise item, you can sell that as well. (Say, a Google Home Mini at a talk about the future of smart homes.)

Sports events

For a competitive sport, you can sell t-shirts and other items of clothing with the name of the team or athlete that people are rooting for.

If it’s a well-known, recurring sports event, you can sell almost any type of merchandise that’s been branded with the event logo.

People hosting sports and fitness classes can sell sports equipment for these (e.g. yoga mats for yoga classes).

Workshops

If your workshop requires any equipment or materials, you can sell these as merchandise so that people don’t have to go out and find them on their own.

Consider putting together a branded workshop kit that’ll also serve as a memento once the workshop is over.

Food events & cooking classes

Lots of opportunities here: Cookware items related to the event, a cookbook with actual recipes used, vouchers for drinks not included in the price (great for wine pairing or tasting events).

Arts & crafts events

If it’s an art exhibition, limited art pieces by the artist make for perfect merchandise. If it’s a DIY crafts event, you can sell arts supplies such as pencils, paint brushes, sketchbooks, or whatever else your participants might be using.

Nightlife events

To get the obvious out of the way: Yes, drink vouchers are great. In addition to that, you can sell VIP packages with reserved seating, fast access to the venue, or other upgrades.

For a themed party, any objects that fit with that theme can be sold as merchandise - say glow sticks and for a techno party or top hats and monocles for 1800s parties that seem to be all the rage these days (we don’t get out much).

Charity events

Even if you’re a charity, there’s room for selling merchandise to people looking to support your cause. Typical items include bracelets, keyrings, and bags.

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Got an event coming up?`Billetto is an event ticketing platform that lets anyone set up an event page in a matter of minutes. Easily embed videos, add images, and style your page as you like. Every event page on Billetto is designed to look great on all devices - mobile, tablet, or computer.

With Billetto, you can sell paid tickets, register guests, accept donations, and - of course - offer merchandise vouchers. Interested? Get started below or learn more about Billetto features.