I'm folding. I give.

I went in and found multiple empty plastic bags that had contained toys, multiple missing items that weren't accounted for, and all my stuffed animals, books, and most of my glassware had their price tags removed. I found the price tags tucked in a vase. There was also a GIANT sombrero from another booth covering a whole shelf of my merchandise, and a ton of another vendor's merchandise stuffed into every open space in my booth.

I tried to talk to the owner and she insisted the missing stuff had to either be in other booths or had been taken by kids. Complete denial when I told her about the removed price tags. ("That's just kids playing.") Same with all the stuff from the same other vendor being in my booth.

She also seemed to think "nobody" would steal glassware. I had three vases, each marked $9.99, missing. Those vases were frankly underpriced -- they were handpainted, made in Japan, from the 40's or 50's. Beautiful. No water marks, minty mint mint. I just hate selling glassware on eBay and I knew there isn't much of a local market for vintage glassware, and I'd only paid $1 each for them at an estate sale. Shoulda been an easy profit. They took the nicest three.

Somebody also sold a HUGE bag of Polly Pockets I had listed for $19.99 for $9.99, and the other two bags were MISSING. These were huge 2.5 gallon ziplock bags (the ginormous size bags) stuffed full -- unless somebody left looking pregnant (and they weren't when they came in) I don't see how anyone could have easily shoplift them. There was also a new-in-box Polly missing, but that was small enough that somebody could have carried it off in a purse.

It's just ... not worth it. What did it for me was the realization that someone had walked out with two 2.5 gallon bags of toys and NOBODY NOTICED. The front desk is not always staffed, so ...

I have to give a full calendar month's notice, which takes me out to the end of April. I'll stuff the booth with junk until then (stuff I don't care if it goes missing.) I brought all my vintage dolls home -- none of the vintage Barbies went missing, thankfully, but I didn't want to risk it.

I was polite and professional and when it was clear that the owner didn't want to listen, I just said my eBay business was taking off and that I wanted to put my focus on that, and gave my notice. I was polite, she was polite, I think we're on good terms. (Though her reaction when I start stuffing junk in the booth will be interesting. So far, I've been bringing fairly "clean" merchandise. Since I don't care about building a clientele anymore, I'm just going to be dumping all the junk I want to get rid of, at yard sale prices. As long as I make the booth rent and the gas to get over there, I'll be perfectly happy.)

I expected some shrink and damage, but the store owner doesn't seem to be taking it seriously. She said, "Anyone could do anything back in this corner" (I got told "we watch things carefully" when I accepted a booth that was out of line of sight of the cashier), and "it's just kids."

I now have to figure out what to do with my excess inventory that I don't want to sell on eBay going forward.

My eBay store is focused on vintage toys, primarily dolls and doll related stuff. I get my merchandise in giant lots from eBay, and from thrift stores that tend to stuff four or five dolls or toys in a bag.

When I get a lot from eBay, I pull up a trash can and two boxes. I pretty much expect that about 25% of every lot I buy is going to go in the trash, and the rest is split between "worth selling on eBay" and "nope, not gonna go there" for any of a variety of reasons. (Damaged, fragile, likely to attract the wrong kind of buyer, politically incorrect, etc.) Thrift store baggies usually have 1 or 2 saleable item and a whole buncha junk.

So now I'm going to go back to having piles upon piles of junk to get rid of. I don't want to give it to thrift stores (I get sick of buying the SAME junk over and over again to get the good stuff, when I donate dolls) and the local charities want new, not used.

I'm thinking ... once or twice a year ... HUGE yard sale, advertised heavily, with tons and tons and tons of toys? We are WAY out in the middle of nowhere (45 minutes from the nearest town), but maybe with a lot of pictures and a few vintage items for a hook, we might get traffic.

I'm also planning on opening up my own online store, and some of the stuff that's not appropriate for eBay could be sold through it. (I intend to send a flier out for the store with every eBay sale I make, so that'll be easy advertising.)

Oh that does stink! I can not believe the store owner put it off on kids!
I would be so embarrassed if this was going on in my store.

Is there no other mall in your area?

