highly opinionated advice:
buying a show tent

As we near the end of the summer here in the northern hemisphere, frugal crafters want to know: “Are any of these end-of-summer-clearance tents/canopies in the outdoor aisle of the discount store good for shows?”

The short answer is “no.”

The longer answer is “no, but with a few exceptions.” Let me explain.

A 10 x 10 foot space is the standard in the outdoor show circuit; it is rare to find anything different in midrange or high-end shows. The majority of the discount tents you find in the outdoor aisle are not 10 x 10 — or if they are 10 x 10, the canopy measures that but the legs splay out wider (thus creating a situation where you take up more than your alotted space, a particulary bad foul when the organizers lay out spaces cheek-to-jowl, and a tripping hazard besides). Or the footprint is 10 x 10 but the actual canopy is smaller, giving you less room under cover than you’ve paid for. And in most cases you don’t know what the footprint will be until you take it home and set it up.

If you aspire to do high-end shows, keep in mind that most require standard white festival tents for a uniform look. Yeah, it’s somewhat fascist and maybe even a little elitist, but that’s the norm, and you have to follow the rules to play the game. However, think about color in another way: the color of your tent affects the way your wares appear to customers. Your dark blue tent might stand out among the crowd, but it throws your items into shadow, especially when you have a few customers in there, too. A white tent acts like a giant lightbox, highlighting your goods and showing their true colors.

In four years of doing outdoor shows, I have seen countless other vendors struggle to set up discount tents. At one show this summer, I watched two people across the way take more than an hour to piece together and set up their tent. My Caravan brand tent takes less than 10 minutes to set up with two people, and although I don’t prefer to go it solo, I can put it up by myself if I have to.

The sturdiness of the tent should be a consideration, too. The worst of the discount tents come with a dozen or more poles that fit together and are held together by friction. These are generally pretty wobbly and don’t offer a good way to secure the tent to stakes or weights — and you will need stakes and/or weights. A one-piece frame is very sturdy and a good support for a quality waterproof canopy, one that won’t easily rip.

Height is important, too. Most of the discount tents are relatively short and not adjustable at all. Tall people will not come in to shop if it looks like they might bump their head or feel claustrophobic.

I personally don’t use sidewalls anymore, but lots of people like them, and they usually aren’t an option with discount tents. Sidewalls offer protection from the elements and provide a backdrop for your display. (They also block the breeze and can act as huge sails in a good wind, but I have the option if I ever want them.)

The most subjective aspect of tent selection is the impression you give your customers. As a shopper, I’m more drawn to vendors who look like they’ve put some thought into their displays and presentation, and like it or not, the tent is part of that package. While the type of tent you select won’t prevent me from buying your wares, it will affect my overall impression of your business. Fair? Probably not. But that’s how it is.

So, to sum up, here’s my shopping checklist for a show tent:

• true 10 x 10
• straight legs
• white
• easy to set up
• sturdiness/one-piece frame
• quality canopy
• tall height, adjustable even better
• sidewall options

Super-high-end tents can cost in the thousands of dollars, but there are a number of decent standard tents out there for right around $225. I bought my Caravan tent at Costco about four years ago for $200, and it came complete with four sidewalls and a rolling case. Current price is $224.95, delivery included (you have to be a Costco member, though). EZ-Up is another popular manufacturer, and if you Google “festival tent” you’ll get a bunch of other options. A plus to purchasing your own tent is that the resale value of show tents historically has stayed pretty close to original purchase price, so if you decide that doing shows is not for you, you can recoup much of your tent investment assuming you’ve taken good care of your tent. When the left side of my brain compares that with spending half that on something that will not be as nice and has little resale value once I decide to upgrade my tent or stop doing show altogether, a good tent comes out a winner every time.

Other options include borrowing, sharing, and renting. If you belong to a local Etsy street team or other artist group, you can put out a call to see if anyone has a tent you can borrow or rent, or see if anyone wants to go in on the purchase with you. If you opt for the latter, make sure you write up an agreement that spells out who is responsible for keeping the tent and how you will decide who gets to use it if you both want to use it on the same day. A clear agreement will help prevent disputes later. FYI, renting festival tents from commercial rental places is almost as expensive as buying one outright.

When is a discount tent a good idea? If:

• you have no ambition to do midrange or high-end shows
• your items are big and bold and the color of the tent won’t affect their look
• you are doing mostly funky little shows where the conformist look doesn’t go over well
• you really, really, really need a tent on next to no budget right this minute and have no options for borrowing or renting