Assembling goodie bags for an open day, trade fair, or club night
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
5 min reading time
Assembling a goodie bag that people will actually take home: what to put in it based on your budget, what to put it in, and how many to order. With calculation rules and a checklist for the week before.
After an open day, there's always a pile on the high tables. Bags that no one took, or that were emptied halfway through the afternoon: the pen taken out, the rest left behind. That's a waste of budget, and it mainly says something about the contents.
A goodie bag either works or it doesn't, and that difference is rarely in the amount you spend. It's in whether someone still uses the stuff the next day. Below is how you make that choice concrete: what goes in it, what you put it in, and how many you order.
Start with one question: where will this thing be tomorrow?
Put every item you're considering through this test. Will it be in a drawer, on a keychain, on a desk, or in the trash tomorrow? Only the first three count.
In practice, this eliminates entire categories. A flyer goes away. A cheap, non-writing pen goes away. Something you hang on your keys, stick on your laptop, or keep in your bag stays. That's immediately why small, useful items often do better than larger, more expensive gifts: they have a fixed place.
A second filter: does it suit the occasion? At an exhibition where visitors walk around all day, weight is a disadvantage. For a club night or volunteer appreciation, it can be a bit more personal and heavier, as people go straight home.
The four building blocks
A goodie bag that doesn't feel cluttered usually has four components: something useful, something small to give away or wear, something edible, and packaging to hold it all together. More than four items doesn't make it better — it just makes it more expensive and heavier.
Flat box with window. For two or three small items you want to showcase. The Black Flat Gift Box with window measuring 12.5x8.5x1.5 cm costs from € 1.99. Useful detail: due to its low height, this shape also works well if you need to mail part of it later.
How many do you order?
Two rules of thumb that work well in practice:
For a closed event with registrations: number of registrations plus 10 percent. Almost always, someone extra comes along.
For an open event like a fair or market: count on 40 to 60 percent of your expected visitor number. Not everyone walks past your table, and not everyone wants a bag.
Order more components than packaging. Loose pins and keychains can still be used later; leftover printed bags with a date on them cannot. When calculating, also consider delivery time: if you order in October for an autumn event, you'll want two weeks of leeway.
The week before: quick checklist
Pack a test bag and weigh it. Above 400 grams, visitors will start to complain.
Check if all components have arrived in the same quantities. One missing item means opening everything up again.
Set aside two people for an hour to pack — with an assembly line, it goes three times as fast as individually.
Keep ten bags on hand for unexpected guests.
Store the rest dry and out of direct sunlight, especially if it contains candy.
And most importantly: don't put the bags in a pile on the table, but hand them out. A bag that someone is handed goes home. A bag you have to pick up yourself often stays behind.
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