None. There's an antique mall, but no other thrift mall that I'm aware of. I've heard horror stories about the antique mall (same types of issues, though it's not the same owner), so I'm staying away. This one's a two hour drive one way, but I was hitting thrift stores coming and going and it's a beautiful drive, so I didn't really mind the drive. However, my eBay/online sales are really taking off and the six hours (two hours each way, hour for lunch, hour to restock) it was taking from one day every week is time I could be spending on my eBay store. So the issues with stuff is just icing on the cake.

Some of the stuff IS kids. Kids will be kids. I expect "kid related trouble" when selling kid stuff. But this is beyond the usual, and I have a hard time believing a kid hid the labels in a vase or that a kid picked the labels off glassware or DVDs on a high shelf. Plus, if the parents aren't watching the kids, the store needs to be saying something to the parents! (Mom walks in with kids ... mom walks by a few minutes later without kids ... "Hey, where's your brats?" -- Aside from MY booth, there are a ton of other booths with stuff that could be dangerous to children, ranging from power tools and glass to heavy objects on high shelves that could be yanked down.)

I'm being polite -- it's a small community up here and everyone knows everyone -- and I'm not inclined to raise a stink and get a reputation (warranted or not) as that seller. I'll just smile, fade away, and go back to selling on eBay/online, which is what I seem to do best anyway.

Cygnet, what is your ebay store? I love vintage Barbies and dolls of various kinds and would love to see what you list!

http://stores.ebay.com/Memorys-Toybox

It's somewhat picked over right now (I've had a migraine for several days), and mostly just the modern stuff is left. The more desirable vintage stuff goes almost as fast as I can list it.

I have a bunch of modern Barbies that I'm going to list today, migraine allowing, and then I should get more vintage stuff up shortly.

You'll see I list, and sell, a LOT of doll shoes. They sell really, really, well, and they take up very little space, and they're incredibly easy and cheap to ship. I've taught myself to recognize the shoes for various dolls and action figures, and then I buy giant lots of "mystery doll shoes" on eBay and relist them correctly identified.

Likewise, I often list lots of bits and pieces of clothing and accessories. Most of my customers seems to be looking for "completer" pieces -- missing bits and pieces to make a complete set -- so I oblige and sell shoes and accessories by the piece, rather than trying to make complete sets.

Cygnet, what you describe sounds like an inside job. :mad:

Thanks! I am following you now. Perhaps we will do business soon!

Ah! I thought you were looking at it as a business opportunity. (I like to encourage other people to sell doll stuff on eBay -- no shortage of buyers, and the more doll stuff is listed, the more buyers are drawn in, and so on.)

New customers are always welcome too!!!! :-) :-) :-D

Lol I do sell on ebay though only sporadically.
I may join you in selling doll stuff this summer.

FWIW, First couple of weeks of summer are usually good for modern doll stuff, then it dies until fall. My theory is that parents have less money to spend on toys in the summer, because they have to pay for day care and whatnot, or they're going on vacation, or whatever.

Vintage stuff sells well year round, though late winter is the best time and summer is slowest.

If you're buying, mid summer and December are the best times for doll purchases.

Summer is so bad for sales that I'm planning on a camping trip in early July. It's just not worth keeping the store open.

What about doll house furniture?
I was at an auction a couple weeks ago with a lot of about 50 pieces of doll house furniture that no one wanted. I think it went for $5 because the people had a little girl with them..
It was all nice vintage stuff, I just know nothing about doll house items..


Im slowly building my ebay and etsy store gearing it towards vintage and antiques.

It can be worth a LOT, or very little. Depends on what it is, your photographic skills, and the condition. It was probably worth more than $5, though, unless completely munched. You might look through completed listings to see what sells, and for how much, so you get a sense of what to watch for.

One keyword to use when listing dollhouse stuff or looking for it is "for diorama."

There's actually a really good market for finished dioramas, by the way, if you like dollhouses and have the craft skills. I don't have the time to make them (or the nerve to ship them) but people do like well done dioramas for dolls.

That was a lot that you should have considered buying. Dollhouse furniture sells like mad at both AM's and IFM's. We just put out a LARGE lot of modern Barbie furniture, most of it marked higher than we should have marked it, and every last piece of it sold in two days. 98% of it sold in the very first day.

