Hey Nightshift
From what I've read and from my own limited personal experience, I would not offer a percentage of the SALES (ever... that's your gross sales)... only offer percentages of your PROFIT (net sales after expenses)... and that ONLY when working with a fundraising type of deal (i.e. I'm working that deal with the softball league I'll be working with, as a fundraiser/support for the league).
If working in conjuction with another business, I would offer them $25/day or see if they have their own fee for that.
As to what type of dogs are popular, that really seems to vary depending on your location. I'm in Massachusetts, and if I tried to sell a Chicago dog, folks would look at me like I came from the moon, but I did locate some Sabrett's... so we'll see what happens with a NY dog.
As to price, I had to do a lot of comparison research with the dogs that I had available. Around here, Pearl hot dogs are a pretty big deal and they are hard to find in my part of the state, so I'm looking to use the Pearls for my big dog selections. I thought if I contacted the wholesale distributor in Boston, I would get the best deal... which, technically, I did... but I'd have to buy 10 cases in order to justify the fuel expense to go and get them (they don't deliver and if they did it would cost me there too!). So, my best deal (here) for those dogs is at BJ's. I'll see how they sell and if I can justify taking on 10 cases at one time, I'll make the run up to Boston...
But, hopefully you see my point. Make some phone calls and visit your local wholesalers (BJ's, Sam's, Restaurant Depot) to see who has what and for what price... and work it out from there. You really have to take that approach with whatever you are intending to sell in order to get the best profit margin for your efforts.
good luck
