This may seem like a dumb question to some, but I'm kinda confused.
I'm an independant started my own shirt line. Am I considered a retailer, an apperal distributor, apperal manufactuer, designer, or all of the above?
I'm filling out a form to attend a the ISS trade show and dont know what to choose.
I mean I will be selling on line, so thats considered a retailer. Then I will be distributing my own items. I guess I'm not a manufacturer, but I do design my own stuff, so I'm considered the designer.
I'm an independant started my own shirt line. Am I considered a retailer, an apperal distributor, apperal manufactuer, designer, or all of the above?
A small business owner wears many hats, so technically you'd be all of those things and more. Most of them would be misleading though.
You don't have a physical store, and you don't retail other people's designs... so retailer isn't a great fit. You don't distribute or manufacture blanks, so apparel distributor or manufacturer aren't a good fit. Designer fits pretty well - unless the implication is that you design for other people.
Last time I went to a trade show, I considered it in the context of how people would react based on the title.
If I'm a retailer people will try and get me to pickup their line... do I want that? If I'm a distributor/manufacturer people will try and inquire about how I can provide them with my wares for their re-sell... do I want that? If I'm a designer people will try and sell me services... do I want that?
The fact is I don't think it actually matters much what you put down, but it is an interesting question to ponder.
I guess if the form only has those option boxes, i would say a manufacturer.
thats because you design and make stuff for re-sale.
I guess down the road you could operate a parent company and seperate all you mentioned ( a division of ), since you may need to account for them seperatly too. Like wholesale sales, retail sales, web publishing, design company, manufacturing etc...
Thanks for the feed back. I'm rolling with Designer after asking myself the questions Solmu provided. I guess it all depends on the situation. Being that its an ISS show, being a manufacturer isnt what I'm going for.
The other thing is that it may not even appear on your pass. While I deliberated for a while last time I went to a show, all that ended up on the pass was my name and the company I was affiliated with. It's possible that they'll colour code the passes to indicate different answers, etc. but it's also possible they only want to know for their statistical/marketing purposes.
The correct answer is that you are the owner and sole proprietor of an apparel decorating company specializing in (pick one of the following) screen printing, DTG printing, heat transfers, die sub, graphic art, or what ever you do the most of. There's probably not a check box for that I bet.
I just went to an ISS trade show a couple of weeks ago and the first question most vendors asked was "Are you a screen printer or an embroiderer?"
Well, neither actually. I went there to look at everything, especially the DTG printers. My pass just said Owner Decal Designs which was pretty much like everyone else's pass. There is a different color if you signed up for any seminars I think.
What you pick will not make any difference once you get there anyway. The form to attend is just a little survey really. As you look at stuff from the different vendors, they will scan the bar code on your pass. That bar code contains all your contact information including your mailing and email address, so they can send you some literature. They were all polite and asked if they could scan it first.
If anyone goes, a good idea is to make a quick pass through the whole thing and just make a mental note of those exhibitors that you would like to spend more time with. Then go back through again and hit your favorites. That way, you are less likely to miss something that you really wanted to see.
That of course is not the way I did it, and I missed some stuff. Let me tell you, when it's closing time those exhibitors close up that booth pretty quick. LOL
Those particular ones were not at the show in Schaumburg according to the list, but they might be at the other ISS shows. If you just scroll down that page, you can see all of them without searching. There were some transfer companies there.
So what am I? 
may be the search function is not working.