At $1 each, you can turn a lot of 50 items into $50. At $1.50, that would be $75. Most DH furniture can be marked higher than those prices, and you really start seeing the money roll in when you start selling $3 and $4 items.

Most of the DH furniture that I find is cheap stuff, but always keep your eye out. A few years ago, we bought a very large lot of DH furniture kits for $1 each. We sold tons of it for $30+ a kit. The remainder kits sold for $10 to $18 each. It was a real blessing to find those!

has anyone dealt with tobacco pipes? I am going to an auction this weekend that is featuring a lot of pipes. They have been talking about this particular auction for a few weeks now. they said it is an estate that is two bands slap full of antiques that have not been touched in many many years. So that leads me to believe they are at least vintage if not antique.

The pictures make them out to be all wood. Some are carved into shapes like a horse and devil, some are textured wood and some arejust made from a pretty wood.

I'm not sure what to look for when buying pipes, what kind of price range people buy them for, if people buy them to collect or if people buy them to use.

Does anyone have any idea and are these things that sell easily or do they sit and collect dust?

The best advice that I can offer:

Go check the completed listings on ebay. Use the sort option of "highest first." It won't make you an expert on anything, but it will help you discern the better items from the cheap ones.

You will need to study the listings, which includes opening up the listing and reading a little about each item. Why does the buyer want that? Why were they willing to spend that much on this item?

I see a lot of ebayers make the mistake of glancing at a large grouping or area, and then proclaiming a set value. This is a HUGE mistake. They'll say stuff like "Those models ain't worth nothing" or "those train engines are worth a fortune!" What they haven't studied is what makes the item desirable to the buyer.

Take Lionel train engines, for example. There are a few engines that will sell for $5,000, and some that won't even sell for $10. What is the difference?

I've seen buyers make huge mistakes because they rely on their iPhone too much. A Lionel 2056 might bring $275, but only if it is C-8+, has original boxes, and has a matching and correct tender, also with a box. This lot should also have correct instructions, or "paper", as train collectors often call it. The exact same engine, in C-5 with no tender or boxes might be worth $85. Time and time again, I see ebayers claim, "There is exactly the same engine on ebay for $275!!!", and then pay $125 for the engine, and it is missing the front and rear trucks, and has a crack in the shell.

As I always say, knowledge is power.

The best advice that I can offer:

Go check the completed listings on ebay. Use the sort option of "highest first." It won't make you an expert on anything, but it will help you discern the better items from the cheap ones.

You will need to study the listings, which includes opening up the listing and reading a little about each item. Why does the buyer want that? Why were they willing to spend that much on this item?

I see a lot of ebayers make the mistake of glancing at a large grouping or area, and then proclaiming a set value. This is a HUGE mistake. They'll say stuff like "Those models ain't worth nothing" or "those train engines are worth a fortune!" What they haven't studied is what makes the item desirable to the buyer.

Take Lionel train engines, for example. There are a few engines that will sell for $5,000, and some that won't even sell for $10. What is the difference?

I've seen buyers make huge mistakes because they rely on their iPhone too much. A Lionel 2056 might bring $275, but only if it is C-8+, has original boxes, and has a matching and correct tender, also with a box. This lot should also have correct instructions, or "paper", as train collectors often call it. The exact same engine, in C-5 with no tender or boxes might be worth $85. Time and time again, I see ebayers claim, "There is exactly the same engine on ebay for $275!!!", and then pay $125 for the engine, and it is missing the front and rear trucks, and has a crack in the shell.

As I always say, knowledge is power.

BTW, Cygnet, by "inside job" I meant that another vendor and/or someone who works at the mall may have done this. Hope you don't think I implied that you did it or set someone up to do it.

Also when checking out ebay make sure you look at sold not just closed listings.
Just because an item is listed at $$$ and closed doesn't mean it sold for the asking price.

I bought a large lot of vintage China last night.

I'm debating putting it on eBay or just holding it until I get a booth.

Im a little reserved selling it on eBay due to shipping but honestly don't know if this stuff will sell in a mall

I also bought some andirons and was wondering with something so heavy how to ship them

Wow. Just Wow.

