Artist Back Alley Resources Blog

Lessons From The Airport Regulars We've talked to dozens of vendors who fly to events monthly. The kind of people who have their packing down to a science and their airport routine tighter than their booth layout. Here's what they wish someone had told them before their first flying market. 1. Ship Your Stock Ahead. Every Time. The number one tip from frequent flyers: don't check your product. Ship it. A flat-rate courier box to your hotel or the venue (if they accept pre-shipments) arrives before you do, costs less than checked baggage, and doesn't risk getting lost on a connecting flight. You land, your stock is already there. 2. Your Display Should Be Carry-On Or It's Costing You Every checked item is a fee, a delay, and a risk. The modular display kit fits in a 56x36x23cm case. Carry-on sized. No check-in queue. No baggage carousel. No oversize counter. It goes in the overhead bin and comes off the plane with you. 3. Photograph Your Setup Before You Break It Down After a good event, take photos of your booth from every angle. Front, sides, detail shots. When you set up at the next city, you have a reference instead of trying to remember how you arranged everything three weeks ago. This saves twenty minutes of setup per event. 4. Keep A Permanent Packing Checklist Not in your head. On paper or in your phone. Update it after every trip. Add things you forgot. Remove things you brought but didn't use. After five events, this list is bulletproof and you'll pack in under an hour. 5. Arrive A Day Early If You Can Flying in the morning of a market is risky. One delay and you're setting up late with flustered energy. Arriving the night before lets you sleep, eat properly, and show up calm. The extra hotel night pays for itself in a better first impression with customers. 6. Your Admin Kit Never Leaves Your Personal Bag Card reader, spare phone cable, business cards, float cash, receipt book. These live in a pouch inside your carry-on permanently. You never pack them. You never unpack them. They're always ready. The moment you start pulling them out between events, you forget to put one back. 7. Know Your Airlines' Panel And Tube Policies If you carry posters, canvas, or rigid prints, check the airline's oversize and tube policies before you book. Some airlines charge extra for tubes. Some won't take them at all on regional planes. Flat prints in a portfolio case that fits inside your checked bag avoid the issue entirely. Browse the full kit range to find a setup that's built for the vendors who never stop moving.

The Car Tetris Nobody Talks About You've got your display, your stock, your signage, your cash box, your personal bag, your snacks, and that box of "just in case" items you've never once used. Now fit it all in your hatchback. Oh, and your table too. And maybe a friend who's helping you set up. Sound like every single market morning? Let's fix it. Start With The Display, Not The Product Your display is the biggest, most awkwardly shaped item. It dictates everything else. If your display packs flat, it slides along the back seat or the boot floor and everything else stacks on top. If it doesn't pack flat, it becomes the giant awkward shape everything else piles around. The modular display kit packs into a 56x36x23cm case. That's carry-on luggage size. It fits in the footwell. It fits in a suitcase. It fits in the gap behind the passenger seat that you never thought was usable space. The Gear Audit That Saves 40% Of Your Boot Lay out everything you packed for your last event. Now sort it into three piles: Used every time (display, stock, float, signage) Used sometimes (backup stock, extra signage, weather gear) Never used but "just in case" Kill the third pile entirely. Move half the second pile to a smaller container that stays in the car but doesn't come inside. Your boot just got 40% lighter. The Box Rule: One Per Category One box for stock. One for display hardware. One for personal/admin (cash, card reader, receipt book, phone charger). Three boxes plus your display case. That's it. If you can't fit a category into one box, you're bringing too much of that category. This rule alone prevents the slow creep where every show adds one more bag until you're driving to markets like you're moving house. Think Vertical At The Venue, Not In The Car Your display gives you height. Use it. A setup that goes five panels high (175cm) means your TABLE stays clear for product, not for propping up display elements. Fewer table props means fewer things to pack. The modular system replaces easels, risers, grid walls, and pegboards with one flat-packing kit. Frequently Asked Questions What If I Do Interstate Events And Need Even More Gear? Interstate means shipping or flying. Either way, flat-pack wins. A carry-on-sized display case plus one checked bag of stock is a realistic two-bag setup for flying vendors. Check the full kit range for kits that fit airline luggage limits. Can I Fit A Full Booth Setup In A Sedan? Yes, if your display packs flat. A sedan boot typically fits two medium boxes and a flat display case with room for a personal bag. The trick is never bringing items that don't stack or nest. What About Bad Weather Gear? Keep a small weather bag in the car permanently: a tarp, bungee cords, zip ties, and a rain poncho. It doesn't come inside unless you need it. It lives in the car like a spare tyre. Costs no packing effort.

