Anyone have a booth at an Antique Mall?

Thanks, I have a new found energy and drive where I used to feel lethargic.

I'm loving this new life style, it's like a gambling rush.

David,

If you don't mind, I'd like to share a word of wisdom about this business. Most likely, you already know this, but maybe someone new to the business might not know.

If you are having good success with whatever you are selling, other vendors are going to take note. Mall employees will also talk you up to the other vendors. "The new guy in case #284 is really killing it. His sales are as good as anything that we've seen in a long time" they will say.

Often, when the mall is talking you up, it is in response to a vendor that is complaining about poor sales, low foot traffic, or the lack of advertising the mall has.

And, of course, most vendors struggle from time to time, and they are always looking to cash in on some success. They can be nosy about what you are selling, your margins, and where you find your product.

I am routinely asked about our booths, the mall, the rent, our profit margins, and more often than not, the source of our products.

Do NOT ever share where you are finding your product. This is pretty important, and is a mistake that I see lots of new people make in this business.

Anyone that is successful in this business already knows where to buy product. They already know that auctions, swap meets, estate sales, flea markets, pickers, etc. is where you can source product.

Generally, I speak in very broad terms when I am asked those questions.

"I buy large lots."
"Mostly estate auctions."
"I've been collecting _______ (insert item here) for years."
"We've got a guy that sells us end lots and partial pallets."
"Those came out of a big collection/estate that I bought."
"Well, ya know...here, there, and everywhere."
"That came from an estate just outside of the city."

Lastly, one BIG mistake that I see people make is bragging about how great their sales are at that location, especially if they have specialized items or new items that anyone can find if they search hard enough. People who boast about their great sales are asking for trouble.

For instance, when the candle fad was starting, there was a woman who had a booth of nothing but candles, and her sales were off the charts, according to the FM employees (those employees do talk!!!). The vendor routinely bragged about the thousands she had sold, and the thousands she made in profits.

It didn't take long for the world to catch up with her. Within 30 days, there were 4 more new booths full of candles, and within 60 days, there were an additional 3 booths, plus 2 cases full of the same brand and style she was selling. I think there were 10 vendors in that FM selling candles. The original vendor closed up and moved out the following month.

A word to the wise: Be very, very leery of the vendor who is needling you about where you find your goods.

The last thing you want is to find out that 3 more vendors in your mall are selling the same goods for 1/2 the price you are.

Any of you have vintage art knowledge??? & model horses?? I have found an 8x10 painting that was done by Nancy Strowger in 73. She is known well for her custom model horses in the 70s & 80s. I can't find anything to help me get a guess of the value. Seems none of her work every really comes up for sale. Any suggestions on where I should turn?

Of all the items we research, art has always been the hardest.

I know most vintage art is not very valuable. There is a model horse auction site, so if I decided to sell the painting I will prob turn there. It is a nice painting & I would be happy to keep it.

I found a roll of oil on canvas paintings at an auction a few years ago. I think there are 5 paintings that have been cut from their frames.

Of course, I know nothing about art, but these appear to me to be an upper level college student paintings.

All 5 paintings have various women as the subject. I'm guessing they date to the early 30's or before. None are signed.

I should probably mark them $25 each, and just flip them for the money, but there is a part of me that wonders if they are by a famous artist painted during their undergrad or graduate level years.

Maybe I've been watching too many episodes of Antiques Roadshow.

One other thought about art that I've found:

Not even the self proclaimed 'experts' always know what they are talking about.

We scored a pair of sofa paintings at an auction for $2. I marked them @ $45 each and put them in the booth. Out of the blue, in walks an area art 'guru' who proclaimed that he worked for 20 years as an art appraiser.

I asked him about our pair of paintings, and he quickly dismissed them as being hand painted copies of someone else's original work, most likely painted in Asia and imported to the US market to be sold in a new furniture gallery as a cheap accessory. When I objected with a few points, he derided me, and told me that I'd be lucky to get 1/2 of my asking price for the pair. He really dogged on the paintings and chided me for thinking they might have value.

I've learned, since then, that those paintings did indeed have some value, and were painted by a California artist. They might have been valued at $500 to $600 for the pair.

I'm not sure that I would have netted much more than $90. I believe that I would have had to ship them to a larger market to realize anything close to the $500 value, and due to the size, shipping would have been expensive. Any auction or dealer would have taken another 30% or more. So, if they would have sold for $500, the auction house would have taken $150, and shipping would have been $200 at minimum, leaving me with $150. I'm not sure that the extra time and labor to research and pack would have been worth $60.

FWIW, the paintings sold a few days later to two women who are interior designers.

