Update 10/23/2023 - Updated information for 2024's show below. AA forms are now closed and we're aiming to send out status updates by mid-November. Thank you!
Thank you for choosing Anime St. Louis as a possible spot on your 2024 tour. We pride ourselves on offering a professional show with plenty of selling opportunity for our participating vendors. Due to this, we have a different process and rules than other shows. Please read the following rules and details before applying. Links to the applications are at the bottom of each section.
Application & Juried Process
Anime St. Louis uses a juried application process in choosing our vendors and artists for the year, rather than accepting on a first come-first serve basis. We wish to offer rooms with a variety of different merchandise to our attendees, which in turn offers a better selling chance to everyone. Sending in the application does not guarantee you a space!
Payment
If accepted, we will send you your paperwork and an invoice for your payment to the e-mail you list on your application from conchair@animestl.net. Payment is done through check or money order to the event company only (Dynamic Midwest Events & Promotions); never with cash or checks made personally to a member of staff. Once you have been accepted and a deposit payment has been processed, your space will be reserved for the event. A 50% minimum payment is required in order to reserve your space.
Cancellation Policy
The following is the return/refund policy for our booth spaces:
- Cancelling prior to January 1st, 2024: 75% of payment returned
- Cancelling prior to March 24th, 2024: 50% of payment returned
- Cancelling from March 24th to April 26th, 2024: 0% of payment returned
Jury Selection
We will begin our jury selection after October 22nd. All applicants that submit their forms before that date will be considered. Anyone who submits an application, even after the spaces are filled, is added to our 2024 show waiting list in case of cancellations. Please do not e-mail or message regarding availability or openings. We will contact you directly if any openings occur.
About Anime St. Louis and Dynamic Midwest Events & Promotions
Our event’s unique attendance was over 8,000 in 2023, not counting guests, entertainers, vendors, and staff. 2024 will be our 19th year of operation. Although we focus on anime, we welcome all nerdy interests.
Dynamic Midwest Events & Promotions, our parent company, is owned by the same people who have been a part of Anime St. Louis for years. The parent company was started as we wish to run more events in the future, and we wanted the company name to reflect what we are.
If you have any questions, please e-mail Jeremy Johnson at conchair@animestl.net. Thank you.
Dealer's Room
The first 10' x 10' space is $700, with each additional 10' x 10' space being $600 (limit 4 spaces total per business) after that. Pipe and drape, 8' tables, and a small trash can are provided with the purchased space, along with an internet connection for the weekend. Electricity is extra and is handled through the St. Charles Convention Center directly (details will be provided in your acceptance paperwork). Each business gets 3 badges with their first 10 x 10' space purchase, and then an additional badge with each additional space purchased (limit 6 total badges per business.)
**New for 2024** - Dealer Forms are Wait-list Only – Currently, we work with several local brick and mortar businesses that also support our show. Combined with additional local and regional businesses we’ve grown to trust over the years and the inability to add more booths to our Exhibit Hall, we have made the decision to have dealer forms only be for the 2024 wait-list. We do not wish to lead any businesses on into thinking we have spaces available as they wait for news on the possibility. If spaces open up, we will refer to the wait-list based on the opening and merchandise needs that occur.
Rules
COVID: There are currently no planned mandates for 2024’s convention.
General Liability Insurance and Tax ID: All dealers wishing to have space at Anime St. Louis should have a valid liability insurance policy, of which our event and venue do not need to be covered by. Dealers should also have a Missouri State Tax ID. If you do not have a Missouri Tax ID #, please review http://dor.mo.gov/faq/business/special.php and http://dor.mo.gov/forms/2643S.pdf.
Selling Food: We have an agreement with the venue on the selling of food items. Only novelty foods like Pocky, Ramune, and other Japanese snacks and drinks are allowed. Please do not bring outside food or drink from other restaurants into the venue. Non-Japanese snack and drink sales must be approved by event staff before the event date.
Alcohol: The selling of alcoholic beverages is strictly prohibited.
Adult Materials: While the selling of hentai and other 18+ items is allowed, we ask dealers to use discretion when displaying these items. We have a good number of attendees who are under the age of 18, who may or may not be with their guardians. Only attendees who are 18 years and older may view and purchase these items.
