I just wanted to say that I've been doing Tony's show in Atlanta for 3 out of the last 4 years he's been doing them. I have alsot attended the Columbia show several times and was a vendor there once.
I will admit that at the Columbia show I did not do exceptionally well, but I was only there for Saturday and could not stay for Sunday. Is that Tony's fault that I didn't do well? No. Is it another vendor's fault I didn't do well? No. The Columbia show is geared more towards the venomous community, and I simply didn't have anything to fit that niche(leaf-tail geckos and some other odds and ends). At the Atlanta show, I have done well every year. I and my friends that do that show with me only sell quality CB animals or imports that we have had for some time. I did sell some newborn Idonesian Tree Boas last year at a very low price. They were non-feeders and I went through extensive talks about what exactly these animals would need and how difficult they are to get established as babies. I have never spent so much time talking people out of $10 baby snakes before! They ended up all going to a guy that spent close to two hours listening to everything I had to tell him and who I deemed responsible enough to care for them(I had talked roughly 50 people out of buying those baby snakes).
There were a couple of other people that had the same type of snakes, but nobody complained to me about my prices being too low or me undercutting them. One of my friends that breeds Leopard geckos that shared one of our tables had animals priced substantially higher than the majority that were available from the "weekend wheeler dealers." She nearly sold out. I also did very well and sold several snakes and geckos which were priced equal to and in some cases higher than their equivalents on other tables. My other friends that were with me did extremely well and almost sold out of their CB Rosy Boas.
I never heard one complaint from another vendor about any of our prices other than having one laugh at the price of my friend's Leopard Geckos, which she ended up selling more at the higher price than he did at the lower price. He was selling babies very cheap, should we have complained to Tony that we were being undercut? No. We sold fine just the same. If there were vendors complaining about Brian's prices, I think it is very pathetic and immature. I have heard rumors of people at some of these shows telling people not to buy from other vendors. If you can't sell your own animals without bashing another vendor or complaining about prices lower than your own, find a new business.
Jerry hit it right on the head. Vendors need to sell themselves at these shows as much as the animals, if not more. I go to a show, a customer gets to learn everything they need to know about that animal. They get a caresheet if I have one printed, or I will simply write out care info on a piece of paper for them. They will get my e-mail address in most cases, as well as my phone number should they have questions/problems. They may pay more from me, but they will get service and quality animals with that price. If another vendor can't sell themselves and therefore has to worry about another's prices, then that is their problem, not the promoters, not anyone's but theirs. Either drop prices to match, learn how to sell, or find a new business.
I will continue to do Tony's shows as I've found Tony's customer service to be top par and his shows to be very enjoyable and profitable. I personally have to say I don't agree with his banning of Brian due to price wars(if that is indeed the reason), but at the same time, I don't run his show, he does. He had his reasons for banning Brian as well as his rights to do so for any reason he saw fit.