Experts don't always know what they are talking about. I've found this to be true in other areas of collecting too. I own an extremely rare dealer sign that a self proclaimed 'expert' in the field has claimed it to be unknown to their hobby, but then also was eager to buy it for $200, but only if I agreed to waive any special packing charges, and then meet him 2 hours from my home so he "could take a chance on it."


(Even if he called tonight and said he'd pay $2,000 for the sign, I'think that I charge him a delivery fee of at least $200 to meet him 2 hours from my home!)

I hadn't looked at this thread since last year, I wish I had, there's been such great posts! We started FMing in 2011, and did it much like you, Clovis. We used cash to start (had just finished becoming debt free except the house, thanks to Dave Ramsey!), I had just been laid off from the local hospital and DH wanted to sell some video games, so we used some of my severance to get a little inventory. The first morning, we made over $600 in 4 hours and were hooked lol! We plowed most of that money back into inventory procurement. Sales were great and it became our home business (it is good to be your own boss, even in the bad times!). In 2013, sales tanked. As much as 90% compared to the same month of previous years. We live in a poor area, which just seems to have gotten worse in the last year, with tax return time being the only time people have money to spend. However, we started selling on Amazon, and those sales have been great, easily making up the difference in local sales. We have a few friends who sell the same type of items we do in their own retail stores, and they report similar sales slumps, with 2 of them closing their stores.

To keep our heads above water, we have had to keep an eye on what's working or not, and be willing to change. We have moved from just video games to games and dvd's, and flipping toys, household goods, etc. You're right, the key is to buy cheap and always be looking.

The outdoor flea market we sell at has a rent of $15 per table per day, so not a high cost, but their traffic is way down. If it rains, nobody comes there, if it's cold, nobody comes there. And they quit doing any kind of advertising about 2 years ago, we're hoping they will kick it back up soon, as so many regular vendors have dropped from every weekend to 1-2 a month, like us. In December of 2012, we were bringing in $500-1,000 a day there (only 2 days a week, so it's not as exciting as it first sounds lol), in December of 2013, we hovered around $100 a day, and missed a couple due to weather. We only went on the 18th and 19th in January, but made over $400 that weekend, so maybe it is going to pick up this year. People still seem to be buying necessities and food, but we are entering tax return time, which is usually great for us.

We have an absolute ton of things that we need to get out there to sell, and your posts have given me some renewed energy to get it done! Thank you!

Just read an idea about having a facebook page devoted solely to your booth, of course including photos of the merchandise. What do you all think about that?

__________________
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring - Carl Sagan

Question --- which is better --- spend the time and money on a piece, say a stool, to fix it up and price it at $50 and MAYBE sell it; or to leave it as is and price it at $20 and very likely sell it? Of course I'd rather have the $50, but I'm wondering if people at flea markets aren't looking for something to fix up on their own? I'm really torn about this.

__________________
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring - Carl Sagan

For me I enjoy working on furniture, but if I ever figured in the time I spent fixing it the price would have to be so high that it wouldn't sell. I have an oak corner shelf, sold one as is. Never got a buyer that followed through picking up the other one & second time I listed it I didn't get any hits. Was about to either put some darker stain on it or paint it, however I know I will loose money on the labor.

We have a local store that keeps up their page with new products & they also post on the local buy sell trade Facebook page. It really helps get their store out there & draws interest, people are always commenting & asking questions on the buy sell trade page. It is crazy cousins resale in Chickasha, ok. Not sure if you can find it if you search FB. Does it help their sales?? I dnk, but many people don't know their store exist so it does get their name out there.

Shannsmom,

That is fantastic!

Sorry that 2013 has been so hard for you. I know that it was for us too, especially the first half of the year.

I still believe that $4 gas and the rising cost of everything is really affecting the economy. As well, I believe the aftershocks of the recession are really settling in with many families.

Keep up the good work!

This is often a tough decision for us: Where do I best spend my time to make the most money?

Back when we were part timers in the FM, I had time to fix and clean stuff, I did so. These days, I try to objectively look at each item, the amount of stuff I still need to process, and then the big question: Is it worth my time to clean or repair this item?

Since we often deal in mass amounts, generally speaking, the answer is no.

Of course, every item is different.

Am I going to spit-shine and polish a $300+ agriculture tester I am about to list on ebay? You betcha.

Am I going to spend 3 hours cleaning up a pile of long handle tools that won't help them sell faster? Nope.

Is it worth spending 2 hours cleaning up an antique saw that should bring $100? Yes.

Sure, I wiped down the Zenith tube radio, but if someone wants to polish the light scratches on the top of the bakelight case, they should buy the polishing compound for $14.99 and spend a few hours of their time doing it, LOL.