Flying with your booth is easy once you've done it twice. The first time, though, you have questions. Will security flag it? Does it fit the overhead bin? What if they make you check it? Here's the checklist that answers everything before you get to the airport. The Night Before Weigh your booth bag and product bag on a luggage scale Confirm carry-on dimensions with your airline (most accept 56x36x23cm, but budget carriers vary) Remove any scissors, blades, or tools from your booth bag and put them in checked luggage or leave them home Charge your phone and portable battery Print or screenshot your boarding pass and convention registration Your modular display kit fits standard carry-on at 56x36x23cm. No surprises at the gate. At Security Flat panels sometimes look unusual on the X-ray. Security might ask you to open the bag. This is NORMAL and takes about 30 seconds. Just explain they're display panels. They're not metallic, not electronic, and not restricted. In hundreds of flights reported by our vendors, none have had a panel confiscated. Keep connectors and hooks in a clear pouch so they're easy to show if asked. ABS and PLA look like nothing special on a screen, but loose small parts in a bag always get a second look. At The Gate Board early if your airline offers it. Overhead bin space fills fast. Your booth bag fits in a standard overhead bin, but you want it flat on the bottom shelf, not wedged in vertically where someone might stack a heavy bag on top. If the bin is full and they ask you to gate-check, your panels are rigid PP and won't break. But it adds time at the other end, so early boarding is worth it. On Arrival Grab your bags and head straight to the venue or hotel Do a quick count: panels, connectors, hooks. Confirm nothing shifted loose If you shipped product ahead, confirm it arrived at your hotel or pickup point The Return Flight Teardown is faster than setup. Panels flat, connectors in the pouch, hooks in the pouch, done. The BIGGEST return-flight mistake is buying merch from other vendors and running out of bag space. Bring a foldable tote for your personal con haul so it doesn't compete with your booth bag. Check the full kit range to find the kit that matches your travel style. Frequently Asked Questions Has anyone ever been stopped from bringing panels on a plane?Not that we've heard from over a thousand customers. The panels are non-metallic, non-electronic, and within carry-on dimensions. What if my airline has a smaller carry-on limit?Some budget carriers allow only 50x35x20cm. In that case, check the booth bag. The panels are rigid and handle the hold fine. You'll just wait at the carousel. Can I bring hooks and connectors in carry-on?Yes. They're plastic (ABS and PLA). No sharp edges, no restricted materials. Keep them in a clear pouch for easy inspection.

This debate comes up in every vendor group. Drive or fly? Rent a van or check a bag? We've heard from hundreds of vendors on both sides. Here are the real questions and honest answers. Is It Cheaper To Drive? Depends on the distance. Under 3 hours each way, driving usually wins. You skip baggage fees, you can bring unlimited stock, and you don't worry about size limits. Over 3 hours, the maths flips. Fuel, tolls, parking, and the TIME cost of driving 6+ hours round trip add up fast. A vendor doing a 5-hour drive is spending a full extra day on travel. That's a day you're not making art or processing orders. What About Renting A Van? A van rental runs $80-150/day depending on your city. For a weekend show that's $240-450 before fuel. If your booth fits in a carry-on, a return flight on a budget carrier is often cheaper. Your modular display kit fits carry-on dimensions at 56x36x23cm. No checked bag, no oversized fees, no van. What If I Have A LOT Of Product? This is where the van argument gets REAL. If you sell large canvas prints, ceramics, or heavy merchandise, flying is tough. But if you sell prints, stickers, pins, charms, or small goods, a single checked bag handles your inventory. The booth itself goes carry-on. Two bags total. Don't I Risk Damage When Flying? With a metal pipe-and-drape setup? Yes. Those bend, dent, and arrive looking like they went through a war. With flat polypropylene panels? No. They're lightweight, rigid, and pack flush against each other. Nothing to bend. Nothing to break. What About Interstate Shows I'd Never Drive To? This is the question that matters most. A flight-friendly booth doesn't just save money on shows you already attend. It unlocks shows you'd never consider if driving was the only option. Perth, Hobart, Auckland. Suddenly they're on the table. So What's The Verdict? If your show is local (under 2 hours), drive. If it's interstate or requires a full day of driving, fly with a carry-on booth. If you need a van specifically for product volume, the booth isn't your problem. Your product packaging strategy is. Check the full kit range and do the maths for your next interstate show.

