There is another thread about this. I can't find it so I apologize to all for making a new thread. I have thought about doing this for a while and just don't have a clue on how to get started so hope those that have done these types of jobs will offer some tips. Thank you.

My questions are:
Do the stores provide the tables and food and all the other stuff needed to do a demo?
How does a person know where to set up their table?
Can a person leave to go to the restroom?
Can a person drink water or pop while on the job?

Thank you.

No soda! (sorry, we don't say pop where I'm from)
Bathroom breaks are acceptable.
BA check in with the manager and ask for a set up location. Your set up location will depend on two things:
A. The brand you are doing the demo for (They typically try to place you near where the product is sold)
B Your attitude/relationship with the store. ie Do you have your own products? Are you interrupting customers shopping experience being too aggressive? Are you not friendly? Do you clean up afterwards?
Stores typically don't provide you with a table or anything else except ice and sometimes they make you purchase that. The company ships you everything sans a table.
I used to do demo work before I started doing promo modeling and bartending for private parties.
I got started by a referral from someone who was doing a demo at wholefoods. I inquired and they gave me the company info. I also worked with marketing staffing agencies that placed me.
As an in store demo BA, I made between $18-$25 for non alcoholic products. For alcoholic I made between $30-$40. I did an elite private party one year for Halloween and made $50 per hour. It was a hire through the company I worked for. I met people who worked their as a direct hire who made more.
I'm fat now lol (all these food shops) so I haven't been booked in 9 months. It's a very vain industry but can be super fun. When i did in store demos, I always had so much of the products I was able to keep. I had enough Smarty Pains vitamins for almost a year.

Wow. The demos I did (for about a year and a half), the company I worked for provided everything EXCEPT a padded mat for me to stand on (had to get one -- bad back, and a few hours on my feet were killing me; the pad helped ever so much) and a chair. I was definitely allowed to drink water (in a bottle, with a screw on lid -- sanitary concerns, I am sure). I was allowed a restroom break, if needed (put a little sign up, "back in 15 minutes", LOL!). However, I was absolutely 100% required to throw in the trash any samples/products not given to customers (which really bothered me -- what a WASTE! But "failure to do so" would result in termination, they warned me.)

The first day I was there, my manager was there, walked me through the entire process. After that, totally on my own.

You can find demos at the bottom of this page -- click on "show all forums", then click on "merchandising assignments".

It depends on the stores and the company you are doing demos for, but usually you should own:

A white button up shirt, black pants, a black apron, and comfortable close-toed black shoes (no athletic shoes for most demo companies). This is standard demo attire everywhere I do demos except for at the natural food stores, which are much more lenient and casual about your attire, as long as you have clean clothing and look tidy they usually aren't that picky.
Your own table and table cloth, and sometimes your own waste can and trash bags
Most companies I do demos for either provide products or I purchase the necessary items and they reimburse.

I am not allowed to sit down, drink, or eat during any of my demos. I never asked about bathroom breaks, but I don't take them because I don't feel comfortable leaving my demo table unattended, as sometimes I have a hot crockpot or other things on my table I don't want people to touch. Once I walked a few feet away from my table to point out an item to a customer and when I turned around, some people were helping themselves to the food in my crockpot, and since I have food handling gloves on I can't stand it when people touch the containers, cups, spoons, and other items on my table (who knows where their hands have been). And a little kid could burn their hands on the outside of my crockpot (lots of people don't watch their children properly and let them run around the store getting into stuff). I just go to the restroom before I start the demo and when I get done with the demo and then I don't have to worry about it.
The stores where I do the demos allow me to pick and choose where I want to set up, but as eyelove2shop wrote, it's usually very close to the product.
The nutritional company I work for sends me tons of product to use for demos and for my personal use. I make $25 per hour for all of the companies I work for. I know there are some companies that pay more. I am too old to do the types of events that eyelove2shop mentioned (private events and promotional modeling type stuff).

I stopped a couple of years ago after working at demos for about 15 years. At first I provided my own table and table cloth and cooking equipment if I needed it. Then the stores provided them(sometimes the instructions read to go and find a table.). I would set up the table near the product(maybe 60% of the time the store would not have the product) Soon the demo people wanted one to wear a hat and plastic gloves even if the product did not involve food. Bathroom breaks are allowed or if they were not I took them anyway. Usually we were allowed a 15 minute rest period. At first reports were just mailed in. Then they were telephoned and mailed in and finally they were on-line only. The latest detail is photographs of both the person doing the demonstration and patrons at the demo table. I was evaluated a couple of times the last time by someone who showed up 3 minutes before the demo was scheduled to end. You need to stand while doing the demo and yes that is hard on the back. Sometimes getting paid is hard. Sometimes one is not paid then I fired the demo company. Once, I was sent a check to pay for food and was told that the check was part of my pay. That meant less than minimum wage. I quit when I was accused of taking someone's picture without their permission. It seems that the person who took the picture was wearing a nametag-something I had not done at this demo-

Wow, that stinks. I am glad I never ran into any of your issues!

I have really great shoes. That helps a lot when standing for several hours (many of my demos are 6 hours). I just did a 6 hour demo. This particular company I do demos for is really great, as whenever I have finished handing out all samples and coupons I can leave That sometimes happens in 4 hours, but I still get paid for 6. I have a lot of fun with them, as I like talking to people and the products I demo are usually good sellers.

@eyelove2shop wrote:

No soda! (sorry, we don't say pop where I'm from)
Bathroom breaks are acceptable.
BA check in with the manager and ask for a set up location. Your set up location will depend on two things:
A. The brand you are doing the demo for (They typically try to place you near where the product is sold)
B Your attitude/relationship with the store. ie Do you have your own products? Are you interrupting customers shopping experience being too aggressive? Are you not friendly? Do you clean up afterwards?
Stores typically don't provide you with a table or anything else except ice and sometimes they make you purchase that. The company ships you everything sans a table.
I used to do demo work before I started doing promo modeling and bartending for private parties.
I got started by a referral from someone who was doing a demo at wholefoods. I inquired and they gave me the company info. I also worked with marketing staffing agencies that placed me.
As an in store demo BA, I made between $18-$25 for non alcoholic products. For alcoholic I made between $30-$40. I did an elite private party one year for Halloween and made $50 per hour. It was a hire through the company I worked for. I met people who worked their as a direct hire who made more.
I'm fat now lol (all these food shops) so I haven't been booked in 9 months. It's a very vain industry but can be super fun. When i did in store demos, I always had so much of the products I was able to keep. I had enough Smarty Pains vitamins for almost a year.

I would love more info on how do I become a promo model and bar-tending for private parties