At productronica 2027 in Munich, a square metre of row stand costs 319 euros. At IPM Essen 2027, a square metre of the same stand type costs 188 euros. Both are leading international trade fairs, both sell bare exhibition space, and neither price is wrong. Each reflects what the organiser has to recover and the results its exhibitors expect.
Booth pricing is the price an organiser charges exhibitors for space, usually per square metre or per square foot, together with the fees and packages around it. For exhibitors it is the biggest single item. Exhibit space accounts for 40.5 per cent of their total trade show spend, according to research by CEIR (Center for Exhibition Industry Research) published in April 2026. That makes your price list a key document for exhibitors.
This guide shows how to build a booth price from your cost floor, how to price position and packages, which fees to show up front and what to sell on top. The price per square metre covers your costs, while additional services help exhibitors achieve the results that encourage them to return.
Who you are really pricing for
A price list has one reader you never meet: the exhibitor’s head of marketing, who signs the contract and has to defend it a few months later. In the Exhibitor Outlook 2026/2027 by AUMA, the association of the German trade fair industry, a phone survey of 404 German exhibiting companies carried out by Bonsai Research, 83.4 per cent called the cost benefit ratio of stand rent, travel and side costs decisive. Rising costs were the top challenge for 64.1 per cent. And 27.7 per cent said they increasingly have to justify trade fairs internally against digital channels.
The exhibitor's view
Space is the biggest line, and it gets checked
So the head of marketing does not compare your rate per square metre with another show’s rate. She compares the full invoice with what her team brought back. Your price list has to survive that comparison, and that changes what a good one looks like.
Step 1: calculate your cost floor
Her comparison starts after the invoice. Yours has to start earlier, with the price below which a booth loses money. The calculation fits on one page.
- Add up the costs the exhibition causes: hall rent including build-up and dismantling days, visitor marketing, staff, technical services, security, cleaning and your event platform.
- Work out the sellable area. Aisles, emergency routes, catering and lounges take a large part of the gross hall, and only net stand space can be sold.
- Assume a realistic occupancy, not a sold-out hall.
- Divide the costs by the sellable area you expect to sell, then add your target margin.
Here is a worked example with round, illustrative figures. A show has 700,000 euros of exhibition costs and 5,500 square metres of net stand space. If every metre sells, the cost floor is about 127 euros per square metre. At 85 per cent occupancy it rises to about 150 euros. With a 25 per cent margin, the average price you need is about 187 euros.
That average is your target, not yet your price list. Sponsorship, tickets and add-ons can lower it, which is why the whole budget matters. Our event budget template starts with revenue rather than the venue for exactly this reason.
Below that number, every booth you sell costs money.
Step 2: price the position, not just the metre
Your target average becomes the basis for a price structure by stand type. A booth with more open sides gets more passing traffic and more visibility, so organisers charge more for it. German trade fairs use four standard types: the row stand (one side open), the corner stand (two), the end stand (three) and the island stand (all four sides open). Published price lists show how steep the ladder can be.
| Show | Row | Corner | End | Island | Mandatory extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| productronica 2027, Munich | 319 € | 353 € | 365 € | 373 € | Communication fee 1,150 €, AUMA fee 0.60 €/m², disposal 8 €/m² |
| analytica 2028, Munich | 295 € | 345 € | 365 € | 375 € | Communication fee 1,370 €, AUMA fee 0.80 €/m², disposal 6 €/m² |
| ANGA COM 2027, Cologne | 285 € | 305 € | 325 € | 345 € | Energy flat rate 11 €/m² |
| IPM Essen 2027 | 188 € | 194 € | 199 € | 200 € | Media package 379 €, energy 10 €/m² up to 150 m², AUMA fee 0.60 €/m² |
Prices per square metre of raw space, net of VAT, regular rates as published by the organisers (accessed October 2026).
Measured against the row stand, the island premium ranges from 6 per cent at IPM Essen to 27 per cent at analytica, by our calculation from these lists. There is no industry formula. The premium reflects how scarce good positions are on your floor and how much your exhibitors value them.
