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Oh my I love ALL of these! I say make your offers and let the negotiations begin. I have no clue where to start though. Keep us posted. On the desk that has been in the booth forever, I'd start at $50 or $75 and go from there.
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A lot of the malls here offer layaway too.
It never hurts to ask. |
They do have layaway plans... Ive seen stuff in the downstairs on layaway.
The thought did cross my mind today :D Is it rude to haggle and then put something on layaway? |
I don't think that would be rude.
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I don't think it would be!
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Today, I went to my booth that usually does quite well, and I've sold TWO ITEMS since September 19th! :smack :shocked: I stopped at a Salvation Army on the way home, and this place sometimes gets expired but still edible produce from a local Wal-Mart, a store I personally boycott, free for the taking and as much as you want. I got a bag of mixed greens, a pie pumpkin, and 3 avocados, so my trip wasn't totally wasted. :) |
I was going through some of my mom's things these past couple days and realized I have about $500 worth of silver coins.
For now I want to hold onto them. I also discovered 55 pieces of plated silver flat wear and searving accessories from 8 different patterns. On one hand I would feel guilty selling "the family silver", but on the other hand I know there are several real sets of silver floating around the family through various close relatives and since none of these the sets arent near complete I kind of don't feel as guilty ...plus these sets are not near tip top condition... Because the sets are so incomplete I don't know if someone just bought pieces here and there as a hobby, or if they were once complete sets. I'm thinking someone just picked up pieces here and there. I looked up all the patterns and noticed some places sell very used pieces for 50% off regular/like new condition. If I do sell I guess I'd ask 50% off individual pieces then a discounted price for the lot? The ages of the pieces range from 77 to 108 years old, so maybe wear and tear is expected and people still buy? Has anyone had success with plated silver in their booths? Should I try other avenues? Or Are the pieces to win to even try and I should just keep? I've included a couple pictures of a few of the pieces. All were tarnished. I did a quick polish to a couple pieces to compare and see what I was really working with. And if anyone can help me identify the grape shears, they have no markings :) The pictures are defanitly more gold than the actual pieces http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...psa44485dd.jpg http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps5535a6b7.jpg http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...pscad1b19d.jpg http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps5e081a61.jpg |
Would asking $250 for all 55 pieces be unreasonable?
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My wife and I had booths at 8 different Dallas area antique malls beginning in 1985 for about 10 years when she started teaching. Never made much of a profit but it was fun. Then, there were at least 30 antique malls in the area, now there are maybe 2 or 3. And the two good ones that I know of charge such high rent, I have no idea how it would be possible to make money renting a booth.
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Sarah, no clue on the silver flatware. They are beautiful pieces! And YES, hang onto the silver coins! My dad's collection of OLD silver coins disappeared after he died -- I hate to think what happened to it.
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Jean,
How are your sales this month? Our sales are holding up pretty well. All of our locations seem to be doing okay. How did your big weekend go? Did you sell a bunch of stuff? |
Clovis, I made some sales, but when I checked last week not all of the Halloween stuff had sold. Hopefully some more sales happened over the weekend. I will check on the booth again tomorrow.
The building still looks terrible, but at least they are working on a restoration. It was disappointing that it looked so much like it was under construction on the day of the festival. There were TONS of people in attendance on the square. I went it in there and a couple of other markets on the square that day and the other markets were crowded but not "ours". I'm trying hard not to be frustrated and want to see how it goes when the building restoration finally is completed. I may break even this month, we'll see. http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/ima...ilies/grit.gif |
Okay, just settled up at the flea market for October. I made $29 in sales in October. 10% commission and $30 rent and I ended up owing $3.90. Phooey. Talked with the market owner and told him I'm frustrated and trying to hang on till the remodeling/facelift get finished. Told him I plan to haul in Christmas stuff on Monday since I'm off of work then. He said Christmas things are beginning to sell, especially "boxed" Christmas stuff. Sigh.
We talked a bit about how some folks buy things you would never expect them to buy. He said there is a man who frequents the place that buys every long hat pin that comes in. Another man buys barbies. Another man buys women's magazines. I've been throwing magazines away! I may try to sell some at $1 each, which he says is the going price. |
I'd be frustrated as well!
It arms like they have been remodeling for a very long time Sent from my SPH-L710 using Homesteading Today mobile app |
Well, yes they have, Sarah. The market owner doesn't own the building, somebody in California does. I'm guessing there have been insurance issues (because of the fire next door that caused all of the damage), but I really don't know. Today he told me coordinating the contractors has been a nightmare. If all goes as planned, the windows and new doors should go in this week, then the bricking up of the facade. Then it won't look like a derelict building anymore. IF. I'm not holding my breath. His plans for the facade sound lovely, so when it is finally done it will be nice and should attract customers.
