MAGIC is a large scheduled fashion trade show in Las Vegas where brands across apparel, footwear, accessories and related categories exhibit to retail buyers. For a boutique owner it is a discovery and trend-reading trip first and an order-writing trip second, which is the opposite of how most first-timers treat it.
I am Carina Hatton, boutique owner since 2013 and ecommerce coach since 2019. This guide is about how to shop a very large show without overbuying, and how to decide whether the trip is worth your money at all. Every number below is a clearly labelled hypothetical. I do not publish show dates, badge rules or exhibitor lists, because they change every edition. Check the official MAGIC site for the current calendar and registration requirements.
Quick answer
What MAGIC is and who attends
MAGIC is a trade-only event, which means the audience is retail buyers, brands, sales agencies, press and industry service providers rather than the public. The show runs across multiple sections and has historically been presented alongside related shows and neighbourhoods covering different categories and price tiers. Attendees range from single-store boutiques to national chains, which is part of what makes it useful and part of what makes it intimidating.
The practical consequence for a small boutique: some brands on the floor are built for large orders and will not be a fit, and others actively want independent retailers. Knowing which is which before you walk up saves hours.
What boutique owners can source there
- Women's apparel across contemporary, casual, denim and occasion.
- Footwear, usually sold in size-run cases. See wholesale shoes and wholesale shoe profit margins before committing.
- Handbags and small leather goods, covered in wholesale handbags for boutiques.
- Jewellery and fashion accessories, with planning help in wholesale accessories.
- Sourcing and manufacturing services, if you are developing your own label. That path is covered in how to find clothing manufacturers.
- Retail technology, packaging and service providers you would otherwise research online.
Preparing for the show
- Register early and confirm credentials. Trade shows ask for proof you are a retailer, commonly a resale certificate plus business documentation. If yours is not sorted, read how to get a wholesale licence.
- Decide the goal of the trip. Discovery, category expansion, replacing a brand, or writing a season. One primary goal, written down. Trips with three goals achieve none.
- Pull your numbers first. Open-to-buy, category sell-through, best and worst price points. Without them you are shopping on vibes in a very large room.
- Study the exhibitor directory. Build a shortlist by category and mark them on the floor plan. This is the single highest-return hour of preparation.
- Book appointments in advance. More on this below.
- Plan the days. Half a day per section is realistic. Nobody usefully walks the entire show.
- Sort logistics. Hotel near the venue, comfortable shoes, a battery pack, and a bag light enough to carry all day.
Setting a buying budget
Two budgets, kept separate, and neither one invented at the booth.
| Budget | What it covers | How to set it |
|---|---|---|
| Merchandise | Orders you write at the show | From open-to-buy for the delivery period, less a reorder reserve |
| Trip | Flights, hotel, food, transport, badge | A fixed number you compare against the value of attending |
Worked hypothetical, illustration only. A boutique with $10,000 of open-to-buy for the window:
| Allocation | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Core apparel with proven brands | $4,000 | Depth on shapes that already sell |
| New brand tests | $2,500 | Capped per brand so one failure is survivable |
| Accessories and impulse price points | $1,500 | Supports add-on sales |
| Reorder reserve | $2,000 | Untouchable at the show |
Set the underlying number properly in the Open-to-Buy Calculator rather than guessing on the flight.
Appointment planning
Appointments are what turn a huge show into a manageable two days.
- Book your must-see brands in advance. Reps at busy booths may not have time for a walk-up conversation.
- Leave gaps. A back-to-back schedule guarantees you miss the discovery that justified the trip.
- Group by location. Cross-floor zigzagging costs an hour a day.
- Protect a meal break. Hungry buyers write bad orders.
- Keep the last afternoon open for second visits, which is where you confirm the choices you actually want.
Evaluating vendors on the floor
Use the same short checklist at every booth so brands are comparable later:
| Check | What to ask or look for |
|---|---|
| Quality | Turn it inside out. Seams, hem, hardware, fabric weight |
| Fit consistency | Compare two of the same style and check the size chart |
| Minimums | Per style, per order, and whether packs are prebuilt |
| Reorderability | Is it stock service or a one-time cut, and what is the lead time |
| Delivery window | The actual ship dates, against your selling calendar |
| Terms | Deposit, payment terms, cancellation, damages, returns |
| Distribution | Who else near you carries it, and whether any radius protection exists |
| Margin | Suggested retail against your landed cost, not against wholesale |
The red flags are the same ones in how to spot fake wholesale vendors. At a show the main one is a brand that will not put terms in writing.
Taking notes and photos responsibly
Ask before you photograph. Many brands allow buyer photos of styles you are considering and some do not, particularly where a collection has not been released. Asking takes three seconds and protects a relationship you may want for years.
A note format that survives the flight home: booth number, brand, style number, wholesale cost, suggested retail, minimum, delivery window, reorder answer, your own one-line verdict. Photograph the line sheet page with the tag visible so the picture and the price stay together.
