Would I do it again? The jury is still out, but I think so. Best buy: 4 antique (1885) goblets for $3.00 each that have sold recently on eBay for $26+ apiece. Second best buy: a cross-stitched quilt to raffle at the family reunion next May .
Some things I learned:
- rearrange often! moving stuff around throughout the day seemed to help sales.
- have lots of light--we keep adding lamps and it helps--this barn is dark
- bring a fan
- figure out the cash-out station in advance and set it up. We were not set up well for this.
- hang as much as possible.
- bring extra totes of stuff to set out as things sell
One more day then we pack it all up. And lots of stuff we needed gone--gone! Some of what's left is headed to the charity shop because I am NOT going to drag it around any more!
What's selling:
- small, cheap furniture pieces
- old rusty tools
- quilts ( cheap ones, less than $40--these were cutters, with many issues)
- chenille bedspreads (all to one woman, so my price must have been good)
- small window shutters, the kind that go inside the windows
- windows
- Pyrex
- wood boxes
- picture frames
- inexpensive, cool-looking lamps
- kids' toys
- shutters
- chairs
Also sold:
- one rusty old bike
- one old door
- picket fence pieces
- some handmade pottery
- a few doilies, after many, many people pulled through them
- one old, non-working radio
- one weird tool that no one knew what it was, but the guy who bought it said for $2 he'll have one tool he doesn't know what it's for!
- axes, hatchets
What hasn't sold well:
- glassware (I had a good bit, priced it dead cheap and sold some, but still plenty left)
- GlasBake--no collectors for this stuff yet
- DVDs--even for $1 each
- linens other than quilts, aprons and doilies (0 sales so far)
- framed art, even dead cheap in nice frames
What other vendors say is selling well, and is generally true for antique malls too:
- rusty stuff--washtubs, galvanized buckets, etc
- cast iron
- metal signs
- automotive stuff
- blue canning jars
- milk bottles
- chests and boxes but they have to be very cool, and cheap
- graniteware if cheap!
- Tobacco tins
- metal gasoline cans
What everyone looks at but doesn't buy for the most part:
- the old bikes
- apple butter kettle (we hear lots of stories about making it!)
- tools (men are picky--and cheap)
- doilies
- rolling pins
- granite-topped kitchen table (we hear stories about Grandma's table though)
- our fan-because it isn't for sale :)
Have you noticed that cheap is a recurring theme here? I guess because flea market is in the name so people expect low prices. We had heard this and planned accordingly.
So that's what I've noticed so far. Tomorrow, who knows?
Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
Thanks for the review of your days. It is interesting to hear how it went.
ReplyDeleteMay be that toward the end of the last day you'll get a lot of people who want to bargain for a really cheap price, figuring that the vendors won't want to pack things up again?
ReplyDeleteI hope you do well, all in all. I couldn't have the stamina, myself, but it must help a lot that there's two of you. Still....long days!
Happy Independence Day!