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 Spencer King owner of DIY Marquees share  some interesting ideas, news and advice on  his blog, he has been passionate about  Marquees for many years and with all the  experience he has had with starting his own  business he is very happy sharing his  knowledge and expertise especially with  passionate individuals wanting to start their  own business. Whether its marquee lighting or whether you need advice on buy party tent Spencer is you man.

Spencer has thanked everyone for visiting their  stand at this year’s Showmans Show.

     Showmans Show 2015 – review

“Thank you to everyone who came and visited our stand at The Showmans Show 2015. I grew up on stands at various outdoor shows and as I’ve said previously The Showmans Show is so much better organised and so much more exhibitor-friendly than any other show we have exhibited at it is a joy to be a part of.

The atmosphere among the marquee hire trade in general is so much more positive and upbeat than just a few years ago.

Our newly designed demi-marquees seemed to go down very well, they are based on a concept we developed years ago but it’s nice to at last produce a more polished model. The deluxe version will be available early 2016 with a commercial model to follow.

The best part of the show is meeting people. Whether it’s meeting new start-ups with the energy they bring or existing customers that we have dealt with for years. There are also a number of past customers who pop in having moved on to the bigger machinery-erected structures that intimidate and impress me in equal measure!

Thanks for visiting us, I hope to see you at next year’s show.

Spencer “

Read this excellent blog on Selling used marquees by a man called Ben Dawson who has written a really interesting blog post on Linkedin: Selling used equipment – marquees especially

‘For those who don’t know Ben he’s the man who set up curlew.co.uk which is simply the place to sell second hand marquees or associated equipment. He’s a very, very knowledgeable person on marquees and I can only agree with all the points he makes’.

How much is a second hand marquee worth?

I’m often asked how much a marquee is worth.

The simple answer is as much as someone is willing to pay for it.

There are many factors that you should consider; here are a few…

Who made the marquee

There are a few factors that I’ve got to take into account.

1) Unknown manufacturer (The customer has no way of knowing the quality of the marquee frame or covers)
2) They will not be compatible with existing stock (Roder, Tectonics and Custom Covers).
3) I don’t know how much they cost new so may assume they are cheaper that they really are.

Imagine you were buying a car, which would you buy… a BMW, or a car made by Guangzhou Automobile group (China). There is no question. They may or may not be of equal quality, however, I know which one I would buy.

Again using the analogy of used cars a second-hand 10 year old Ford keeps more of its value than a BMW. Possibly because there are more cheap spare parts for a Ford or more people want a cheap run-around than a big old gas guzzling luxury car.

Still, considering buying cars, people will pay much more for a car from a main dealer than a back street garage. And again less if the car is sold privately.

Profile Size

The same width of marquee can be made with different sizes of profile.

It makes sense to have one profile for different number of widths of marquee. This means that for example you can have a 12m marquee on a small profile that is one third of the weight of the heavy profile.

Generally heavy profiles are more expensive to buy new and you receive less money when you sell them second hand.

This is because the heavy profile requires more material to make however is less attractive to a smaller marquee company who generally prefer marquees that are easier and quicker to put up. As well as much easer to transport.

Condition is King!

As an item gets older apparent age is more important that it’s actual age, for example if something is 10 years old and looks new then it will be worth more than a new marquee that looks 10 years old!

This also applies to how you present your marquee for sale. If the photos look like they are from a wedding magazine your marquee is worth much more than if you can’t be bothered to stack the marquee neatly and it looks like you are looking at scrap parts.

Timing

The price should be based on the price you can buy the equipment NOW not the price you bought it for.

So if prices rise or fall with inflation or exchange rates so do second hand prices.

There is more demand leading up to the summer season than just before Christmas!

However it’s just after Christmas when I get the most people looking at the website. However many of them take time to get into the buying mood. I have always said customers have to smell the chocolate of Easter eggs before they buy marquees. However Marquees do sell all year round. And if your marquee is not on the site customers can’t buy it.

Service

In my experience the marquees that sell quickly are the ones where the vendor offers just a little bit more….

For example

• Help with delivery
• It will be cleaned before we sell it to you
• Advice on using the marquee
• Training in the correct erection of the marquee
• Complete installation
• Ongoing support running the business
• Offer to take back the marquee if they are not happy with it

The last item on this list may seem extreme. However customers are averse to taking risks, often you will not be able to see the condition of the marquee until you have bought it.

When I was selling marquees I used to give this following offer. “If you don’t like the marquee when you put it up for the first time, just give it back in the same condition that you bought it in and I will give you a full refund, less the price of a hire” In 15 years of selling marquees I never had one come back (however all my marques were in as described condition)

Depreciation

I have made the following table.

This assumes you lose 25% of a marquees value as soon as you have bought it. Then 10% per year….

Some sizes of marquees hold their value better than others i.e. 9M wide marquees hold their value better than 3m x 3m marquees.

The age something looks is more important than it’s actual age. (if your kit is 2 years old but looks 10 it’s only worth 26% of it’s original value!)

Conversely – If your marquee is 15 years old, and you have looked after it and it still in a 4 year old condition, then it’s still worth 50% of what you bought it for!

Spencer and his team would like to wish all their customers a very happy holiday this festive season and looking forward to doing business with you in 2016!