By the Exhibition Stall Design editorial team · Updated 1 October 2026 · 13 min read
Short answer
The 15 questions worth asking an international expo stalls vendor cover four things: who owns the work, what the price actually includes, what goes in writing before you pay, and who is in the hall during build-up. Judge the replies by shape rather than content — a name, a date, a document or a number is an answer, and anything that merely reassures you is not.
Key takeaways
- Insist on approving dimensioned drawings rather than a render before fabrication starts.
- Ask who physically does the work. Every other answer depends on it.
- Ask what the quote excludes, never whether everything is included — the second question always gets a yes.
- Put the same questions to three vendors and write the answers in three columns. The gaps do the work for you.
- Grade answers on specificity: a name, a date, a document or a number beats any amount of reassurance.
- Ask what the vendor would change about your brief. A supplier with no opinion is not reading it.
How to use these 15 questions
Most vendor questionnaires fail for the same reason: they collect answers nobody knows how to read. Every firm says the work is in-house, every firm says the quote is all-inclusive, and every firm says their team will be on site. The useful skill is not asking the question — it is recognising, from the shape of the reply, whether the person answering has done this before.
That is why each question carries two notes: the answer that should settle it, and the answer that should worry you. The underlying test never changes. Specifics can be checked; reassurance cannot, and an international expo stalls vendor who offers only the second has told you something useful anyway.
Keep to the order. Each stage asks things that are still answerable truthfully at that point: capability before you shortlist, scope while the quote is being built, documents before money moves, logistics once the build is done. Out of sequence, the same questions produce politer and less useful replies.
Before you shortlist: questions 1 to 4
This is the filtering stage, and it is best done on the phone in twenty minutes. None of these questions needs your brief, your budget or your drawings — which means nobody can tune the answers to them.
Underneath, they all probe the same thing — whether the firm owns the work or brokers it. Written for large exhibitors, government bodies, export councils and multinationals who want a single accountable partner for the whole participation, this guide exists because that answer usually surfaces during build-up week, when it is far too late to act on.
01
1. Have you worked at my venue, and what are its rules on height, rigging and fire rating?
A good answer is specific about the hall — the height limit, whether rigging is allowed, what fire certification the organiser demands, and when drawings have to be submitted. A bad answer is "we work at every venue in India". Breadth is not the claim you need; one correct hall rule tells you more than a list of twenty cities.
02
2. Who physically does this work — your own team, or a sub-contractor?
A good answer is honest about the split, because every firm buys something in: print, AV hire, furniture, freight. You want to hear which trades are owned and which are bought, followed by an address. A bad answer is either a vague "we have a partner network" or a flat claim that everything is in-house with no site you can visit — the second is usually the same as the first, with less candour.
03
3. What were the largest and the smallest stands you delivered last season?
A good answer is two areas and two shows, and it brackets your own stand somewhere in between. A bad answer is a range so wide it must be aspirational. Capability is size-specific: a firm that turns out neat small system booths may never have engineered a structure, and a pavilion specialist will price your small stand like a pavilion.
04
4. Which parts of this scope do you buy in, and from whom?
A good answer names them without being pushed — nobody owns everything, and print, AV, furniture and freight are routinely bought. What you are listening for is whether the person knows their own supply chain. A bad answer treats the question as an accusation, which usually means more of the scope is bought in than they want to discuss.
At quoting stage: questions 5 to 8
With a shortlist briefed, the job changes: you are no longer assessing firms, you are making quotes mean the same thing. Buyers skip this stage because it feels like haggling. It is the opposite — a vendor with an itemised scope is protected from scope creep just as much as you are.
Quoted per show. The variables that move an international expo stalls price are well known, and the list below is all of them. Ask a vendor which two matter most on your job: a confident, specific ranking means the quote was built, and a vague answer means it was guessed.
- Total area and number of co-exhibitors
- Scope (design, build, AV, furniture, logistics, manpower, hospitality)
- Number of cities or shows in the programme
- Approval layers with organisers, embassies or departments
01
5. Are transport both ways, installation, electrical fittings and dismantle inside this figure?
A good answer goes line by line, yes or no, without hedging. A bad answer is a general "yes, everything's included" — which is the reply this question always draws, and the reason to put it as four separate questions. These are the four scopes most often missing, none of them is optional, and all of them get bought at show-week rates when they surface late.
02
6. Will you itemise the quote, and will you write down what it excludes?
A good answer is yes to both, with the exclusion list as a separate signed page. A bad answer is a lump sum defended as "simpler for you", or an itemised quote with no exclusions at all — which is not transparency, it is an unanswered question. The exclusion page is the single most useful document in the process and the one you have to ask for by name.
03
7. What materials and finishes are you quoting, exactly?
A good answer names board thickness, the laminate or paint finish, and the fire treatment. A bad answer is "premium quality" or "imported finish". Specification is what the organiser's safety check examines, and it is also the only way to tell whether a cheaper quote reflects a better rate or a thinner board.
