What Exhibition Stand Entertainment Costs
This page has the actual numbers on it, because most pages on the subject make you fill a form in before you can find out whether you can afford it.
Start with the published prices
Every product on this site carries a price. That is unusual in this trade and it is deliberate, because the alternative wastes everybody's afternoon. Across the exhibition games range the published figures run from £145 for an Axe Throwing Safe to £1,995 for a Sega Rally 2 twin sit-down, and the middle of that range sits around £395.
Those are starting prices for a hire, not a fixed total. What moves them is covered further down, but the honest headline is that a single branded game on a stand for a two or three day show usually lands somewhere between £400 and £900 all in, and you can spend a good deal less or a good deal more than that without trying hard.
- Cheapest exhibition game
- £145
- Median across the range
- £395
- Dearest single unit
- £1,995
- Branding starts at
- £49
Rough bands, by what the thing is
| Kind of kit | Typical published range |
|---|---|
| Score boards and small add-ons | £69 to £125 |
| Compact skill games and safes | £145 to £425 |
| Reaction walls | £395 to £495 |
| Prize machines and grabbers | £395 to £595 |
| Photo booths | £475 to £595 |
| Driving simulators and twin cabinets | £495 to £1,995 |
A Magnetic Topgear Score Leader Board at £69 is the cheapest useful thing we hire for a stand, and it is worth mentioning on its own because it does more for a queue than its price suggests. The Crack the Code safe and the Gold Bar Challenge both sit at £395 and take the least floor space of anything we own.
What actually moves the number
Five things do, in roughly the order they matter.
How long it's out. A one-day hire and a four-day hire cost us similar amounts in transport and labour, so the extra days are cheaper than the first one. If you are choosing between a two-day and a three-day booking, the third day is usually the cheapest day you'll buy.
Where it's going. Delivery charges and minimum order values may apply depending on hire duration and location. A stand at Manchester Central and a stand at TECA in Aberdeen are not the same job, and the difference is transport rather than the game.
Whether it's branded. Branding starts at £49 plus VAT and is priced on the unit and the surface area, so a Batak back panel is £99 while the twelve buttons are £49. Full wraps across a back board, header and two side panels cost more than either. The branding page goes through what can be done to what.
Whether we staff it. Running it yourself after a handover briefing costs nothing extra. Our own operator on the kit for the duration is a separate line, and worth it on a careers fair or a mall day where your team need to stay free.
How much is on the same van. We can usually discount multiple items on the same delivery - contact us for a quote.
Three worked examples
These are shapes rather than quotes, but they are the shapes we get asked for most.
A small shell scheme, two days, one game. You would be looking at a Crack the Code safe at £395 with light branding. It takes 2ft by 2ft, runs off nothing demanding, and your own staff work it. This is the cheapest way to have something on a stand that is genuinely worth walking over for.
A mid-size stand, three days, branded. This is a Batak Pro at £495 alongside a Magnetic Topgear Score Leader Board at £69, with branding across the back board and the leader board. That is the combination that goes to the NEC and the ICC more than any other, and it is what Specsavers, United Biscuits and Staysure have all run in some form.
A launch or activation, staffed. Here you would take a Grab a Grand or a Ballnado Grabber, both £595, fully wrapped, and we would supply the prize stock and somebody to run the win rate. Add product launch games for how the mechanics differ.
What isn't in the price
The price does not include prize stock where the game gives something away, or power where the venue charges you for a socket, which most exhibition halls do. Stand space is separate too, as is anything the organiser charges for that has nothing to do with us, and at some halls that is a longer list than you would want.
Four items in the range are listed as price on application, and a handful quote plus VAT rather than inclusive, so check the individual product page rather than assuming from the band.