trade show organizers offer exhibitors a variety of sales lead
capture/management devices for rental, usually at a fee of several
hundered dollars each for a two or three day show.  (Most trade show
deals are grossly overpriced because it is a 'business to business'
market, and it is an employee, not the owner, who signs the purchase
orders; thus the 'its not my money' attitude prevails.  I like these
systems, especially the portable handheld ones that can be easily
taken around the show, but want to find a much less expensive way of
doing the work. (And I am the business owner, so it IS my money!)  A
brief search on google finds some providers but (disturbingly because
it means dealing with a salesperson and that implies paying outrageous
prices) they do not quote prices to make ordering simple.  I don't
want to talk to sales reps -- I want a cheap, reliable, effective
system, used is okay, at the very lowest price.  For $100, please
provide specific product descriptions, the source, and the price for
delivery in US or Canada.

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 06 May 2004 11:31 PDT

Hello -

I've contacted a number of companies today, and I believe -- as
attested to by more than one company -- the majority of these systems
are custom programmed for particular shows, or companies aren't
offering one-off purchases (they're selling in bulk to trade shows). 
This is why they're rented on-location.  There are 1D and 2D barcodes
and another barcode system, magnetic strips, etc.  I assume you're
looking for a product that would allow you to attend any show and scan
a barcode/badge or magnetic strip?

I have found one $2,000 off-the-shelf product that isn't
show-specific, and which reads "most" 2D barcodes along with magnetic
stripes.  It's completely portable and has integrated lead software. 
It will not work for every show, however, since it doesn't support 1D
barcodes (1D barcodes are keyed to an external database; 2D codes have
the data included in the barcode).

Would you be interested in this one company as an answer?  Or do you
have other specific company names in mind?  Or is there some other
means you would be interested in for retrieving lead data?

jbf777
GA Researcher

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Clarification of Question by marbuck-ga on 10 May 2004 06:25 PDT

My apologies for the long delay in response here.  While the possible
answer described below is somewhat encouraging, I would not want to
pay for results that take me to only one place!  Does the provider
outlined here have any competition?  If there are at least two
competing valid references, then I will be happy to pay (and tip) for
the direction.  (I should note that the 'rental' rate for lead devices
can reach $300 to $500 per show, so the payback on a $2000 purchase
can be justified.)

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 10 May 2004 19:00 PDT

There is one competitor that offers a "universal" solution, but it's
$5,000 minimum.  I think that's literally all there is.  If you were
willing to pay $100 for 3 solutions, would you be willing to pay $66
for 2 solutions?  If you'd like, you can lower the price of your
question to $65 and I can post both pieces of information.

Thanks,

jbf777

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Clarification of Question by marbuck-ga on 11 May 2004 06:46 PDT

I will accept JBF777-ga's suggestion.  Accordingly I am cancelling
this question and reposting with a specific invitation for JBF777-ga
to respond.