Dealer FAQ

Please read through this FAQ to find the URL for the Dealer application form.

General Dealer Questions

1. When is Arisia?
   January 15-18, 2021. The convention starts Friday afternoon, and will finish Monday afternoon.
2. Where is Arisia?
   Arisia will be a virtual convention.
3. If I have questions, who do I talk to?
   Your Dealers Liaisons this year are Ed Trachtenberg and Sabina Fecteau. The best way to reach them is to send e-mail to dealers@arisia.org.
4. Is there a Dealers Room this year?
   There will be a virtual Dealers Room.
5. May I share my space with another vendor?
   For the virtual convention, there is no need to share a table.
6. Tell me about the Dealers Room.
   We are working on plans for the virtual Dealers Room. We hope to have an enticing site to attract customers and there will be a chat system available so customers can ask questions. The cost for a virtual space is $20.

   The price of the vendor participation does not include memberships.

   As always, we are limiting the # of spaces for Dealers to be appropriate for our attendance.

   You can set whatever hours you wish for being available for the chat system (we hope to have a system that uses an app on phones so you won't be tied to your desk), We might recommend core hours so that at certain times, customers can be assured of dealer availability. The currently suggested times are listed below:
   

   Friday: 7pm-9pm
   Saturday: 1pm - 3pm and 7pm-9pm
   Sunday: 1pm - 3pm and 7pm-9pm
   Monday: 1pm - 3pm
   

   FYI … most programming starts at 10am each day (except Friday) and the Programming Grid operates on 90-minute blocks.
   

   Dealers Room Questions

7. Payment and Reservations
   
   1. Pay your dealer’s fee (see question #6). If you are selected to be a vendor at Arisia ‘21, payment instructions will be included with your acceptance letter. All attendees, including vendors, are required to have a membership. The price of the virtual space does not include memberships. (Some vendors get a free membership because they're also on panels, some vendors volunteer during setup and get a free membership ...).
   2. Purchase your needed memberships at https://arisia.org/registration. You will be able to purchase memberships at the reduced virtual convention price (if you already bought a membership you can request (by 12/31/2020) a refund on the difference or roll it over to Arisia'22). See the Reg page for details.
   3. If you are not certain as to WHO will help staff your dealer space, memberships may be purchased as “Minion #n of Company X”. Real names MUST be provided to Registration no later than December 15.
   4. Confirmation:
   1. Receive confirmation from Arisia Dealers Liaison that we have received your dealer's fee.
   2. Receive confirmation from Arisia Registration that they have processed your membership registrations.
8. How much is dealing at Arisia going to cost me?
   
   • See question #6 for pricing of vending spaces. .
   • A membership fee you, paid to Arisia (https://arisia.org/registration), see above for pricing.
   • This applies to all workers and helpers who will be using the chat system to interact with the convention.
   • All memberships will need to be purchased through Arisia registration.
   • If you are interested in purchasing an ad in Arisia's Souvenir Book (PDF), contact ads@arisia.org.
     
9. What happens if I need to cancel my reservation?
   
   • If you must cancel your dealer reservation, notify us as early as possible.
   • Refunds will be given ONLY if we are able to sell your space.
   • NO, you cannot resell / sublet your space yourself. However, if you have a person in mind please let us know who it is and have them fill out the dealer application.
10. Load-In
    We'll let you know in advance how to setup your virtual table.
11. Adult Items
    Dealers Room is open to all. The only exception will be an “Adult Only” area where entrance will be limited to persons who are 18+ years of age.
    Any materials that are sexually explicit, extremely graphically violent, or otherwise unsuitable for minors (under the age of 18) MUST be displayed in a manner that keeps kids (any person under the age of 18) from seeing them.
    We recommend having an age-check module on your website to prevent children from seeing any “naughty bits” (sexual and/or violent).
    • If you are selling adult items, you must agree to the following restrictions:
    • It is your responsibility to ensure that minors do not have access to any adult items. This can be done by checking ID before allowing patrons to look in a closed box/binder or area.
    • The acceptability of displays of adult material is at the sole discretion of the Dealer's Room Coordinators.
    • If we hear or see that you have adult items which are easily visible to minors, you will receive one warning (since your definition of adult items may be less strict than some of our attendees), and will be expected to rectify the situation immediately after receiving your warning.
    • If you require a second warning, Arisia reserves the right to either mandate how you rectify the situation, or to close your shop without refund of vending fees.
12. Other display considerations:
    
    • Any material that might be construed to be HATE related is strictly FORBIDDEN!
    • 1st occurrence: You will receive a warning and ordered to remove that merchandise from your display.
    • 2nd occurrence: You will be removed from Arisia with NO refund.
    • If you are planning to sell any BOOTLEGGED or unlicensed merchandise → DON’T.
    • 1st occurrence: You will receive a warning and ordered to remove that merchandise from your display.
    • 2nd occurrence: You will be removed from Arisia with NO refund.
      
13. When I get to Arisia, what procedure should I follow?
    In no particular order, you will need to:
    
    • Make sure your website is working
    • Verify that your information on our website is correct
    • Try out the chat system
14. Why are you asking ....
    
    • Membership information, if you aren't selling us our memberships?
    • So that we can check the names you give against our registration database to make sure you registered (we may sell out the convention, so it's best to make sure you buy your memberships early).
    • Whether we will be open for vending on Monday?
    • Arisia is a four day convention operating online. Dealers can set their own hours for monitoring customer queries, but Dealers are encouraged to be available during the "core hours" (the chat program we intend to use works on phones, so you don't need to be tied to your desk).
    • For us to both check off what we sell and to describe what we sell?
    • The description will be used for deciding between applicants if we have more applications than spots e.g . "Both of these folks checked Jewelry, but this one has a cooler description, so they're in.", and in a modified shortened form, if we have space in the program book, as a short description below your vendor name.
    • The description and the check boxes will be used so we can try to avoid putting similar dealers next to each other (except for dealers selling adult items in the adult sales area).
15. Weapons Sales
    
    • Please make sure that any weapon (real or simulated) in the Arisia Dealers Room are legal to ship to the purchaser's state
16. What laws and rules do I need to be concerned about?
    • You are responsible for observing all applicable laws (e.g. tax, copyright, and decency laws (see Adult Items), etc.)
    • ALL vendors are required to collect tax for the states that they sell to, if applicable.
    • If you need help applying for a Sales Tax ID Number, please see our page How to Apply for a Massachusetts Sales Tax ID
    • To find out what weapons are not legal to carry in Massachusetts see Mass. General Laws Chapter 269, Section 10 (search for paragraph (b) in the middle). Basically if it is more dangerous than a Koosh Ball(TM), then it's probably illegal. Some of the things banned by the state are: any knife having a double-edged blade, dirk knife, any armband made with leather which has metallic spikes, nunchaku, ....
17. On average, how many people attend Arisia?
    That information can be found on the Arisia History Page: https://corp.arisia.org/history. However a virtual convention is new experience, so we're not sure what attendance will look like for Arisia 2021.
18. Does my application guarantee me a vending space at Arisia?
    No. The Arisia Dealers Room is a juried venue.
    • You should definitely apply if you are interested because:
    • Arisia's Dealers Room is juried with priority for returning vendors.
    • We are always looking for new vendors with new and exciting merchandise.
    • We often have vendors who elect not to return in a particular year.
    • If you are not selected, we will put you on the Wait List.
    • If you have never applied to Arisia in the past, we will put you on the mailing list.