04
8. If I remove something from this quote, what does the total become?
A good answer is a revised figure within a day, because the quote was assembled from line items in the first place. A bad answer is a vague "we'll adjust" or a total that barely moves — the first means there were no line items, the second means the removed item was never honestly costed.
Third stage — turning a conversation into a contract (questions 9 to 12)
Everything here is about converting agreement into documents. Each question seals a gap that would otherwise open during build-up, when every remaining option costs money. The timing is the point: ask before the advance goes out, not after.
Nothing in this stage touches aesthetics or cost. It is entirely paperwork: what gets signed, when, and by whom. Those are the variables that separate a stand built to the agreement from a stand built to whatever was remembered.
01
9. Who prepares and submits the organiser paperwork, and by what date?
A good answer lists the actual documents — stand drawings, electrical load, material certificates — names who lodges them, and states the organiser's deadline from memory. A bad answer is "the organiser will tell you what they need", which pushes a hard deadline onto the party least equipped to meet it. A rejected submission costs build-up days nobody has spare.
02
10. How are changes priced, and who is allowed to authorise one?
A good answer is a written variation, priced before it is executed, authorised by one named person on each side. A bad answer is "we'll adjust at the end". Verbal agreements made on the floor during build-up are the largest single source of post-show invoices nobody remembers approving, and one paragraph in the contract prevents all of them.
03
11. Will you dry-build the stand in the workshop before dispatch, and can I see proof?
A good answer is yes, with photographs or a video, panels numbered and circuits tested. A bad answer treats it as unnecessary. Where the first assembly happens decides whether build-up is assembly or problem-solving, and problem-solving in a hall costs hours you have not got.
04
12. What insurance and site documentation do you carry?
A good answer arrives immediately, because any firm working regularly in exhibition halls keeps it to hand. A bad answer is a promise to check and come back. It is a dull question with a revealing answer — it separates contractors who work in venues every month from those about to find out what a venue requires.
Stage 4 — before build-up (questions 13 to 15)
Ask these once the stand is built and the risk has shifted from the workshop to the loading bay. Few vendors are braced for them, because most buyers stop asking questions after signing — which makes this the stage where the replies are least rehearsed.
What the show finally has to deliver is a participation plan where every touchpoint, from the pavilion entrance to the VIP lounge, is designed to move visitors toward a meeting. These questions test whether anyone has planned for the hours in which that actually happens, because a stand still being assembled at ten in the morning on day one delivers none of it.
01
13. What do you need from me, and by when?
A good answer is a dated list: artwork at final size, product dimensions, staff numbers, any samples to be displayed. A bad answer is "nothing, we'll handle it". Most build-up delays trace back to an input that arrived late, and a supplier who has not asked for yours has not planned backwards from the date.
02
14. Who is on the floor during show days, and how fast can they reach my stand?
A good answer is a name, a location and a response time. A bad answer is a central number. Show-day problems tend to be small and urgent — a blown lamp, a loose panel, a screen that will not wake — and they only stay small if somebody is already in the building.
03
15. When will the stand be finished, as distinct from when build-up ends?
A good answer is an hour, comfortably ahead of doors opening, with cleaning scheduled after it. A bad answer uses the organiser's deadline as the plan. Finishing at the deadline leaves nothing for the snag list, and every stand has a snag list.
Exhibiting soon? Let's build your stall.
The answers most likely to mislead you
Some answers sound fine and mean nothing. The rows below are those cases side by side with what a real answer looks like. It works best as a call sheet; reading it afterwards is reading it too late.
| Ask this | Good reply | Bad reply |
|---|---|---|
| What happens after the show | Dismantle inside the organiser's window, elements into storage | No answer, because dismantle was never priced |
| Who submits to the organiser | The documents, the person and the deadline | The organiser will let you know |
| What materials are quoted | Board thickness, finish and fire treatment, named | Premium quality, with no specification |
| What would make it cheaper | A scope trade — simpler finish, fewer panels, a reused frame | A flat discount with no change to the scope |
| What if something fails mid-show | Spares on site and a named person in the building | Nothing has ever failed |
| Can I see finished work | Photographs from a named show, with the stall area and the year | Renders only, or images with nothing attached to them |
| Who does the work | An address, a supervisor's name and a date you can visit | A partner network, or a visit that is always better scheduled later |
The good column is almost always the shorter one. That is the quickest heuristic in this guide — specifics are compact, and reassurance needs room.
What can your area actually hold?
There is one more question worth adding, and it is the quickest way to tell whether an international expo stalls vendor designs for a show or just quotes for square metres: ask what your area can physically hold. The arithmetic is simple enough that a vague answer is a choice rather than a limitation.
