More Bang for Your Buck

If you're on the lookout for inexpensive wares to peddle via your brick-and-mortar shop or eBay reselling business, consider the Associated Surplus Dealers/Associated Merchandise Dealers (ASD/AMD) Trade Show Las Vegas (produced by VNU Expositions). "It's a cost-effective way for small [entrepreneurs] to get into the marketplace-it's one-stop shopping," says Athene Mihalakis Kovacic, editor in chief of the ASD/AMD Merchandise Group, a division of VNU Expositions, in Santa Monica, California. "You can find a huge selection of things you could be interested in selling-all in one place." With about 3,500 exhibitors, the products range from deep-discount dollar-store items to general merchandise, including toys, gifts, electronics, health and beauty products, and fashion accessories.

According to trade show producers, buyers from companies small and large are welcome. "The buyers are going to place orders-it's not just swapping business cards and saying 'Send me info later,'" says Julie Ichiba, group show director of the ASD/AMD Merchandise Group. Kovacic and Ichiba also note that the shows are highly entrepreneurial-on both the buyer's and vendor's sides.