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Jean,
We sell magazines, generally speaking, for 50 cents each. Specialty magazines sell for $1. These include woodworking, train, Civil War, etc. Magazines can be a hit and miss proposition. I've sold hundreds of woodworking magazines over the past several months at $1 each, but I can't hardly give away This Old House magazines at the same price. We work magazines the same way we work vinyl records. Anything that has been sitting for a while goes directly into the recycling bin. The only exception is when we can add to the existing magazines with new stock. For instance, I've been lucky enough to carry home armloads of Model Railroader for free. I should trash the existing stack of MR magazines that I have now, but since there is a train show coming up later this month, I might get lucky again and find more back issues of MR. But, nonetheless, I can't call magazines to save my life. Some titles will sell like mad, as the Civil War Times did for many years, but I can't give them away these days. |
I know at the thrift store they try selling those gossip magazines from like 2 years ago...
They don't sell, at all. Hobby magazines would raise interest because they hold knowledgable information. Knitting, woodworking, hobby farms, possibly even equestrian magazines Style magazines for houses and clothes become dated quickly. Maybe ones from the 50s or earlier would sell better Sent from my SPH-L710 using Homesteading Today mobile app |
You are right, Sarah.
IMO, one mistake that sellers make is that they let magazines sit way too long in booths, and they keep stacking more into the booth, even though the other Good Housekeeping from 2003 haven't sold after a year. |
Sounds like you're both doing relatively well. :happy:
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Clovis, so Better Homes & Gardens would go for 50 cents, but something like my son's Guitar Player might sell for $1? Wish I had thought of this, I've been throwing magazines away like a mad woman. I used to save EVERY magazine that came in the house, but that was before the internet and pinterest. Hardly need to save them anymore.
Do you ever bundle magazines? I've seen that before in booths, but never bought any. Tried it at a couple of garage sales I've had and was not successful at all. |
BHG would either go directly into the recycle bin or...I might give them a week or so. If they are old, I'd recycle them, no question. Newer copies would get marked 50 cents.
Guitar Player would get marked $1. It shouldn't matter how old these are if they have tab and chords in them. Of course, I wouldn't let them sit forever. Just my 2 cents. |
I have magazines at both booths. National Geographic is the first one that always comes to mind, and I also have some Goldmines that I picked up at a rummage sale (turned out my old neighbor was the subscriber!) and the expensive British music magazines like Q and Mojo often sell well, especially if you price them at $1 or so. I've also sold a few copies of Cook's Illustrated.
General interest magazines like BH&G, etc. are best being given to the library. They want issues within the past year or so, or VERY old magazines which they can use for their archive. |
I thought of you all today as I restocked and straightened the booth.
My woodworking magazines have really sold well. I sold $10 worth of them just yesterday. I still haven't sold a single copy of This Old House or Civil War Times. This is very surprising to me because the Civil War mags used to sell like mad. I have only 3 copies of Model Railroader left out of the stack of 100 (?) that I got for free. I could have carted off a truckload of these at the last swap meet, but I was afraid they would just sit. I'm kicking myself now!!!! As a side note, I can't wait until the last Saturday in Nov. The train swap meet is coming up, and I am going to it, loaded for bear. I spent $220 at the last meet, and almost tripled my investment, if not more, and did it very quickly. My trick is to buy cheaply priced trains and flip them at the FM. Then again, knowing my luck, the vendors at the train show will have jacked their prices through the roof, LOL. |
I think This Old House tarnished their brand when, like so many of the earlier home improvement shows, they lost their minds with their projects. Somebody would buy a $250,000 house and spend $100,000 on renovations and additions..... I mean ok, maybe you have a $400-450,000 house now, but what happened to the DIY nature of the show? I also used to enjoy New Yankee Workshop but when it got to where Norm would bust out $10,000 worth of tools to build a hope chest...... no longer interested! :)
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I've been saying the exact same thing about the shows for the past 10 years or more!!! I still would have thought that their magazines would have sold. There is a strong old house renovation crowd in the area. |
Okay, let's discuss Christmas stuff for sale in booths. What sells? What is a bad idea?
I have some ornaments I'd like to try to sell, and have been trying to decide how to display them. I'm thinking a tree branch, maybe spray painted white, stuck in a jar of sand or other stable "base", and then hang the ornaments for sale on that. I also have Christmas table cloths, and various baskets. Is this a waste of my time? |
Speaking as a consumer, I would rather buy something unique from your booth than the same ol same ol that everybody else gets from Walmart or the Hallmark shop. I personally love the ornaments that flash or move in some way, but they're getting hard to find now. I have a Santa that looks like he's climbing down a chimney, a ball with a train running around inside, a mouse photographer holding a camera that the bulb flashes like he's taking a picture, etc. I think the tree branch is a good idea as long as things are hung on there securely enough customers won't accidentally knock them off and break them.
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Uhh I'd say if you have the room, set a visual scene to draw people in. Make me want it..
Folded up table cloths are a pain to fold and unfold in tight booths I'm already afraid of knocking items over in. Seeing them displayed is a lot more appealing and more likely to trigger my impulse buy Sent from my SPH-L710 using Homesteading Today mobile app |
One of the funny things that I've learned is that holiday stuff, especially Christmas and Halloween, will sell year 'round if it is priced right.
