Anyone have a booth at an Antique Mall?

Yes, a fat quarter, to my understanding, is 1/4 of a yard. It should measure 18 x 22. A google search will help you define the measurements a little better.

For whatever reason, we can't seem to give yards of fabric away, generally speaking, but the FQ's seem to move very quick.

I price all FQ at $1.00 each, which I am told by quilters, "a very good price."

I also price scraps at 50 cents and up, depending on size. I mark anything close in size to a FQ at $1 too.

My tags read:

Fat Quarter
Red-Green-White (to identify color of the fabric)
1.00

Or:

Scrap Fabric
Red-Blue Stars
17 X 20
1.00

If you do this, make up a handwritten sign that reads "FAT QUARTERS!!!!" Don't forget to put your other sewing notions, like buttons and the weird lime green zipper from 1972 next to the fabric.

It has been a slow month so far, and we've only sold about $11 in fabric as of yesterday.

We also had to make a small sign reading "Please help us keep the fabric neat and orderly!!!" You wouldn't believe how much of a MESS some people can make. It is only 1 out of 100...but seriously....my goodness...can you tell how ticked off I get over a slob that leaves a mess in a flea market???????

Some people at the FM bundle their FQ's into lots of 3, 4 or 5 pieces and tie them up with some cute ribbon.

It appears to work for those sellers, but I would argue that I sell more fabric because a crafter isn't forced into buying 4 pieces of fabric for $5, when they only want one piece out of the bundle.

Just by studying our sales reports, I strongly suspect that individual buyers are often purchasing $9 to $15 in FQ in one trip.

I think this is true! I don't even quilt, but I've bought fat quarters. My thinking: 'Oooooo, colors, pretttyyyy!'

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I came for the cat's-eye and stayed for the Tightwad!

Awesome! I am going to cut and price some of my scraps of fabric I've been hording for years. Also will place the weird green zipper with them, Clovis! LOL.

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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

We've sold quite a few squares too, when bundled up and priced attractively.

On occasion, we find completed quilt blocks and/or 4" X 4" squares. We put those in a Ziploc bag, and tape the top well (to prevent thieves from stuffing other fabric into the bag), and price it accordingly.

One crazy thing: My wife cut off the bottom of a pair of my DD's jeans to make cut offs...and we taped the legs together and marked them "Scrap used denim cut offs from child sized jeans" for 50 cents, and they sold the very first day!!! Go figure!!!!

Clovis, I might steal that idea for 4x4 squares in a ziploc! I could clear out some fabric that way!

We had our booth at the flea market last weekend and marked stuff low enough just to get our money out of it, as we intended not to go back for a while and wanted that stuff gone! And we sold a lot of toys for twice what we paid vs the 4 times we normally get for them, again, to move them as we are getting a lot of them lately. We also brought a few eye catchers from the store, to lure people and hand them our flyers, and sold 1 big item from there So we made as much as the 4 weekends before that in one day. And we brought home a puppy, so the time since then has just been all off schedule lol! But she has spurred me to process things sitting around so we can sell them before she chews them!

We went to the flea market to shop this morning, and there were just tons of empty booths again, which is sad, but it makes the sellers feel desperate and more ready to make deals, so we love shopping that way! We visited our friends who all asked if we were coming back next weekend, but we are not. Instead, we plan to have a "parking lot sale" in front of the store we are in with our friend, it is a busy road and we can get customers that are not the same people at the flea market week after week. We are looking forward to doing that, it will not cost us booth rent and we can go in the store when we get hot!

The store is slow, as is every business around here it seems lately, but I am happy for every sale we make. We have been able to buy great things to flip online from there, though, and that is really our main goal! Our online sales have held steady, but our friend's are non existent, and he's got good stuff up on ebay right now! Sometimes there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to this selling business!

Tomorrow is a big "flea market" on the Naval base, held twice a year, and we usually get great deals there, so we are waiting eagerly for that, both for the buys and the chance to advertise the new store in another part of town!

Shannsmom,

You might look into cutting whatever fabric sizes the sewing folks want. I just typed 4 x 4, but it seems like they are looking for 5 x 5. I don't sew, so I really don't know. (Rhyme not intended, lol.)

I am wondering if September is the new August.

After having a very good August, September has been slow, especially on ebay. We are still selling some stuff at the FM, but nothing great.

I've talked to a few business owners who are saying this month has been slow for them too.

I wonder if the economy is slowing down, or if people are settling back in to the back to school routine. This weekend has been very crisp and cool outside, so I suspect that shoppers are at home working outside, instead of walking malls and markets.

