Trade Show Booth Storage & Maintenance: The Costs Nobody Talks About

You spent months designing and building your trade show booth. The construction invoice is paid. Now comes the part almost nobody budgets for: keeping it in good shape between shows.

Storage, maintenance, insurance, graphic refreshes, and repairs add up to a significant annual cost that sits on top of your original booth investment. If you don’t plan for these expenses, they’ll show up as unwelcome surprises in your trade show budget year after year.

Storage Costs: The Monthly Bill That Never Stops

Your booth needs a home when it’s not on a show floor. Unless you have warehouse space at your own facility (and most companies don’t), you’re paying someone else to store it.

What Storage Actually Costs

Storage is typically priced by square footage or by the number of crates and cases. Here are realistic monthly ranges:

Booth Size	Number of Crates/Cases	Monthly Storage Cost
Small (10x10)	2-4 cases	$200 - $400
Medium (10x20 to 20x20)	5-12 crates	$400 - $800
Large (20x20 to 30x30)	10-25+ crates	$800 - $1,500
Major island (40x40+)	25+ crates	$1,500 - $2,500+

Those are monthly figures. Over a full year, a mid-sized booth runs $4,800 - $9,600 just for storage. Over a 5-year booth lifespan, that’s $24,000 - $48,000 — potentially rivaling the original construction cost.

Location matters. Warehouse space in Chicago, Las Vegas, or Orlando (popular exhibit hub cities) costs more than rural areas, but storing near major show cities can save on shipping costs.

Climate Control: Worth the Premium

Not all storage is created equal. A basic warehouse keeps your booth dry and off the ground. Climate-controlled storage maintains consistent temperature and humidity levels.

Climate control adds roughly 20-40% to your monthly storage bill, but it protects against real damage:

• Heat warps rigid panels, delaminates laminated graphics, and can damage electronics
• Cold makes some plastics brittle and can crack acrylic elements
• Humidity causes mold on fabric components, corrosion on metal fittings, and warping in wood structures
• Temperature swings are the worst — repeated expansion and contraction stress joints and adhesives

If your booth includes fabric graphics, electronics, wood, or specialty materials, climate-controlled storage isn’t optional. It’s insurance against having to rebuild components.

Storage Facility Options

You have three main choices for where to store your booth, and each comes with different trade-offs.

Exhibit House Storage

Many exhibit houses and booth fabricators offer storage as a service. This is often the most convenient option because they also handle maintenance, repairs, and show logistics.

Typical cost: $400 - $2,000+/month depending on booth size Pros: They know your booth intimately, can inspect and maintain it, handle pull and prep for shows Cons: Usually the most expensive option; you may feel locked into their services

Self-Storage Units

Commercial self-storage facilities are the budget option. You rent a unit large enough for your crates and manage access yourself.

Typical cost: $200 - $800/month depending on unit size and location Pros: Lowest monthly cost, flexible lease terms Cons: No booth expertise on-site, climate control not always available, you handle all logistics yourself, potential security concerns

Third-Party Logistics Warehouses

Freight and logistics companies that specialize in trade show materials offer warehouse storage with shipping coordination.

Typical cost: $300 - $1,200/month Pros: Integrated shipping services, professional handling, some offer asset management Cons: Less booth-specific expertise than exhibit houses, varying quality levels

For most exhibitors, exhibit house storage makes sense despite the higher cost. The convenience of having your booth partner handle pull, prep, inspection, and return saves time and reduces the risk of damage from inexperienced handling.

Annual Maintenance and Refurbishment Costs

A booth that goes to multiple shows per year takes a beating. Setup, teardown, shipping, and foot traffic all cause wear. Proactive maintenance costs less than emergency repairs.

Routine Maintenance (After Every Show)

Budget $500 - $2,000 per show for post-show inspection and minor repairs:

• Hardware tightening and replacement (bolts, connectors, fasteners)
• Touch-up painting or finishing
• Cleaning fabric components
• Testing electrical and lighting
• Replacing worn carpet or flooring sections

If you store with an exhibit house, this inspection often happens automatically when the booth returns to the warehouse. Ask about their post-show inspection process.