Comparing prices, minimums and reorderability
By day two, brands blur. A simple scoring sheet keeps decisions honest:
| Factor | Why it decides the order |
|---|---|
| Landed cost per unit | The only cost you can price from |
| Achievable retail in your market | Suggested retail is the brand's opinion, not your customer's |
| Minimum commitment | Determines the size of the mistake if it fails |
| Reorder speed | Fast reorders let you buy shallower and chase |
| Delivery timing | Late delivery converts full price into markdown |
A brand with a slightly higher cost and genuine reorder capability is often the better buy, because it lets you start shallow and go deeper on evidence.
How to avoid overbuying
- Write the cap on the first page of your notebook. Not in your head.
- Track committed spend after every appointment. A running total is the only real defence.
- Cap each new brand. Decide the maximum test order before you see the line.
- Keep the reorder reserve untouchable. It is not spare budget, it is next season's winners.
- Sleep on the last hour. Late-day orders are where fatigue does the buying.
- Check delivery windows against cash. Three brands landing in the same week is a cash problem, even if each order was sensible. Model it with a boutique cash flow example.
Landed cost and freight from a show order
Landed cost per unit = wholesale unit cost + freight per unit + duties or fees per unit + inbound handling per unit
Margin = (selling price − landed cost) ÷ selling price
Markup = (selling price − landed cost) ÷ landed cost
Show orders ship later, sometimes from overseas, so ask who pays freight, how it is quoted, and whether duties apply. Then judge each brand on margin after landed cost, using the Landed Cost Calculator and the method in wholesale landed cost. Price the result against your own customer with retail pricing.
Following up after the show
- Within 48 hours, sort your notes into ordered, shortlisted and rejected while you still remember the booths.
- Email every shortlisted brand with a specific question. A vague follow-up gets a vague answer.
- Enter all written orders into a delivery calendar and check the cash impact week by week.
- Confirm terms and cancellation policy in writing for every order.
- Reconcile committed spend against open-to-buy and adjust the rest of the season.
- Diary sell-through reviews at two and four weeks after each delivery, using sell-through rate.
How MAGIC differs from Dallas, Atlanta and LA
| Market | Format | Best use for a boutique |
|---|---|---|
| MAGIC Las Vegas | Large scheduled trade show across multiple sections | Discovery at scale, trend read, brands not on marketplaces |
| Dallas Apparel Market | Scheduled market with permanent showrooms | Seasonal orders, strong western and accessory presence |
| Atlanta Apparel | Scheduled market at AmericasMart | Apparel plus gift and home crossover in one trip |
| LA Fashion District | Permanent district open year round | Immediate stock and fast-turn apparel on your own schedule |
The full comparison, including travel cost and how to estimate return, is in the wholesale trade shows hub.
Who should go, and who should skip it
| Go if | Skip if |
|---|---|
| You have a real seasonal budget to place | You are pre-launch with no buying budget yet |
| You need to differentiate from local competitors | You only need reorders from brands you already have |
| You are adding or replacing a category | A marketplace test buy would answer the same question |
| Travel cost is small next to the decisions you will make | The trip cost is a meaningful share of your buying budget |
| You can commit two focused days | You can only drop in for a few hours |
If you are early and the honest answer is skip, put the money into inventory and use online wholesale marketplaces until the buying budget justifies the flight. There is no prize for attending.
Working out whether the trip pays for itself
Las Vegas is usually the most expensive market on the list once flights, hotel nights, ground transport and meals are counted. Treat those costs as part of the buy, because they come out of the same account.
The simplest test is how much extra retail revenue the trip has to create. Divide total trip cost by your gross margin expressed as a decimal. A $2,000 trip at a 55 percent gross margin needs roughly $3,636 in additional retail sales to break even, because $2,000 divided by 0.55 is about $3,636. Use your own margin rather than a borrowed one; the Profit Margin Calculator will give you the figure from your own costs.
Retail sales needed to cover the trip = total trip cost ÷ gross margin
Two things usually decide the answer. First, whether you would have spent the inventory dollars anyway, in which case the trip only needs to improve the quality of the buying. Second, whether you find lines you cannot access online, because that is the advantage a large show genuinely offers over a marketplace account.
A realistic plan for a first MAGIC trip
- Before you go, shortlist categories rather than brands. The exhibitor list is long and brand names will mean little until you see the product.
- Day one, walk and record. Photograph only where permitted, note price ranges, minimums and lead times, and place no orders.
- Evening one, sort notes into yes, maybe and no, and compare them against the budget you set at home.
- Day two, revisit the yes list and write orders, keeping a reserve for reorders rather than spending to the last dollar.
- After the show, enter every order into a delivery calendar so two large deliveries do not land in the same week.
The single most useful habit is a written budget you set before travelling and refuse to change in the room. Large shows are designed to be persuasive, and enthusiasm on a Tuesday afternoon has a way of becoming markdowns in three months. Check the cash timing of what you commit against a worked boutique cash flow example before you sign.