What are some tips for first-timers?

[Zog]

If you buy things in the dealers room, buy stuff the last day- and HAGGLE.  HAGGLE LIKE A 70-YEAR OLD SPANISH WOMAN FROM A MOUNTAINOUS REGION WHO BEARS A LOAD OF GOODS ON HER BACK FOR THE LOCAL MARKET!  HAGGLE LIKE MY 75 YEAR OLD ASIAN GRANDMOTHER TAUGHT ME TO!

Then you gets swords for like half off.  Is good, ya?

ahem

You get good deals that way- no one wants to haul their lewts back with them- vendors want to sell to you.

This is my uh... more than 7th fanime, (guh I'm old) and yeah, bathing is important- but that really falls under the general tip:

"Be kind and courteous to those around you."

We're all fans here, we all get along on something- Fanime is full of cool people who all know the same jokes and all laugh at lolcats, you'll be fine.

[Nyxyin]

If you buy things in the dealers room, buy stuff the last day- and HAGGLE.

That only works if you want stuff that doesn't sell out earlier in the weekend, especially if it's stuff everybody is already carrying (which you can probably find online for cheaper anyways).  It works both ways: because dealers don't want to carry things back, the quantities they bring are limited.  The dealers try to anticipate what people will buy, but demand is fickle, and the dealers can guess wrong.  If you wait, you risk the dealer running out of an unexpectedly popular item.  That said, it is still fun to go in on Monday and look for "opportunities" on items that you were somewhat curious about, but not so curious that you'd be willing to pay full price.  Sometimes, depending on tastes, some good deals can be had on Monday.  Other times, Mondays really do feel like the stock is reduced to mere leftovers that nobody else wanted.  There are advantages to shopping both early and late.  I'd speculate that the fans of the merchandise are better off shopping earlier while the fans of bargains are better off shopping later.

[fr33lanc3r]

1. browse the dealers room before you shop, haggle the dealer like hell and when buying bulk, haggle harder.
2. eat before you go. bring water and food. it was like 2 dollars for a small bottle of coke and 1.50 if u go into the hotels and got coke. ._.
3. bring a camera. i didn't have a camera back in 2006 so i missed alot of good shots T_T
4. [optional mission] go to panels, cosplay meetups, and the masquerade. (good memories..)