flea market rantings ravings and perhaps a tip or 2

hi been lurking here a little while and thought i would share some ideas ive picked up over the years

im new here but have been going to flea markets for 20+ years

there are basically 3 kinds of flea markets ive been to
1  colectable/ antiques/crafts markets, these can be good for the right person  but ive always been of the mindset that the good stuff can always sell through other channels so i dont go to them

2 new item markets the place where mostly or all imported crap and tshirts and the like again for what im trying to do its no good so i dont go to them

3 the swapmeet type market , this is where ive been going for the past 10-12 years and it has been suiting my needs and this is primarily what i will be referring to

i must say this place has always baffled me and probably always will , im going to give several ideas and your results may vary tremendously retail markets will always vary as much as the people who come to them

the people who shop at my market are about  75% immigrant from all over the world lots of hatians jamaicans hispanic asians and russian and thats who i gear my stuff for when im packing

you results will vary depnding on your market and you customers

what sells for me

clothing mens jeans pants and shoes sneakers and boots baseball hats too
jeans and pants $2 a pair  hats $1 each shoes boots and such anywhere from $5-$25
 
womens clothing has been very very very hit or miss with me i try not to bring it anymore with the exception of decent name brand womens sneakers  and hats  sneakers $5-10 hats 1-3$
pocketbooks have sold for me in the past but i do better with them somewhere else so i dont bring them anymore

kids clothes
again shoes sneakers and boots sell well the rest of the stuff very hit or miss , if i found a kids consignement shop i wouldnt bother bringing them here

records very very very hit and miss but very good sellers if you get the right bunch for the crowd your selling to $1-2 per (note i dont search mine so i am probably selling things i shouldnt at this price )if i get something out of the ordinary i will sell it by itself (collections of 45s or 78s come to mind )

toys move pretty well i put a box out in front of my tables and price according to the piece (PUT IT OUT FRONT !!!!!!!!!!!!!) hide it inside your both and you wont sell 1/4 of what you will out front


I do test all my electronics before i go and if they have a problem with them they can bring them back
video games , in these types of markets there are always collectors and dealers walking around that can be good and bad , but ive been putting stuff out and selling it every week (note i do search this stuff pretty good and any hidden treasures i get go on ebay)

boomboxes i get rid of the cheap ones 10-15 dollars and they go
dvd players  the cheap ones $10 nicer name brand ones $20 anything superhigh end doesnt come here

speakers hit and miss i hate them because always wind up beating the crap out of them in the van on the way there or dropping them unloading them
nothing real good comes with me
receivers cassette decks turntables mini component systems etc all sell well make sure you dont give away anything to valuable

tools always sell well

sporting goods usually sell well in season, soccer + basketballs go year round (buy a inflator pin and make sure they are full it does make a difference)
rollerblades good year round i only bring the cheap ones and am getting $5-10 a pair

cds $1 each and they go $2 each and they sit (your results will vary)
DONT BRING THE SAME CRAP EVERY WEEK OR THEY WILL QUIT LOOKING AT IT

dvds $3 $2 late in the day


costume jewelry goes well

watches sell fairly well $3 and up i put batteries in mine and make sure they all work

small furniture nightstands small table etc good I only bring it if i have room in the van for it , even the small stuff takes up a fair amount of room and doesnt  generate a lot of cash but it does move (also consider what your customers are driving and will they be able to carry it out and bring it home)

towels = instant cash if you price them to move them

sheets curtains and drapes yes move well

cheap bikes move well mens boys and ladies (girls bikes not so much )
i only take the cheap ones the better ones are sold elsewhere

wiring all sorts of wires sell , sort them out and rubber band them so they dont get tangled (power packs sell too)

dishes plates cups all move you wont get much for them  (you can if they are complete sets though)

video tapes if i have room on my tables ill bring them but they arent a priority anymore at a dollar each ill sell 3 a day , however at 50 cents a piece i can still get rid of $10-20 worth a day and im just going to wind up throwing them out otherwise. I would not however bring the same ones twice i get rid of them after the flea market

household chemicals you know the crapload of cans under your kitchen sink
cant say you will have the same results butt i get rid of 80-90% of what i bring within an hour after  i put them out

