# Essentials for Cons?



## SLCMedia (Oct 20, 2019)

Hotels are starting to phase out the small sample-size toiletries in rooms, and we all know many of us are sleeping multiple people to a room anyway, so it's always better for everyone to carry their own stuff for showering, etc.

So my business partner and I came up with an idea:
What if there was a service where you could order a small, pre-packed, TSA-ready kit of things you need every convention (Deodorant, toothpaste, soap, hand sanitizer, etc.), specifically curated for the needs of con-goers, and have it arrive before you leave for the con, ready to tuck into your bag?

That way saving time, since you won't have to run out to the store to buy things for the con, and saving space, since you won't need to pack your full-size toiletries from home.

* Would you use a service like this?
And what kinds of things would you look for in one of these kits?*


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## puddinsticks (Oct 21, 2019)

I will say that I certainly have not heard of anyone taking con supplies up as a mail-order service. 
It might do more harm than good, in some cases.

Geeky groups and fandom in general seem to be more 'needs aware' when it comes to their allergies, moral beliefs, etc.
Too many people might find issue with the supported/included brands or their ingredients for it to be worth while and could get whomever is running the operation in trouble to some degree. Also, forbid if the 'care package' arrives late which could lead to its own line of problems. Seems pretty risky to want to start up.
Not only that, but is it even legal to purchase these goods and resell them for profit? I've never though of that.

I would personally not use a service like this, mostly for what I already said. I refuse to buy anything tested on animals unless I absolutely have to. I also have a strict skin and hair care routine, I wouldn't want to break out of it for a convention when I'd want to look nice. That means using my products specifically because of the results.

I imagine people with less intense hygiene specs would look into it, but I don't think your average+ cosplayer would since a lot of them these days are more professional overall thanks to resources, and many depend on looks and products. Many of those people will already be taking costumes with them and that usually means lugging along makeup and hair supplies that they've specifically picked out-a lot of it expensive as is. Fursuiters might require less cosmetics.

Overall it's a good idea and could even do very well, but it seems risky. I wouldn't want to risk being responsible to someone having a bad reaction to products.


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## Keefur (Oct 21, 2019)

It's an interesting concept, but I'm not sure how well it would do in a niche market because you are limiting the number of people that might want to do this.  Maybe if it was generalized for the entire public, you might get enough interest in it.


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## SLCMedia (Oct 21, 2019)

puddinsticks said:


> I will say that I certainly have not heard of anyone taking con supplies up as a mail-order service.
> It might do more harm than good, in some cases.
> 
> Geeky groups and fandom in general seem to be more 'needs aware' when it comes to their allergies, moral beliefs, etc.
> ...



It's 100% legal to purchase products and resell them for profit. The nature of retail is in purchasing goods from distributors and manufacturers to resell them for profit. We'd be working with suppliers, though. If we just went out and bought from the store, the whole operation would very quickly become too expensive to manage.

Part of our plan includes offering product options for those with specific needs or moral concerns. We're looking into hypoallergenic shampoos, soaps, etc., as well as cruelty-free products, all the way through to sustainable packaging. We're careful about selecting reputable products (We've been in the midst of testing some samples over past few weeks) and both my business partner and I know congoers with specific needs and specific moral concerns. We certainly can't be everything to everyone, and we don't want to jostle anyone out of their regular convention routine if they've got things down pat, but we think we can save some people some time by offering a convenient option that at least saves them a trip to the store.



Keefur said:


> It's an interesting concept, but I'm not sure how well it would do in a niche market because you are limiting the number of people that might want to do this.  Maybe if it was generalized for the entire public, you might get enough interest in it.



We do plan on serving multiple convention scenes. My business partner and I have associates in multiple convention scenes (anime, gaming, comics, niche/artsy trade shows, etc.), and we see that needs tend to be similar across these multiple scenes. The 5-2-1 rule applies across the board. One thing we don't want to do, however, is generalize. That puts us in competition with a lot of bigger companies with orders of magnitude more capital. We'd rather focus on serving the more specific needs of fandoms and conventions that larger companies are too big to address specifically than try and expand to serve the general public.


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