Easter, Valentines and St. Patrick's will slowly sell until the month of those holidays. Try to display your holiday junk in a manner that will draw people in, just like Sarah said. |
Hey, fellow resellers:
The Thanksgiving weekend can be an outstanding time for great sales. Make sure your booths are neat, clean, and most importantly, well stocked. As mentioned before, flea markets and antique malls tend to draw travelers. Most of them are like me in the fact that they have a "better buy it now because I won't be back any time soon" mentality. I often find that out of towners are apt to splurge on higher ticket items. We restocked yesterday for the weekend, but I am now kicking myself for forgetting to take a box of tools and some trains that I have. It is a half hour drive for us to one location...I can't believe I forgot them at home! |
I've procrastinated getting my Christmas stuff into the booth. Will head in on Friday as early in the day as possible. The store will be open this coming Monday night too for the Christmas parade, Mayor's tree lighting ceremony, and open house event on the square. Which is good. I did check on the booth yesterday and it looked like nothing had sold. So *@%& discouraging. The good news is the refacing of the building is ALMOST done. Hope the holidays are good for all of you who have booths!
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How did you do this weekend?
Our Friday was okay, but Saturday made up for that in a big way. I thought we would be slow Sunday, but was very pleasantly surprised by a good day of sales. |
Are you all hanging in there with the FM business?
I am tremendously thankful for an outstanding month of sales so far in December. All of our locations are doing well, but the FM is over the top this month. Our sales tend to drop off sometime in December, generally around the 17th or 18th, but this year, sales stayed strong until the 22nd. They should be back to some pretty good days after Christmas, but I am almost sold out of the good stuff!!! We have been trying to fine tune some of our booths, trying to offer more items that we've done well with in the past. Generally speaking, I've used the shotgun approach, usually offering whatever I can find cheap at auctions, with a main focus on garage/barn/shed junk and tools. (It is all junk after you've been in this business as long as I have! And yes, even the $3,000 piece of furniture is referred to as junk! Yikes!!!) Some of the fine tuning is paying off in spades, and I am thankful. Toy trains have done especially well, so I have been hitting train shows whenever possible, and buying for trains to flip in our booths. It sure is nice to check a sales report to see that we sold $55 worth of trains in one day. I am even considering travelling overnight to a huge train show in Chicago in January, weather permitting. I still believe that $3 gasoline is helping the economy more than anything. At $4 a gallon, I believe that too many families are getting hurt by the high cost. We used about 50 gallons last month, which is low when compared to many families. At $3 a gallon, that leaves us an extra $50 in our budget than when it was $4. I know this sounds like simple math, but I think that gas prices are really affecting our sales. Remember to stock up the day after Christmas. The travelers and out-of-towner's will have free time to walk the malls. Keep your booths looking good and well stocked between Christmas and New Years!!! |
At Thanksgiving I took all of my Halloween stuff out of my booth (hadn't sold much at all), and replaced with Christmas. I've been afraid to go back, I will admit. I hate the disappointment. The building has been refaced, with new doors and windows and looks much more welcoming now. I talked with the owner about the idea of a "grand opening" and he seemed hesitant. I will give the new looking building a couple of months before I make my final decision about keeping my booth there. I hope other people here are not having the disappointment I've been having!
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My brother has a small antique mall down in south GA. He said they've been real slow. They keep telling us the economy has recovered, but seems like folks don't have a lot of money to spend. I think a lot of folks are afraid of what's going to come with the healthcare situation. He's thinking about closing after the first of the year. :(
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No we don't, but we have friends that do. After their rental I don't think they make a whole lot, but they make some.
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Went to pay my rent for January --- I actually profited 15 cents! LOL! And had already sold 2 items for this month. So maybe the slump is over. I sold several books, my son's insulated coveralls, a pair of dresser lamps, and a handful of Christmas ornaments. Not a huge deal, but anytime I don't have to PAY my rent is good. Yay. I've been extremely discouraged, and now my "partner" has officially decided she won't ever be joining me in the booth. I still plan to wait another couple of months, see how the spring season pans out and then decide whether to stick with it or not. I may try to find another partner. I wish I could be sure there is actual traffic in the store and that I'm not just selling to other booth holders.
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Good news, a crafty friend of mine and fellow flea market lover has decided to try out joining me in the booth for a couple of months. I know she will have great ideas about how to breath new life into the booth and the addition of her merchandise will help with the visual appeal. I'm stoked again. And I've been making mental lists of all the stuff I have at home that I can put up for sale.
I've also been trying to decide what way to lean as far as what to put in the booth. is it too soon to put garden themed objects in there? |
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I keep reading this Thread and see some of you are not making anything to speak of so I thought I would post again to give you all some encouraging words------I Promice you people are spending money---for what they need and some wants. I am only messing with Craigslist and Face Book a little and I am Making a few hundred extra per month average. I made $182 just Thursday buying/reselling. A few weeks ago we carried some "junk" to a night auction and sold over $800 worth---we got around $650 after commision---just stuff we had stored. Again---I promice you people are Buying!! I wish You all Luck----I wish Everyone of you could sell $1000's per month in your Booths etc. Maybe you could make a few Changes and increase your sells alot. Good Luck!! |
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