i primarily use the flea market to get rid of stuff that would be just to big a nuisance to get rid of otherwise and price my stuff to move volume , theres a lot of competition where i am but i still manage to sell 1/2 my load everytime i go out , im not getting rich at the flea (i do kind of like going there too)

other things to consider
put your stuff on tables the majority of folks dont want to bend over

get the same spot everytime , the regulars will begin to come to you if they know where you are

table like type merchandise put all your tools on one table , all your dishes and stuff on one table etc

buy or make a display case , people will walk over just to see whats in it

if you have multiples of one larger ticket item (selling for over $10 for the sake of argument) only put one or 2 out and give them a prominent spot in the front of your booth you want as many people as possible to see them but if you put out 12 its actualy a deterrent to sales or an invitation to get your balls broken on price

people are busy , yacking on the phone talking with their friends yelling at their kids ,figure out what are your best sellers and make sure you keep them out front (unless they are real small things , keep those close to you so they dont get walked off with)

people dont like looking at the same stuff over and over again
if storage isnt a problem for you carry stuff for 2 or 3 weeks and store it for a month and try it again OR
try a different market
 Or  see if you can find another person a the market to swap junk with (I cant tell you how many times ive given crap ive been carrying for several weeks to the guy next to me and watched him sell it quickly, and many times ive taken his garbage and sold it )
it might not be new but its new to you

if storage is a problem then just get rid of it , if youve carried it x # of times and havent sold it and reduced the price and still havent sold it bail on it, throw it out donate it give it away , you can and will be able to sell everything at the flea market eventually but if you dont keep moving stuff and keep buying new stuff you will be OVERWHELMED with crap in no time flat .

test everything you can and if its broken sell it as broken , it doesnt take long to get a reputation as a bad guy to deal with and all the regular buyers chat with one another at one time or another

do some quicky fix work , as i mentioned with the sporting goods i now pump up all my balls before bringing them and in the year ive been doing it it does make a difference , bike tires same deal make sure they are pumped up, anything thats complete and ready to go is going to get a higher dollar than things that need even a miniscule bit of work

I bring or buy batteries when im there aaa aa c and d anything i have battery opperated gets demonstrated after the customer pays and before they leave 

generator im gonna spring for one sometime this year for the same reason i bring batteries , so i can demonstrate what ive got . This will affect any sales of electrical items with quicker sales and higher prices . This is a decent sized expense and i suggest you do this enough to know if you want to continue before you go drop the cash on one

tent  canopy or umbrella is a  very good idea for anyone
, ive worked without one for several years and am going to get one this spring im a wreck on mondays after being out in the sun all weekend .
if you do make sure they are anchored good to the van or the table or weighted , wind can send these flying (further than you would thing )

pricing before you consider dropping the price , think about raising it , you can scare people off with prices that are too cheap, case in point 10-15 years ago i got 12 brand new in the box timing lights (retail about 35$ back then) i tried selling them for $10 and nothing sold for several trips to the market . I was telling a friend about this and he suggested i take them out of the package roll them around in some dirt and sell them for $20. I thought he was nuts . Eventually i did try it his way and sold all 12 in one weekend ........go figure 

hope someone gets some use out of this

Very informative.   Thanks

The part about timing lights....
Similar situation. I had some cheap, still in the box car stereo's I couldn't sell. My friend threw away the box, cut the wires and sold all that day for more than I wanted.  For some reason people think inexpensive new, must be something wrong with it.....

hi been lurking here a little while and thought i would share some ideas ive picked up over the years

im new here but have been going to flea markets for 20+ years

there are basically 3 kinds of flea markets ive been to
1  colectable/ antiques/crafts markets, these can be good for the right person  but ive always been of the mindset that the good stuff can always sell through other channels so i dont go to them

2 new item markets the place where mostly or all imported crap and tshirts and the like again for what im trying to do its no good so i dont go to them