We used to think flat-packing was about fitting more stuff in the car. It's not. The real savings happen in places you don't notice until you switch. Flat-packing saves your back. A display that disassembles into rigid panels weighing a few kilograms total is a different animal from a 15kg pipe-and-drape rig. After your sixth show of the season your spine knows the difference. We've heard from vendors who switched from metal frames to our modular display kit and the first thing they noticed wasn't the look. It was the weight. It saves you money at the airport. Oversized luggage fees add up FAST when you're flying to four cons a year. A kit that fits carry-on dimensions (56x36x23cm) means you never pay checked bag fees for your booth. That's hundreds of dollars back in your pocket over a season. It saves your setup time. Flat panels with snap connectors mean no tools, no allen keys, no hunting for the one bolt that rolled under the neighbour's table. Most vendors are fully built in under 30 minutes. Some regulars do it in 15. It saves your storage at home. A flat-pack display stands upright in a closet. It slides under a bed. It doesn't demand a garage corner or a storage unit between shows. For artists working out of apartments, this is the difference between doing shows and not doing shows. Space was never the real problem. The real problem was all the friction that came with a bulky setup. Remove the bulk and the friction goes with it. Check the full kit range and see how small a full booth can get.

You spent weeks on those prints. The last thing you want is to pull crumpled edges out of your suitcase at 7am on setup day. Good news: your panels and your prints can share the same bag without drama. You just need a system. Start With The Panels As Your Frame Your modular display kit panels are 35x35cm frosted polypropylene. They're rigid, lightweight, and FLAT. That makes them the perfect spine for your suitcase. Stack them vertically along one side of the bag. They create a wall that protects everything behind them. Think of the panel stack as a built-in divider. One side is hardware. The other side is product. Layer Prints Between Panels Here's the trick most vendors figure out after their third show: slide your prints between panels. The rigid surfaces sandwich your art and keep it from bending. No need for a separate print portfolio if your prints are A3 or smaller. Place prints face-to-face so ink sides never touch a connector or hook Use a single sheet of tissue paper between every 5-6 prints Keep the heaviest prints closest to the centre of the stack Connectors And Hooks Go In Pouches ABS connectors and PLA hooks are small but they scratch. Toss them loose and you'll find scuff marks on your panels. A mesh zip pouch solves this COMPLETELY. One pouch for connectors, one for hooks, done. The whole kit packs into a 56x36x23cm carry-on bag. That includes panels, connectors, hooks, and your prints layered in between. What About Larger Prints? If you sell A2 or bigger, those won't fit between 35cm panels. Use a separate poster tube for oversized work. But everything A3 and under? It rides with the booth. Check the full kit range to see which size fits your table setup and how many panels you're actually travelling with. Frequently Asked Questions Will the panels scratch my prints?No. The frosted PP surface is smooth and non-abrasive. Just avoid letting connector pegs sit directly on printed surfaces. Can I fit prints plus a Core kit in carry-on?Yes. The Core (24 panels) leaves plenty of room for a stack of A4 or A3 prints inside the same 56x36x23cm bag. Do I need bubble wrap?Not for the panels or the prints sandwiched between them. If you're packing mugs, pins, or other hard goods alongside, wrap those separately.