I would like to get back out and start buying, but we've been fairly tied up with other stuff. While our booths are full, I would love to have a little more, if I could find the right stuff that people want to buy.

Hi all!

I am a regular reader and lurker- I don't sell anything anywhere but it is my intention to when we move as we will be close to a great market.

Anyhow- I responded to Clovis is another thread regarding FQ- but I have been thinking more and more so wanted to add a few ideas- if it helps, great- if not, sorry for the interruption.

If you are selling fabric and have the time to display them in like colors- you will sell more.

Also think about seasons and celebrations- oranges/browns/yellows for fall... blue/pink/yellow/green for babies.... that type of thing.

I truly think $1 is too cheap for a FQ- it just is. $1.50 is still very cheap but at a price I would think is perfect for a market. If it were me, I would be doing $1.50 FQ, $1.25 Near FQ, $1.00 large scraps, $0.50 for small scraps or a scrap bag of small cuttings.

I don't mean to be simple-minded I am just writing to anyone who is unsure of the whole sewing/quilting/crafting world.

People use these FQ and scraps for everything from making a full quilt to embellishing canning jars.

Maybe your display could show some different ideas for uses?

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Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Thank you, Mrs. Thankful!

I think one of the harder things in this business is having to know what you have, and to become somewhat of an expert in that area. Knowing what you have to sell, and figuring out how to sell it the best way generally results in much higher profit margins.

I have made some pretty decent money because too many people are lazy and want to dump their items at auctions, garage sales and ebay.

The hard part is having to learn something new each week, and most of the time, we won't stumble across that item again for months or years...if ever. For instance, this week, I have a WWII era Ike jacket without a label. I already have an hour of my time in studying it...and I still don't know if it is worth anything. I also have a modern Army camo jacket with the most unusual pattern I've ever seen. I paid about $1 for it, and it should sell for about $40 on ebay, but I still have over an hour of research in the jacket. I might go an entire lifetime without ever seeing another one!

So, any time I can get some great advice, I am thankful and appreciative!!!!

We have all the FQ's folded and taped. Generally speaking, we put all the FQ's from the same piece of fabric. We are a little short on room. Do you think we should stack all blues on one shelf, all of the reds on another?

We are really, really thinking about moving our price to 1.25, and maybe 1.50. I am worried that they will sit and collect dust though. At 1.25, our margins would be much higher, especially considering how many FQ's we can cut in a few hour's time. I think we cut about $100 in about 2 hours. If we went up to 1.25, it would add about 12.50 an hour for our efforts, if that makes any sense.

What do you pay for FQ's?

In the Hamptons, one shop packages a few fat quarters of similar hue, then ties them up with thin pretty ribbon and keeps them RIGHT NEXT TO THE CASH REGISTER. That little trick all but forced me to buy!


I think they were six bucks per pack and that was years and years ago.

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I came for the cat's-eye and stayed for the Tightwad!

I usually pay $24.50 for a bundle of 9 FQ's online and then shipping too. But sometimes I will go a little higher if I like the patterns.

What seems to be what gets me (and other girlfriends) is the color/print combos and complimentary color pairing.

I just bought this:
"Cluck Cluck Sew for Windham Fabrics"

Sunshine Oh Clementine Fat Quarter Bundle includes 11 fat quarters
Price: $29.99 per bundle

Specs:

Product Type Fat Quarter Bundles
Fabric Collection Oh Clementine
Fabric Designer Cluck Cluck Sew
Fabric Manufacturer Windham Fabrics
Theme Florals
Fabric Type 100% Cotton
Fabric Width 18" x 21" cuts

Purchased from: http://www.fatquartershop.com/sunshi...quarter-bundle

Hopefully, this gives you an idea of what I mean. So with her bundling, I am just at about $2.72 per each FQ that was actually 18 x 21 (not 22).

I know that you are not trying to turn into a fabric shop, but I think it is worth a little counter space (or maybe a in harvest type basket).

The idea is to have folks look at them with the eye of possibility, to get the creative juices flowing- that's why the packs are so great because you say to yourself- oh that could be the trim- that would be great to have for the xxx... you see what I mean.

If you are sourcing the fabric at a great price and have the profit margin wiggle room, if you can keep the FQ's to under $2.00 - you will build a great rep and folks will soon be seeking you out once word gets out.

All year is crafting, sewing, quilting season. People often forget that these projects take a long time so don't be afraid to have a few (as example) Christmas patterns out all year.

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Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

This weekend, I acquired 6 boxes of books for which I paid a total of $60. One box was basically new books that I immediately put in my neighborhood booth, and the others were mostly sci-fi and fantasy from the 1960s through 1980s. I'll put some on my Amazon account, and have already stuck some in my other booth where I think they'll sell better. Those are being priced between 25 cents and $2, depending on age and condition.