3 the swapmeet type market , this is where ive been going for the past 10-12 years and it has been suiting my needs and this is primarily what i will be referring to

i must say this place has always baffled me and probably always will , im going to give several ideas and your results may vary tremendously retail markets will always vary as much as the people who come to them

the people who shop at my market are about  75% immigrant from all over the world lots of hatians jamaicans hispanic asians and russian and thats who i gear my stuff for when im packing

you results will vary depnding on your market and you customers

what sells for me

clothing mens jeans pants and shoes sneakers and boots baseball hats too
jeans and pants $2 a pair  hats $1 each shoes boots and such anywhere from $5-$25
 
womens clothing has been very very very hit or miss with me i try not to bring it anymore with the exception of decent name brand womens sneakers  and hats  sneakers $5-10 hats 1-3$
pocketbooks have sold for me in the past but i do better with them somewhere else so i dont bring them anymore

kids clothes
again shoes sneakers and boots sell well the rest of the stuff very hit or miss , if i found a kids consignement shop i wouldnt bother bringing them here

records very very very hit and miss but very good sellers if you get the right bunch for the crowd your selling to $1-2 per (note i dont search mine so i am probably selling things i shouldnt at this price )if i get something out of the ordinary i will sell it by itself (collections of 45s or 78s come to mind )

toys move pretty well i put a box out in front of my tables and price according to the piece (PUT IT OUT FRONT !!!!!!!!!!!!!) hide it inside your both and you wont sell 1/4 of what you will out front


I do test all my electronics before i go and if they have a problem with them they can bring them back
video games , in these types of markets there are always collectors and dealers walking around that can be good and bad , but ive been putting stuff out and selling it every week (note i do search this stuff pretty good and any hidden treasures i get go on ebay)

boomboxes i get rid of the cheap ones 10-15 dollars and they go
dvd players  the cheap ones $10 nicer name brand ones $20 anything superhigh end doesnt come here

speakers hit and miss i hate them because always wind up beating the crap out of them in the van on the way there or dropping them unloading them
nothing real good comes with me
receivers cassette decks turntables mini component systems etc all sell well make sure you dont give away anything to valuable

tools always sell well

sporting goods usually sell well in season, soccer + basketballs go year round (buy a inflator pin and make sure they are full it does make a difference)
rollerblades good year round i only bring the cheap ones and am getting $5-10 a pair

cds $1 each and they go $2 each and they sit (your results will vary)
DONT BRING THE SAME CRAP EVERY WEEK OR THEY WILL QUIT LOOKING AT IT

dvds $3 $2 late in the day


costume jewelry goes well

watches sell fairly well $3 and up i put batteries in mine and make sure they all work

small furniture nightstands small table etc good I only bring it if i have room in the van for it , even the small stuff takes up a fair amount of room and doesnt  generate a lot of cash but it does move (also consider what your customers are driving and will they be able to carry it out and bring it home)

towels = instant cash if you price them to move them

sheets curtains and drapes yes move well

cheap bikes move well mens boys and ladies (girls bikes not so much )
i only take the cheap ones the better ones are sold elsewhere

wiring all sorts of wires sell , sort them out and rubber band them so they dont get tangled (power packs sell too)

dishes plates cups all move you wont get much for them  (you can if they are complete sets though)

video tapes if i have room on my tables ill bring them but they arent a priority anymore at a dollar each ill sell 3 a day , however at 50 cents a piece i can still get rid of $10-20 worth a day and im just going to wind up throwing them out otherwise. I would not however bring the same ones twice i get rid of them after the flea market

household chemicals you know the crapload of cans under your kitchen sink
cant say you will have the same results butt i get rid of 80-90% of what i bring within an hour after  i put them out

i primarily use the flea market to get rid of stuff that would be just to big a nuisance to get rid of otherwise and price my stuff to move volume , theres a lot of competition where i am but i still manage to sell 1/2 my load everytime i go out , im not getting rich at the flea (i do kind of like going there too)

other things to consider
put your stuff on tables the majority of folks dont want to bend over

get the same spot everytime , the regulars will begin to come to you if they know where you are

table like type merchandise put all your tools on one table , all your dishes and stuff on one table etc

buy or make a display case , people will walk over just to see whats in it

if you have multiples of one larger ticket item (selling for over $10 for the sake of argument) only put one or 2 out and give them a prominent spot in the front of your booth you want as many people as possible to see them but if you put out 12 its actualy a deterrent to sales or an invitation to get your balls broken on price

