Anyone have a booth at an Antique Mall?

Sorry to hear that your sales have been slow, earthy. The overhaul was a great idea!

Congrats on the end tables!!!! I've never heard of Habersham, but I will keep an eye out for them in the future!

Thank you. Mineola is north of Tyler, Texas.

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formerly known as HaloHead
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"... And what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8

Thank you Clovis. When we started thinking about this I remembered seeing this thread and came back to read it from beginning to end. There is a ton of information here - and I need all of it.

Jackie

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formerly known as HaloHead
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"... And what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8

Oh, Clovis, you don't get off that easy, I will still be around lol!We will still be going to the flea market once, maybe twice a month, but we are much more free now to hit yardsales and rummage sales....we find awesome stuff at church rummage sales, sooooo cheap, but they are always on Saturdays and we were always stuck at the flea market. We also get good things to flip at the flea market, so we will still be going there to shop. Tomorrow or Thursday I will go officially give up our "permanent tables" and I expect them to pitch a fit, depending on who is in the office. A LOT of other vendors have given up their tables, or reduced the number they reserve, ever since the rent increase. DH feels that in a year, that flea market will go under due to shoppers and vendors leaving the way they are. It has happened twice in the past, it gets sold and revitalized, then the same cycle starts again!

We still have our stores that supply us with deals, and we don't want to lose those relationships as I still have our Amazon and Ebay business, perfect for me being home with DD homeschooling. But....the store we have been helping a friend get ready? He offered us a limited partnership in it. He covers all the bills and what he sells, he keeps all of. But it is huge, so he offered us half the space in it, and we keep 100% of what we sell. In exchange for that, DH will work up there 2-5 days a week. DH also fixes electronics, so the big back room is going to be a work area. Said friend knows most of the pawn shops owners in town, so he will buy the electronics, DH will fix them and they will split that. A large reason for the store is it will be a place for all of us to buy from the public here (which can be done super cheaply) and sell on ebay/amazon for nice profits.

Oh, and Earthymomma, August has been our worst month every year for sales, but it always picks back up, so hang in there!

Oh, and Earthymomma, August has been our worst month every year for sales, but it always picks back up, so hang in there![/QUOTE]

That is good to hear. LOL Our booth sales haven't been good in August either!


And sounds like you guys have a nice little business going on with your friends store! I would love something like that, that would let me stay at home with the kids!

August, typically speaking, has always been one of the toughest months for us too.

The school systems in our area have changed their schedule so that the kids go back to school earlier, and I think that is helping our sales.

Families that are taking last minute vacations and those shopping for school clothes now seem to be doing that earlier, in July. When school started around the 19th or 20th, we got our clock cleaned every time. Now, many schools are starting 3rd-8th, and our sales are good...so far.

Clovis, we didn't know anything about them either til we brought them home and I did some investigating! It's worth a pretty penny! Lol I took some photos of the markings for you all so you can keep your eyes peeled ImageUploadedByHomesteading Today1407853071.849385.jpgImageUploadedByHomesteading Today1407853080.573694.jpg

Wow...very cool! Thank you for sharing!!!!

I got to thinking that it would be cool to share a tip, interesting note, tool, cool picks, etc., from our AM/FM business that might help others, in addition to our usual posts on this thread.

I was wondering if we could call it Tuesday Tips, or something like that.

Anyone interested in doing this with me?

Here is my Tuesday Tip:

Old English.

We don't deal in a ton of used furniture, but when we do, Old English stain/polish is one of the most valuable tools we have.

I understand that Old English now is available in several colors, but I haven't seen it in the stores. When I need a lighter finish, I generally use Minwax wood stain in a color that is appropriate with the color on the furniture.

More than once, I've picked up a cool table for $5 at an auction, and cleaned it up with Old English, and later flipped it for $100 or more. The stuff is wonderful, and I doubt that anyone in the resell business could live without the stuff.

Keep an eye out for bottles of Old English at garage sales, estates, etc., where it can be bought inexpensively. It is a bit pricey when bought at the store.

Good to know!! And that store idea sounds like an awesome set up/partnership!!

I don't have any great tips, but here's a little one. I know most of yall don't dabble in movies much, but if you venture there, look for quirky things. Anything that you instantly say "now, who would watch that?!", get it! Lots of hunting, sports, crazy old things like Godzilla, that stuff has a following. Vintage horror movies are quite collectible, as well. Choose seasons carefully, they are often worth a bit more online, but weigh so much, some are not worth shipping.