Now, to answer your question, I'd probably leave the stool the way it is, and try to up the price to $22 or $24. Less work, and more money.

YMMV.

I struggle with the redoing of items.
Mostly furniture.

I have two end tables I spent countless hours sanding, creating a design, making sure the striping was perfectly straight, painting, And sealing. They are truly one of a kind. I was going to ask $70 for the pair.
The SO scoffed at this and told me I put too much work into them for that and to keep them because he liked them so much.

I see this one page I follow on fb. I'm absolutely repulsed by what she does to antique furniture ... And then her asking price!
She'll get a buffet or China cabinet (in perfect shape mind you)sand it down, slap some paint on it, "age" it with unattractive colors, and then ask 1000s of dollars for it.
Actually, I haven't seen her post anything In a good many months.

In today's world majority of people don't seem to want to pay for craftsmanship and detail.

Im a diy-fer and its a hard hurdle to get over...
I mean in the fact that, if I can do it, so can they, so why should I even bother?

__________________
I always wondered why somebody didn't do something, then I realized I am somebody

Sarah I understand you on pricing, but I bet you could ask $75 each on the end tables if they were nice. Then it isn't a price that would cause you to fall over. I recently did a china hutch, searched for the perfect one for my own space. After finishing it I said I wouldn't even consider selling it unless I could get at least $450 out of it. I know for me I would have to fall in love with it to spend that much money. Same with the oak shelf I talked about earlier. When I listed one DH told me to put $50, I put $40 & was doubtful if it would sell. I had a dz people in line ready to snatch the shelf up. I would have given $15 maybe $20 if I found it. Really have to put aside what we are willing to pay & push the limits of what others will pay.

Oh & pinterest has cut into some profits. However, look around & you will see many postings or items that people bought & never got around to. You can charge that because you did do it, not them! I did a wall unit & it cost at least $30 in primer & paint. Sure I had it on hand, but I had paid for it at some point in time. We forget sometimes when we use those items we didn't go out & buy for the project at hand.

In a way, I think Pinterest has hurt the resale markets instead of spuring them on.

I've over heard more than once, "Oh, we can make that ourselves. I saw one on Pinterest."

One other thing that I have noticed is that many Pinterest crafters don't want to pay anything for materials. I have a box of license plates in my booth, most marked $1 to $1.50 each. I actually heard two women complain about my prices on those plates. "We should be able to find these cheaper. Personally, I wouldn't pay more than 50 cents unless they were from the 30's or 40's" they said. (Like the ones we have on ebay for $25+ each, and are selling briskly at those prices.)

While my wife is addicted to Pinterest, I've found that it has brought on a mentality of "Oh, I can do that." A few years ago, a simple Shabby Chic paint job would 'wow' many customers.

Another very relevant (to me at least) post from Vintage Show off blog: How to make a narrow booth seem wider. http://vintageshowoff.blogspot.com/2...rrow-wall.html

__________________
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring - Carl Sagan

I've been thinking about this question for the past few days.

Personally, I have mixed thoughts about it. If you do it right, and can attract followers to your FB page, then I say go for it.

At the same time, I've seen people use FB to advertise absolutely everything they can pawn off on someone. IMO, it gets old, really quick. I'm not talking about the occasional post of selling a mower or a band saw. I'm talking about the dude that posts everything he has, every other day, for sale.

I had a friend that was posting three or four items every day. I'm not sure what got on my nerves the most...his outlandish asking prices, or the cutesy descriptions he tried to write: "Small knee hole desk, loved for years by a local artist; this recent estate find will store your treasures, and give a purpose to any room. Well aged patina on early American drawer pulls offers this quaint piece of furniture a touch like no other. Asking $285, negotiable."

Come on, man. That piece of junk is one step above Sauder. A hard sell at $45 at any flea market.

That dude got unfriended. Life is too short to have to wade through 25 posts a week from him.

In short, if you can pull it off, try it.

As always, in any of my posts, YMMV.

Another outlet for advertising is instagram.
It's MADE for pictures.
You can simply hastag your city and business name.

For example..
I have an antique desk pictured
#antique #desk #Monroega #sarahsantiques #antiques #antiquesofinstagram


And then you can do additional searches of hastag that will generate views.
If save it for more unique pieces. Like, I would do your whole dish set. Advertise it as for sale.

We have a lot of shops here in monroe that advertise that way.
One tattoo guy posts EVERY picture he draws. It's super annoying (to me) but it's helped keep generating business and he had a lot of followers

__________________
I always wondered why somebody didn't do something, then I realized I am somebody

Think stats say 10% of Instagram followers will be customers. If your taking pics just make sure they are good pics.