I'm experimenting this summer on what type of CD display gets the best response sales-wise.

I have several different displays.

1) A rectangular electric guitar case with CD's laid across left to right & plastic sleeves along the lid with sales info (prices), new CD, bio, & mailing list sheets. I have business cards out & a carafe or a red box for self-service sales & tips. (See picture at bottom)

2) The CD Seller CD Seller on a stand with a $5 bill in the case & a blank CDR hanging from the lip to attract sales. Tips go in with the sales or else I put out my red tip box if there's room. I don't use the top sign on it because it breaks off too easily.



3) A wood display case CD Stands with the aforementioned red box next to it for sales.



The electric guitar case is usually my first choice, but I find that people don't look at it as much as the smaller displays - maybe it's just too much information?

What do you guys do?

I forgot to mention that I always thought it was best to have business cards & other promo materials available. Does anyone else do this?

I personally use the CD seller.
Its great.. Sits on a mic stand. (small footprint) And folks walk up, insert their $, take a CD and walk away. I don't have to make change, stop a song, or anything.

Hi Tom!
I can see why you would like the electric guitar case, it looks like it can neatly display all your CDs, hold your Tips, Bio, etc. However, I think it has a couple of issues. One is that it's on the floor, not at eye-level sight. The other may be "information overload". It looks pretty busy to me.

I like your CD-Seller box. That looks neat and attractive. What if you had one for each of your separate CDs? Would that be too much to carry around? I could see you having several of these on mic stands (or something similar) in a carousel fashion so that multiple people could "shop" at once. Perhaps you can fabricate some sort of holder to place all of them in a circle on a single mic stand, or a couple of mic stands.

You might be able to superglue a business card hold to the side of them, so people would also take your contact information. Just my initial thoughts....hope your Summer is going well...your new CD looks attractive. Take care...John

I use the CD seller. They have a card holder you can get that attaches to the front. It is clear. You can probably get one at a office supply store and some double sided tape. I have a tip bucket hanging underneath. People tend to put money wherever. I actually have 3 CD sellers. I have a couple of jobs where people are in front as well as behind and this works well for me. I also have one at my house band gig. I leave it up all the time with a $20.00 bill in the well. I often come in and find money in the well and a CD gone. No one has stolen a CD or the money in the 2 years it has been there. It is a great set it up and forget it device.

John,

I usually put the guitar case on a short keyboard stand or table so it's accessible.

I do have the business card holder for the CD Seller. It blocked the view of the well though when I put it on too high & then I broke it while trying to position it.

I do think there's too much information in the guitar case. I was trying to be complete.

I'm trying the wooden case today. So far no sales at my outdoor gig.

Tom,

The guitar case looks a bit busy in the pic, but I think in real life it would be fine. The info is all well organized, and if you have several CDs available, at some point it has to become busy. It looks better than many "souvenir" tables I've seen at concerts.

Do you secure your case to the keyboard stand in any way?

Tres,

That's part of my problem - I have too many to put out without looking like it's overkill.

I don't secure the case to the stand unless I'm outdoors.

Tom

quote:

Originally posted by Tom Munch:
I'm experimenting this summer on what type of CD display gets the best response sales-wise.

So, Tom -- have you reached a conclusion about what CD display is most effective?

--Rick

Thanks for the reminder, Rick. I had meant to revisit this thread.

Well, I ended up going back to the guitar case with all the CD's displayed. Even though I felt like it was a lot of info, the audience really wanted to see all of the CD's displayed nicely where they could pick them up & look at them one at a time. The wider display also allows more than one person to look at the same time.

I use the CD Seller at gigs where I don't think I'll have any sales anyway. When they audience really does buy from the CD Seller they are confused at how many CD's are available though. They also can't look at several since it's kind of a pain to put one back in the display while you pull another one out.

The wooden stand allows someone to look at several at once, but it doesn't give a place for a tip jar or sales box, so it doesn't work as well either.

In the end people want something like a table to set down a purse or checkbook & the CD's while they look. A table doesn't draw people across a room since it's flat though, so the guitar case does a good job of combining these two elements - table & display. So even though it's a little showy, I'll stick with the guitar case for most gigs.

Tom

Thanks, Tom. We just received delivery of our first CD, and are trying to figure out how to display it without having to haul too much stuff around with us. I'm trying to adapt a little briefcase, but it's awkward. I'll post a picture if I come up with something I'm happy with.

--Rick
www.treeomusic.com