On another note, sometimes not having a clue is good, too. We often pick up quirky items, not really knowing what they are, and they're worth a good bit. Today I went out picking alone for the first time, DH being at the store, and picked up what I thought was binoculars (only because I thought they were cool), paid $2, it's actually a rangefinder fr golf, worth $353 used, $475 new. And I picked up a birdwatching companion device, because it was quirky, paid $2 for it with accessories, it's going for $49 on amazon used. Quirky sells, on purpose or by accident! And I get to play with the birdwatcher till it sells

LOl I used to work with some guys who made a habit on Fridays of watching old b-c-d-f rated horror movies. Ones that barely made the b mark.


The more horrible the better.

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2Ti 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Luceo non uro

That is an AWESOME tip!!!

I learned a while back to look for unusual items, and sometimes, it pays off handsomely.

Of course, there are plenty of unusual items that are junk and would be better off thrown in the trash, but I've found that unusual and decent quality stuff sells well, and often, you hit a home run, and sometimes, a grand slam with all the bases loaded.

I want to add something about Shannsmom's great tip about quirky items.

Years ago, before I ever ventured into the reselling biz, I went to an estate auction. The auctioneer pulled a box of US Army WWII dated canteens. As you know, the government ordered millions of these canteens, so they aren't worth much.

I noticed one canteen was not the standard aluminum with a black plastic cap, but a weird material that I'd never seen before, and on the bottom, it was marked with a local military base. I bid up to $15, and chickened out.

I should have known that it was a good canteen, made by a contractor as an experimental canteen made of celluloid. I have seen those exact canteens sell on ebay for as much as $500.

Had I not been so dumb!!!! Have been kicking myself since!!!

I don't have any good tips yet. lol I'm just getting into all of this. But I appreciate the ones mentioned thus far! And I can't wait to hear more!

Thank you guys!

I hope everyone is having a great week and weekend.

We've had a stellar weekend so far, with outstanding sales today, and yesterday, after suffering a dismal Wednesday. Everyday of the week has been decent, except for Wednesday, with a terrific Friday, and today's sales were wonderful.

I was also thrilled today to learn that I sold a pair of industrial lights for $350. I picked these up at an estate sale about a month or so ago, and doubted this purchase after I got home. I spent an hour or so cleaning them up, and three or four hours fretting about them, LOL. I actually have never bought or sold any industrial stuff, and had no idea how to price them. I was fortunate to run into one of the premier dealers at the antique mall, and his pricing was dead on.

The biggest reason that I doubted this purchase is that I find it hard to keep up with trends and fashions. Wanna talk blacksmithing tools, or wrenches? How about concrete tools? Garage junk? Lanterns? Coleman cook stoves? Carhartt coats? Lionel trains? I'm your guy.

Want to know what is coming up in the newest interior fashion trend, or want to talk warm versus cold colors? Yeah, I'm lost. Totally lost. Like when you said "I saw the cutest little...", my brain went into shut down mode, and I was prolly thinking about the 60's era Impala parts that I have on my desk.

I have spent some time trying to brush up on some of the interior home trends recently.

Anyway, back to the sales. I am not getting rich, and don't have a retirement to speak of, but I am blessed. I am truly thankful for the finds, and for having good malls to do business in.

Hope you all are doing well. Labor Day weekend is coming up very soon, so get into gear, and get those booths stocked as deep as you can. Travelers spend money, and you have one opportunity to strike their fancy!!!

There are some 70s and 80s TV movies and miniseries that are not on DVD, and the VHS tapes of these are often worth quite a bit of money. Some of them can be viewed on You Tube, but some people don't like to do it that way.

Clovis I'm super excited for you!! That is awesome you guys have had such an incredible week!!

Industrial lighting is making a huge comeback especially in the restaurant/bar decorating! I've been keeping my eyes peeled for the dark green ones!


I admit to being a Pinterest addict... For ideas and home decor trends so feel free to ask away!! :-)

DH had to take his daughter back to Texas after her summer with us and has been stopping at flea markets along the way... Cannot wait for him to pull in in a few hours and check out all our new junk!

Things are still fairly slow in my booth, but we've cleared rent so anything from now on is profit. The positive is it's giving me time to get some more furniture pieces completed to really load it up before Labor Day weekend

Clovis, I'm so glad business is doing well for you!

Our booth still isn't doing well. But we are selling a good bit through Facebook. So that is exciting. And the people that are buying, are buying 3-4 items at a time. And then having us do a custom piece. So that is great. We just posted pictures of our booth yesterday (completely full at this point) and a lady wants 4 items. Within minutes of us posting them she was emailing us. And she's coming over this week to pick out a chair to have custom done. So....I'm very blessed that our facebook sales have been so great so far.

And Earthy! I LOVE your pieces!


I hope everyone has a great week!