Graphic Refreshes

Graphics are the most visible part of your booth and the first thing to look dated. Plan for refreshes on this cycle:

• Minor updates (swap a few panels, update product images): $2,000 - $5,000, every 1-2 years
• Major refresh (new graphics across the entire booth): $5,000 - $15,000, every 2-3 years
• Complete rebrand (new graphics plus structural modifications): $10,000 - $30,000+, as needed

Fabric graphics are generally cheaper to replace than rigid panels. If your booth uses tension fabric systems, you can refresh the entire look for the cost of new fabric prints — often $3,000 - $8,000 for a 20x20 booth.

This is one area where design choices at the start save money later. Booths designed with easily swappable graphic panels cost far less to refresh than those with integrated or hard-mounted graphics.

Structural Repairs

Over time, structural components wear out or get damaged in shipping:

• Bent or dented frame sections: $500 - $3,000 to repair or replace
• Damaged flooring: $1,000 - $5,000 depending on extent
• Broken lighting fixtures: $200 - $1,000 per fixture
• Worn or damaged furniture: $500 - $3,000 to refurbish or replace

Budget $2,000 - $8,000 per year for structural maintenance on a mid-sized booth. Larger or more complex booths should budget proportionally more.

Some of these costs overlap with what many exhibitors think of as hidden trade show costs. They’re not hidden — they’re just ongoing.

Insurance During Storage

Your booth is a significant asset sitting in a warehouse. It needs insurance coverage.

Coverage Options

Business property insurance may cover your booth as a business asset, but check the fine print. Many policies exclude or limit coverage for property stored at third-party locations.

Exhibit house insurance is often included with storage contracts, but coverage limits may be low — sometimes $25,000 - $50,000 against a booth worth $150,000+. Always verify the coverage amount and what’s excluded.

Inland marine insurance is the gold standard for trade show assets. It covers your booth in storage, in transit, and at the show venue. Annual premiums typically run $500 - $1,500 for coverage up to $200,000-$300,000 in value.

Don’t skip this. A warehouse fire, flood, or theft could wipe out your entire booth investment with no recourse.

Depreciation Planning

Your booth is a depreciating asset. The IRS allows depreciation of trade show exhibits over 7 years (under MACRS). Your accountant can advise on the specifics, but from a practical standpoint, plan on your booth losing 15-20% of its value each year.

This depreciation matters for two reasons:

1. Tax benefits — you can deduct the depreciation as a business expense
2. Replacement planning — if your booth is worth $150,000 new, it’s realistically worth $60,000-$75,000 after three years and needs replacement budgeting to begin

Smart teams start setting aside replacement funds in year 3 so they’re not scrambling when the booth reaches end of life in years 5-7.

Total Annual Ownership Costs: The Full Picture

Here’s what annual ownership actually looks like for a mid-sized custom booth (20x20, $120,000 original cost), assuming 4 shows per year:

Expense Category	Annual Cost
Storage (climate-controlled)	$7,200 - $12,000
Post-show maintenance (4 shows)	$4,000 - $8,000
Graphic refresh (annualized)	$3,000 - $6,000
Structural repairs (annualized)	$2,000 - $5,000
Insurance	$800 - $1,500
Total annual ownership cost	$17,000 - $32,500

That’s $17,000 - $32,500 per year on top of your original purchase price, shipping, drayage, and show costs. Over 5 years, ongoing ownership costs add $85,000 - $162,500 to your total investment.

This is why the renting vs. owning calculation is more nuanced than most people realize. Ownership makes sense at the right show frequency, but you need to budget for the full cost, not just the purchase price.

Reducing Ongoing Costs

You can’t eliminate these costs, but you can manage them:

• Design for durability from the start — specify materials and construction methods that withstand repeated setup and shipping
• Invest in proper crating — good cases and crates reduce shipping damage and lower repair costs over time
• Use fabric graphics where possible — they’re lighter (lower shipping costs), more durable in transit, and cheaper to replace
• Negotiate storage contracts annually — don’t just auto-renew; get competitive quotes
• Consolidate vendors — using one exhibit house for storage, maintenance, and show services often yields better rates than splitting across providers

Building These Costs Into Your Budget

The biggest mistake teams make is budgeting for the booth purchase and forgetting everything that comes after. When planning your trade show program budget, include a line item for annual booth ownership costs separate from per-show expenses.

Use our trade show cost calculator to model both per-show costs and annual ownership expenses. Having the full picture prevents the sticker shock that hits when these costs surface throughout the year.

For the broader view on booth investment strategy, including whether ownership is right for your program, see our booth ownership guide.