A practical rule follows. Set the row stand slightly below your target average and let corners and islands lift the mix. Then check the result against the mix you actually expect. If 70 per cent of your space sells as row stands, a generous island premium barely moves the average. How many premium positions exist is decided on the floor plan, which is one more reason to keep stand type and price on each booth, as our guide to event floor plan software describes.
US congress exhibitions often use a different logic: a fixed price per 10 by 10 foot booth plus a flat corner fee. DIA 2026, the annual meeting of the Drug Information Association in Philadelphia, charges 6,000 US dollars per booth and 250 dollars per corner. The Internal Medicine Meeting 2026 of the American College of Physicians (ACP) charges 3,400 dollars per booth and 275 dollars per corner. Converted, a DIA booth costs roughly 646 dollars per square metre, about twice the German rates above. But DIA includes one full conference registration and three staff registrations per 100 square feet.
The audience and the services included shape the price as much as the floor space.
Step 3: separate space only from packages
The rate per square metre buys bare floor. Exhibitors still need walls, carpet, power and furniture. You can leave that to them and their stand builders, or you can sell it as a package.
UK shows often price both options side by side. At European Microwave Week (EuMW) 2026, space only costs 610 pounds per square metre and shell scheme costs 630 pounds. The shell scheme adds white back and side walls, a fascia board with the company name, a spotlight per 3 square metres, a socket including consumption and carpet. The gap is small because the organiser buys the shell in volume.
German shows sell the same idea as complete packages. At ANGA COM 2027, a 12 square metre “Plug & Play” Bronze package costs 5,550 euros at the regular rate, while the bare space alone costs 3,420 euros. The difference, 2,130 euros or about 178 euros per square metre, pays for a stand that is ready on arrival.
Packages do two jobs. They lower the barrier for first-time and small exhibitors who have no stand builder. And they put the total cost into one number, which is the number the head of marketing wants to sign.
Step 4: show every mandatory fee up front
A package puts the total into one number. Mandatory fees do the opposite: they are rarely large on their own, but they arrive as surprises on the invoice. This is where trust is lost.
Take a 20 square metre row stand at productronica 2027. The space costs 6,380 euros. The communication fee (1,150 euros), the AUMA fee (0.60 euros per square metre), the disposal fee (8 euros per square metre) and an advance for electricity and water (24 euros per square metre, later settled against actual use) add another 1,802 euros, or 28 per cent. On a 100 square metre stand the same items add only 14 per cent.
Flat fees hit small exhibitors hardest. If your show depends on many small stands, check what a 9 or 12 square metre booth really costs in total. The AUMA fee, by the way, is a German speciality: the organiser collects it per square metre and passes it on to the industry association.
The fix is simple. Publish an all-in example price for your most common stand size next to the rate per square metre. That lets exhibitors assess the full cost before booking.
Step 5: use timing and terms, not deep discounts
Once the price is clear, timing decides when it is paid. Organisers need two things early: cash and a reliable floor plan. Early booking discounts buy both, and they do not have to be large. ANGA COM 2027 charges 15 euros per square metre less until the end of June 2026, about 5 per cent. IPM Essen 2027 gave 5 euros per square metre off until the end of May 2026.
Payment and cancellation terms matter as much as the rate. The ACP meeting asked for 50 per cent of the booth fee with the contract until mid-December 2025 and 100 per cent afterwards. ANGA COM states that the full stand rent remains payable if an exhibitor withdraws. Clear terms protect your floor plan.
For returning exhibitors, consider offering first choice of position before general sales open instead of a discount. Priority access to a good position can be worth more to them than a 5 per cent discount, without reducing your rate.
From cost to price list
Five steps to a booth price
- Step 1 Cost floor Exhibition costs divided by the net space you expect to sell, plus your margin.
- Step 2 Position ladder Row stand slightly below the target average, corners and islands above it.
- Step 3 Space or package Raw space for experienced exhibitors, a ready stand for first-timers.
