Secret Squirrel, there are plenty of agents still out here...problem is (and I said this in another thread too) the *ing shows don't want to let us work! I'm sorry-but how the hell am I supposed to go out there and get the same money I was 10 or 15 years ago, when there are so many restrictions on what I can and can't do or say? Then to hear people complain that they don't get the same grosses? Or can't find qualified agents? Well guess what? It's because we're HIDING FROM YOU. You won't EVER see me on a "big" show again. I will stick to doing what I know, on shows that will still let me, and keep making money. Same as I always have. And y'all with the hanky pank shows can keep on complaining about how there aren't any agents left.....
ugh. I knew I shouldn't have logged on...this crap frustrates me.
From a Show Owners standpoint, If we let you agents "*ing work" wide open or not WE are left with the fallout. I call it the "jointy mentality"....rape and pillage and next year we can jump on another show. First off people do not carry a lot of cash around with them anymore like they used to. Secondly most of these agents that I've let work wide open come on strong and then implode. They have a few strong weeks and instead of holding on to the cash or buy something of value they tend to go the other direction, party likes it's never going to end. When it does end or slow down then they start swinging with that yard note here and that double there and they use the excuse (which I read here already) "I'm still turning in more money than that other guy," it's a nasty cycle. The third issue is that when those agents are rocking and rolling they don't want to throw any stock, they rob punks and usually raise all kinds of hell where ever they are staying, Oh and "I don't set up and I don't slough", on and on.
We've all had a lousy meal in a restaurant that we paid way too much money for. You remember those places so that you don't go back again. It's the same in the carnival business. People come to the carnival to be entertained. Those that don't like the rides or are too small for some of them tend to come for the games or food. It's the same scenario, they get beat once or twice, they are not likely to want to come back. You want to know why the games business is down while the food and rides are up?? Do you honestly think it's because of the POP's? They've been burned so they stay away.
Now on those bigger shows it's not all the agents fault. For years some show owners choose to give too large a percentage or guarantee away to the committees. They increase the rent, dings and come up with every imaginable additional fee to make up for what they gave away to "keep the spot". This in turn requires the independent game or food owner to increase it's bottom line by offering a cheaper product, giving away a smaller percentage in merchandise, paying less in wages or by putting more pressure on their agents to gross more money.
A 32oz Lemonade (from concentrate) at the Arizona State Fair was $ 7.00! do you honestly think that the owner of that concession was just trying to make a payment on his Ferrari? Then when those agents do push it to the hilt those owners too try to figure out how to pencil their help to make the ends meet. This has gone on for years. It will take years for the public to want to even think about playing a carnival game again.
Those operators that are becoming more of a merchandising type operation are starting to do much better. The games are changing as well. There are more "non agent" or "hanky pank" type games that are designed to throw a larger stock average. These types of games do not need to have that high powered agent and most owners don't want to deal with the bs that comes along with those HPA's. This business has been all cash. Our world has become plastic and so much so that people don't even carry around $5.00 anymore, but they've got their debit/credit card(s). Tickets, Tokens and Smartcards are just another way to control the cash flow. It's all about tightening up to have any type of a bottom line.
We went to tickets only in our games three years ago, they are the same tickets that we use on our rides. I lost a few of the "agents" that worked for me for years but the grosses went up a bit. We've had to tweak our game operation and make sure that the ticket boxes are in a closer proximity to the games but all in all it's been a good thing. Our bushel baskets aren't as strong as they used to be but through stronger merchandising some of our hanky panks are grossing a lot more now. More importantly, I've not had a single beef where "your guy took all of my kids money and he didn't win anything." We are considering going on to tokens because of higher ticket printing costs but then you still have to have the token machines and someone to maintain them as well.