Live Steel Weapons: Currently, only dealers who have previously been at our show may sell live steel weapons and we are not currently seeking new live steel weapon vendors. Only attendees who are 18 years of age or older may hold or purchase live steel weapons at the show. We do not allow live steel items to be carried in the venue. If an attendee purchases a live steel item from your company, please inform them to take it to their car or hotel room immediately.
Noise: Please avoid using excessive noise or disruptive behavior to attract attendees to your booth.
Bootlegs: The selling of bootleg merchandise is strictly prohibited. If there is a complaint or comment regarding a piece of merchandise, we ask you work with our representatives on evaluating if the item is official or bootleg. If it is a bootleg, we ask your compliance in removing the item from your inventory for the remainder of the event. Failure to comply may result in ejection from the event without refund. If a majority of a dealer's inventory is found to be bootleg, they will be asked to leave the show without refund.
Unlawful merchandise: Items that are deemed illegal for sale in the state of Missouri or in the United States of America are not allowed.
Fan Art and Use of Licensed Characters (In the case of artists requesting a dealer's booth, or dealers selling art they've created in addition to retail stock) - Fan art is allowed at Anime St. Louis as long as the composition is fully created from scratch. All fan made works must be original creations in regards to composition and cannot be recreations of another person's fan-made works. No items may be sold that contain traced reproductions, screenshots or image captures from shows, manga, etc. Titles of shows, properties, and their trademarks cannot be used to advertise the merchandise (IE: advertising One Piece fan art with a sign that contains the name One Piece or the logo from the show). Official fabric that contain licensed characters and is sold at retail stores such as Jo-Anns and Wal-Mart may be used in the creation of goods to be sold in the vendor's room.
Artist Alley
Each space is $325 (limit one space per artist or artist group). Pipe and drape, an 8' table, and small trash can are provided with each space, along with an internet connection for the weekend. Electricity is extra and is handled through the St. Charles Convention Center directly (details will be provided in your acceptance paperwork). Each space comes with 2 badges, and additional badges may be purchased at a discounted rate (limit 4 total badges per purchased space).
Rules
COVID: There are currently no planned mandates for 2024’s convention.
Fan Art and Use of Licensed Characters - Fan art is allowed at Anime St. Louis as long as the composition is fully created from scratch. All fan made works must be original creations in regards to composition and cannot be recreations of another person's fan-made works. No items may be sold that contain traced reproductions, screenshots or image captures from shows, manga, etc. Titles of shows, properties, and their trademarks cannot be used to advertise the merchandise (ie, advertising One Piece fan art with a sign that contains the name One Piece or the logo from the show). Official fabric that contain licensed characters and is sold at retail stores such as Jo-Anns and Wal-mart may be used in the creation of goods to be sold in the Artist Alley.
Table Sharing & Proxy Vendors - Table sharing is allowed at Anime St. Louis between consenting creators as long as the booth space is paid for in full. We ask that the artist who created their pieces be in attendance at Anime St. Louis, if possible. If the artist is attending multiple shows and requires a proxy, friend, or employee to be at the show in their place, we ask that the applying artist send us an e-mail clarifying who their representative(s) will be for our records. If a representative is selling works made by multiple artists, they need to provide proof they have the consent of the artists to sell their productions.
Adult Materials: While the selling of hentai and other 18+ items is allowed, we ask artists to use discretion when displaying these items. We have a good number of attendees who are under the age of 18, who may or may not be with their guardians. Only attendees who are 18 years and older may purchase or see these items.
Noise: Please avoid using excessive noise or disruptive behavior to attract attendees to your booth.
No AI Creations for Promotional Use or Sales: The following policy includes and is not limited to art, graphics, and presentations created using AI technology programs such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion. Things created using such programs are not allowed at Anime St. Louis for the purposes of promoting a business or for commercial and personal sales. Items must be created via the entities’ own skills with available physical tools and non-AI software. They cannot be created utilizing prompts input into learning software or algorithms. This policy excludes digital tools created by others (ie, brushes in art programs), pieces made using editing software that operates without algorithms, and other hardware and software that requires learning and applied skill from the user themselves.