- Step 4 All fees visible One all-in example price for the most common stand size.
- Step 5 Timing and terms A modest early booking rate, clear payment and cancellation rules.
What to sell on top of the space
Once the space is priced, the margin and the rebooking decision move to what comes on top. Most organisers can organise their additional services into five groups:
- Co-exhibitors and badges: ANGA COM charges 400 euros per co-exhibitor and 17 euros per additional exhibitor badge; IPM Essen charges 550 euros per co-exhibitor.
- Meeting space: private rooms or suites next to the hall floor. ANGA COM sells Meeting Suites from 6,500 euros for 16 square metres.
- Visibility: placements in the app and floor plan, pre-show mailings and session sponsorships. Our guide on how to write a sponsorship prospectus shows how to bundle them into three or four tiers.
- Lead capture: licences for scanning visitor badges. Whether you provide them or leave them to exhibitors is covered in our guide to lead retrieval for event organisers.
- Pre-booked meetings: some organisers sell guaranteed meeting contingents as a separate product, which deserves its own pricing logic.
These services help exhibitors answer a practical question: what did the show deliver?
Why the add-ons decide rebooking
Back to the head of marketing. When she plans next year’s budget, a 28 per cent fee surcharge will annoy her, but it will not decide. What decides is whether she can point to conversations that led somewhere. Space alone cannot promise that. A well priced booth in an empty aisle is still an expensive booth.
That is why the best price lists sell outcomes as well as metres. Meeting space, lead capture and a meeting programme turn “good visitor quality” into something an exhibitor can count. If your exhibitors still doubt that pre-booked meetings are worth their time, our argument for exhibitors is written for exactly that conversation.
Converve’s B2B matchmaking platform plans meetings between exhibitors and visitors before the doors open. You configure a meeting matrix that sets which groups may meet, in which time slots and at which booth or table, and participants request and confirm meetings in their own agendas. Our trade show solution page explains the setup.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a booth cost at a trade show?
It depends on the show and its audience. Published 2027 rates at German leading trade fairs range from about 190 to 375 euros per square metre of raw space, net of VAT (IPM Essen, productronica, analytica). US congress exhibitions often charge per 10 by 10 foot booth, for example 3,400 US dollars at the ACP meeting 2026 and 6,000 dollars at DIA 2026. Mandatory fees come on top.
How do organisers calculate the price of exhibition space?
Start with a cost floor: the costs the exhibition causes, divided by the net stand space you expect to sell at realistic occupancy, plus a target margin. Then build a ladder by position, with row stands slightly below the target average and corner, end and island stands above it.
What is the difference between space only and shell scheme?
Space only is bare floor; the exhibitor brings their own stand. Shell scheme adds walls, a name board, lighting, power and carpet. At EuMW 2026 the difference was 20 pounds per square metre (610 versus 630 pounds).
How much more should a corner or island booth cost?
There is no fixed rule. In published 2027 and 2028 lists, island stands cost between 6 and 27 per cent more than row stands (IPM Essen and analytica, our calculation). US shows often add a flat fee of 250 to 275 US dollars per corner (DIA and ACP 2026).
What is the AUMA fee on German trade fair invoices?
It is a small charge per square metre that German organisers collect and pass on to AUMA, the association of the German trade fair industry. Most 2027 price lists show 0.60 euros per square metre; analytica 2028 shows 0.80 euros.
Should organisers offer early booking discounts?
Yes, but modest ones. They secure cash flow and a reliable floor plan early. ANGA COM 2027 offered 15 euros per square metre off, about 5 per cent. For returning exhibitors, first choice of position is often worth more than a discount.
Conclusion: price the metre, sell the outcome
A sound booth price starts with your cost floor, adds a ladder for position, keeps space and packages apart and discloses every fee before booking. That covers your costs. It does not yet bring exhibitors back.
What brings them back is what you sell on top: meeting space, lead capture, visibility and meetings that their head of marketing can point to next year. If you want to add a planned meeting programme to your exhibitor offer, get in touch with Converve.