The more valuable ones will, of course, go on Amazon.

So how was everyones weekends? Ours was pretty productive. I got 2 mirrors painted and finished. I finished up a chair, and a 2 tiered end table! We made some deliveries and picked up a chair someone needs redone. And we went picking at our friends barn. Found some good display shelves for our booth (we need more room for glassware!). And we found a ton of old picture frames. We are thinking of putting lots together and selling as is and hanging a sign that says "Great for Pinterest Projects"! We bought 30 frames of all odd shapes and sizes for $20. So I'm thinking of doing them in groupings of 5 and selling them for $10 each. We will see how they sell.

We also cleaned out our garage and made stacks of furniture in areas in our garage with what order I'll be refinishing it. We have SO MUCH STUFF.

Hope everyones weekend was productive!

Our weekend was lackluster, to say the least. The weather here was stunningly beautiful, so I suspect that most people were outside, not walking malls.

Our Saturday was slow. We sold almost as much on Sunday as we did on Saturday. The FM is open from 10 to 7 on Saturday, and 12 to 5 on Sunday.

I believe that the five hours on Sunday are good because so many people come to town for church, and often have other things to do, like an ice cream social at 3:00 pm. They stay in town and walk the FM for something to do.

We are working very hard to clear out the stuff that we've had, just to get it gone. I've taken quite a few ebay-able things, and almost everything has sold. Sometimes, like now, it is easier to just get it gone with a discount, than to spend the time listing it and waiting for it to sell.

We did take quite a few new items to the AM, and had a decent weekend there. I tell ya, I simply cannot figure that place out. No problems at the other AM...that place is hopping, and sales are decent. They have good mojo working there, and have the foot traffic to make it successful.

Tuesday Tip:

To maximize your profits, take the time to look everything up on ebay, or whatever site you prefer the most.

Too often, resellers at AM's and FM's get lulled into thinking "it is just an old ammo box or an antique train engine." In today's world, we have immediate access to real world resale values. This access, like on eBay's completed listings, will give you an idea of what buyers are looking for, and what they are willing to pay for that item.

The real beauty of using eBay's completed listings as a research tool is two-fold. First, as mentioned, the resale values will help you price your items according to what buyers are paying for those items. The second, and probably the most important, is the knowledge that you will gain while studying those completed listings.

Early this year, over the summer, my wife found a FM vendor who obviously hadn't followed this sage advice. The vendor had a very large lot of Bucilla kits in her booth, all marked $2 each. We've had a few Bucilla kits in the past, and they have sold well. My wife bought all of the patterns/kits the vendor had, and I think that the total came to $138, IIRC. The majority of the patterns have already sold, and they sold briskly at $20 to $30. We were blessed to sell two more of these yesterday, for a total of $40.

It is crazy, IMO, that a FM vendor didn't take the time to research the Bucilla kits. Don't get me wrong...I am thankful...but if she would have looked them up, she would have realized that those kits would have sold well, and for a much larger profit.

It does take time to research everything you have, but the pay off will be in spades. I would encourage you to spend time really studying the completed listings to find out what sells, and not just browsing those lists.

Going back to two items I mentioned earlier: Is it an old ammo box from the 1970's worth $12, or an old ammo box from the WWII era, worth $75? Is the old train engine a cheap Tyco, worth maybe $20 on a good day, or a Lionel 700E worth thousands???

Knowledge is power.

Hope this helps!!!!

Yes look every thing up. The wife came home once with a bunch of old car wax cans and similar items going back to the 50's I believe. They sold very well on ebay.

We had a solid weekend, and have officially surpassed our best month to date and we are only halfway through :-). I feel like we are hitting our stride!

One of the other big AM in town is rumored to be closing down.. Hubby and I went a month or so ago and it had a ton of empty booths, as sad as it is it could really increase sales at ours, and for that I'm super excited!

Great Tuesday Tip as usual Clovis! I've learned so so much from this thread! We have gained a ton of our knowledge just by buying items that look interested for cheap at the flea market and thrift stores and then looking stuff up on eBay and etsy!

Got our booth spruced up for fall and even have a name now --- Kit and Kaboodle. Since my hip surgery in June I've been very very bad about keeping tabs on the booth and doing any kind of moving things around. You all are inspiring me in ways to do more.

My booth partner and I had a difficult time hanging things this time --- we were short on pegboard hooks. I have a box of them at home, but couldn't find them in my hurry to get to the market at our meeting time. So we had to make do. We desperately need vertical display space --- like hanging shelves. But our resources and ideas are in short supply.

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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