The sums are these: 10% of the area to storage up to 18 sq.m and 15% beyond it, 5% to a meeting corner — 20% if meetings are the point of attending — and the rest to display. Display divided by 2.5 gives simultaneous visitors; total area divided by 9 gives staff on duty.
Why it matters: footfall expectations and stand capacity are usually set by different people who never compare notes. If your campaign is built around a volume of visitors the stand cannot physically hold, the constraint is the stand, not the marketing — and that is a conversation to have at briefing stage, not on day one.
| Stall area | Display | Storage | Staff on duty | Visitors at once | Build weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 sq.m | 10.2 sq.m | 1.2 sq.m | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 18 sq.m | 15.3 sq.m | 1.8 sq.m | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| 36 sq.m | 28.8 sq.m | 5.4 sq.m | 4 | 11 | 4 |
| 54 sq.m | 43.2 sq.m | 8.1 sq.m | 6 | 17 | 5 |
| 72 sq.m | 57.6 sq.m | 10.8 sq.m | 8 | 23 | 5 |
Staff = area ÷ 9, minimum 2. Build weeks are 3 as a base, plus 1 from 24 sq.m and plus 2 from 54 sq.m, with a further 2 weeks for a premium finish and 2 for a double-decker.
Answers that should end the conversation
A few answers settle the matter rather than add to it. The international expo stalls failure modes come first, because those are the ones that cannot be fixed on site. The rest are procurement signals, all of which appear before any money has moved.
- Too many vendors with no single point of accountability
- Inconsistent branding across co-exhibitor booths
- Budget overruns from scope that was never itemised
- Delayed approvals that compress build-up time
- A deadline on your decision that belongs to their cash flow rather than your show
- A refusal to name the workshop or studio, or a visit that is always possible next month
- A material specification that says premium and names nothing
- A discount offered the moment you hesitate, with nothing removed from the scope
- No answer at all on dismantle, clearing or storage
- A delivery week offered in place of a dated production schedule
- No one able to say who will be standing on your stand on build-up morning
Specifics are short. Reassurance needs paragraphs.
Turning replies into a decision
Keep one page with the vendors across the top and the questions down the side. You are not scoring eloquence — you are looking for the empty cells, which are invisible in a phone call and obvious in a grid.
Then invert the exercise. Start from what the show has to deliver and ask whether these answers add up to it. A vendor can pass every question and still have no view on your outcome; that is a competent contractor rather than a partner, and worth knowing which you have hired.
- What the vendor needs from you, and by when
- Who submits the organiser paperwork, and the deadline
- The payment milestones and the deliverable behind each one
- The show-day backup plan and who is on the floor
- The dismantle plan, and where reusable elements are stored
- The material specification, including the fire treatment
- The date on which you will approve dimensioned drawings
Ask all three at once
Put the brief and the question set out together, unchanged, to all three. Show, city, dates, area, open sides, budget band, and a few annotated references. The replies are a free trial: the speed and precision you get before paying is the speed and precision you get in build-up week.
We answer all of them in writing. Design is free with every confirmed fabrication order, fabrication happens in our own workshops, we prepare the organiser drawings and the approvals, and one project manager stays on the job from brief through dismantle.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask an international expo stalls vendor about pricing?+
Quoted per show. Beyond the figure, ask what drives it, what would make it cheaper, which lines are excluded, and what the pre-tax total is. A vendor who can rank the drivers for your brief has priced the job rather than guessed at it.
How many vendors should I put these questions to?+
Three, with the same brief. Two gives you nothing to calibrate an outlier answer against, and five is more work than the comparison repays.
When should I ask about build-up?+
A week or two before the show, once production is finished. Ask for the arrival slot, the crew size, the shift hours and the hour the stand will be finished and cleaned — not the hour build-up closes.
Should I ask about things that could go wrong?+
Yes, and the quality of the answer matters more than the content. A vendor who describes the slack in their schedule, the spares they carry and who they would call has thought about failure. One who says nothing has ever gone wrong has not.
How do I know if my stand is the right size?+
Ask the vendor what it can hold. At 36 sq.m the arithmetic gives about 28.8 sq.m of display, room for roughly 11 visitors at a time and 4 staff on duty. If your footfall expectation is far above that, the constraint is the stand rather than the campaign.
What if a vendor refuses to itemise the quote?+
Treat the refusal as the answer. Without line items you cannot compare two quotes, remove scope you do not need, or tell the difference between a cheaper vendor and a smaller scope.
What is the best question to catch a sub-contracted build?+
"Can I visit the workshop this week?" A firm that owns production answers with an address and a day. Anything that defers the visit — after the order, nearer the show, once design is approved — is the answer by another route.
How long should this take?+
About a thirty-minute call for the first stage, then one document request each at quoting and signing. Set against a build that needs 3 weeks or more, it is the cheapest hour in the whole project.
International Expo Stalls near you
Our crews deliver international expo stalls in every major Indian city.