Ask three stand builders what a 60 m² stand costs and you will get three numbers that are far apart, all of them honest. The spread is not haggling — it is that "a stand" describes a shell scheme with a printed back wall and it describes a double-deck structure with a meeting room, and those are different products with the same name.
Here is how the number is actually assembled, in the order you will be asked to commit to each part.
1. Floor space, booked first and priced by the organiser
Space is the one cost you do not negotiate and the first you pay. In Germany it typically runs €180–€420 per m² depending on the fair and the stand type, with row stands at the bottom of that band and island stands at the top. A 60 m² island at a major fair is therefore €15,000–€25,000 before anything is built on it.
Two things get bolted on here and surprise first-time exhibitors: the compulsory AUMA fee and the organiser's media package — a listing in the catalogue and the online exhibitor directory. Together they are usually a low four-figure sum.
2. The build: the number everyone argues about
This is where the three quotes diverge. Broadly:
- Shell scheme upgrade — the organiser's system stand with your graphics: €120–€220 per m².
- Modular custom build — a system frame skinned to look bespoke, reusable across fairs: €280–€480 per m².
- Full custom build — carpentry, bespoke joinery, unusual geometry: €500–€900 per m², more if you are going up a level.
For 60 m² that is roughly €8,000 at the shell-scheme end and €40,000+ at the custom end. Both are "a stand."
3. Graphics and finishes
Large-format print, backlit panels, flooring and paint are usually quoted separately and land around €60–€140 per m². Backlighting is the single biggest swing: a lit wall reads across a hall and roughly doubles the panel cost.
4. Technology
Screens, mounts, media players, lighting, sound and the hall's power and network connections. A realistic figure for a 60 m² stand with two large screens and a demo station is €4,000–€9,000, of which a surprising share is the organiser's own charges for a three-phase power drop and a wired network line.
5. Logistics, build-up and dismantling
Transport, forklift time, hall labour, waste disposal and the builder's crew hotel and travel. Budget 12–20% of the build cost, higher if the fair is not in the builder's home city. Dismantling is not free and it is not optional: halls charge for material left behind.
6. The two lines that blow the budget
Overtime during build-up. Halls run strict schedules. If your graphics arrive late or a design change lands in week minus two, the crew works nights at premium rates and the forklift is booked by the hour. This is the single most common overrun.
Hall rules you did not read. Height limits, sprinkler clearances, suspended rigging approvals, fire ratings on materials, and double-deck structural sign-off all cost money when they are discovered late. A stand that needs engineering approval for a raised platform is a different project from one that does not.
A realistic total
For a 60 m² modular custom stand at a mid-sized German fair:
| Line | Range |
|---|---|
| Space + organiser fees | €15,000–€25,000 |
| Build | €17,000–€29,000 |
| Graphics | €4,000–€8,000 |
| Technology | €4,000–€9,000 |
| Logistics & crew | €3,000–€6,000 |
| Contingency (10%) | €4,000–€8,000 |
€47,000–€85,000, excluding your own team's travel, hospitality and anything you give away. Staffing and hotels for four people across three show days plus build-up will add roughly €6,000–€12,000 on top.
What to do with this
Set the space budget first, because it is fixed and it anchors everything else. Then decide, honestly, whether you are exhibiting again within eighteen months. If you are, buy a frame you can re-skin and spend the savings on lighting and staff training. If you are not, a well-executed shell scheme upgrade with excellent graphics beats a mediocre custom build at twice the price.
Get at least one quote that itemises every line above. A quote that says "stand: €52,000" is not a quote, it is a number.
Related reading: our guide to compliance constraints on medical device stands covers the regulated end of the same question.