Once again, I am blessed. We had a record setting day of sales on Saturday. We believe that our day's sales were the best we've ever had. Sunday's sales were fair, and nothing to sneeze at. Today's sales were VERY good too, especially for a Monday.

Again, I feel blessed. Our sales have been stellar!

How is everyone else doing?

So glad you are doing so well Clovis! That is awesome news.

Our booth hasn't had many sales this month, but last month was great. We are selling a ton on our FB page though. What we used to sit on for a few weeks is now selling quickly and we have been raising our prices! Which is great!

DanyellL - can you give a link to your fb page?

sure.

www.facebook.com/ldesignsdecor

We were having a great week of sales...then boom. Today's sales were awful!

Ive sold about 2 things a week. This week, nothing. Well, i did sell my biggest order of soap ever, which is exciting, but I want to sell my vintage/antiques so i can buy more!
I love the hunt and the auctions..

Tell me it'll pick up when tax returns start coming in lol

This doesn't have anything to do with our booths....but this coming weekend my husband and I are driving down to "meet" Earthy & her husband! I am so excited! Earthy is doing her first craft fair and we are going down to support her. And then going to her favorite flea market on Sunday. I CAN NOT WAIT! We "met" each other here in this forum and we have become great friends! And we live around 2.5 hours apart!

Now that is cool!!!

I've had several meet ups over the years, and they all have been fun and enjoyable. I've made many new friends, and have learned a great deal.

I wish that I were able to meet up with you all. I'd love to meet you in real life!

Yes! I wish we all could as well! It would be awesome to hear stories in person!

I think it would be fun to spend a few weeks together, going to auctions and estate sales, all of us working as allies on a team. Then, after the sales, we could visit each other's booths, round robin style, asking questions, making suggestions, and offering constructive comments to each booth.

You all could teach me about painted furniture, primitives, country decorating, and different stuff, and I could teach you all about trains, tools, fabric, and maybe some other tricks of the trade.

Just think how valuable that could be to each of us. If we enabled each other to spot and score items that we could profit $200 a month, that would equal $2,400 a year, and $24,000 over a 10 year span.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and HT flea market...
Wouldn't that be neat, all the vendors being HTers...

I stopped by my local booth yesterday afternoon. To my surprise, there were holes all over the place! :rock: I brought 3 boxes with me, and took 2 out.

:lonergr:

Sounds like a dream. That would be AWESOME!

Yea I def plan to hit up Earthy's mall! I can't wait.

YAY! That is great!

Im thinking about applying for a job at the Antique Malls around here.
I have wanted to work in one for a few years now and life has taken a little bit of a funny turn, but I dont know, I just never felt like they hired "outsiders".
Its really my passion though so if I have a choice I would love to choose one of the malls, but if not I would like to try an auction house out.

Does anyone have experience in applying for a job in the antique or auction world?

I do not. But I do know Cherry Hill was looking for an Auction Coordinator. Maybe you could check there?

Well we are back from our weekend trip to meet Earthy! We visited her booth/all and hit up some other of their locals places they find some goodies.

It was so much fun to meet her family and see where they go to find their furniture. It was a blast and we can wait to make another trip down.

Funny story: When we were at a flea market on Sunday I was eyeing a canister set (that had wood tops I could paint), so I asked the guy how much. He said $5. I said "No....for the whole set" (I thought he was saying $5 for just the largest canister, which would be typical in the market that I usually buy in). Once the guy said $5 for the whole set, I was so shocked I blurted out "I'LL TAKE THEM". Earthy's husband cracked up. lol

It's funny to see the difference in the prices even just 3 hours away!

I have been downright HORRIBLE at keeping up with this thread and I miss it!!

We had such a blast this past weekend with Danyell and her hubby. Clovis a round robin style visit and junkin would be amazing!!

Our first vendor fair was a bust! I know now if I plan on doing anymore of these to be super specific and do my homework ahead of time, thankfully I have the booth which I took everything straight to after the fair lol.

Things have picked up for us, we started doing custom furniture and it has taken off! The new booth location is doing ok, not amazing but ok :-)

We have had our best month yet in combined sales between the two since we started a year ago. I've learned so much from all of you!

My online sales have been dead all week, on ebay and etsy. I was having back to back sales, now, nothing.
Maybe it's Easter?

Your booth is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!