people are busy , yacking on the phone talking with their friends yelling at their kids ,figure out what are your best sellers and make sure you keep them out front (unless they are real small things , keep those close to you so they dont get walked off with)

people dont like looking at the same stuff over and over again
if storage isnt a problem for you carry stuff for 2 or 3 weeks and store it for a month and try it again OR
try a different market
 Or  see if you can find another person a the market to swap junk with (I cant tell you how many times ive given crap ive been carrying for several weeks to the guy next to me and watched him sell it quickly, and many times ive taken his garbage and sold it )
it might not be new but its new to you

if storage is a problem then just get rid of it , if youve carried it x # of times and havent sold it and reduced the price and still havent sold it bail on it, throw it out donate it give it away , you can and will be able to sell everything at the flea market eventually but if you dont keep moving stuff and keep buying new stuff you will be OVERWHELMED with crap in no time flat .

test everything you can and if its broken sell it as broken , it doesnt take long to get a reputation as a bad guy to deal with and all the regular buyers chat with one another at one time or another

do some quicky fix work , as i mentioned with the sporting goods i now pump up all my balls before bringing them and in the year ive been doing it it does make a difference , bike tires same deal make sure they are pumped up, anything thats complete and ready to go is going to get a higher dollar than things that need even a miniscule bit of work

I bring or buy batteries when im there aaa aa c and d anything i have battery opperated gets demonstrated after the customer pays and before they leave 

generator im gonna spring for one sometime this year for the same reason i bring batteries , so i can demonstrate what ive got . This will affect any sales of electrical items with quicker sales and higher prices . This is a decent sized expense and i suggest you do this enough to know if you want to continue before you go drop the cash on one

tent  canopy or umbrella is a  very good idea for anyone
, ive worked without one for several years and am going to get one this spring im a wreck on mondays after being out in the sun all weekend .
if you do make sure they are anchored good to the van or the table or weighted , wind can send these flying (further than you would thing )

pricing before you consider dropping the price , think about raising it , you can scare people off with prices that are too cheap, case in point 10-15 years ago i got 12 brand new in the box timing lights (retail about 35$ back then) i tried selling them for $10 and nothing sold for several trips to the market . I was telling a friend about this and he suggested i take them out of the package roll them around in some dirt and sell them for $20. I thought he was nuts . Eventually i did try it his way and sold all 12 in one weekend ........go figure 

hope someone gets some use out of this

Great post! I concur with everything youve said on here about the flea market! In fact, I have the same issue with women's clothes and they are starting to overwhelm me. What other outlets do you use to sell the women's clothes and pocket books/purses? Everything I have is name brand good condition. I am not ready to just donate them yet.

The one thing I would add for other vendors is some people at the flea market just LOVE to treasure hunt, so having a couple of unsorted boxes in front of your tables for the treasure hunters to sift and search through is great for pulling money out of those type of shoppers.

for the clothes  and pocketbooks i sort them and bring them to a consignment  shop , you could do that or ebay the nicer stuff

another thought is if everything is in decent shape put it up on craigs list in the barter section and see what the effort brings you
for example "will trade large quantity of womens clothing size ? for hockey equipment , kitchen utensils , dishware etc what do you have ?"
if your pressed for space , or live way out in the sticks this isnt going to work well but if your in a heavily populated areas you can turn up some interesting crap this way

s for the treasure hunt stuff , i know what you are saying and have done it , but where i am for every  person that goes digging through the box theres 10 that just walk right by it
the  floor in front of your booth be it indoor or out is you prime selling spot and should be stocked with crap you sell well and often (i do recomend the box of toys going out there as kids can smell em and will make a beeline for the box


one or 2 other things i thought of after my initial post

if you are an occasional vendor at one of these cheap type flea markets the beginning of the month is almost always better then the middle or the end , people get their pension, retirement, welfare, unemployment , dissability checks at the beginning of the month and this is when they have the most to spend
if you are vending every weekend you will find you sales for the most part averaging out after a while


you are paying rent on every inch of the spot , get the most out of it . if you are putting out a table of stuff, say books week after week and not selling them , why are you continuing to do it ? try something different on the table and you may get better results


speaking of books
books seem to sell well for me in the spring and fall not so much in the summer
bibles , religion , self help , how to and coffee table books sell alright (note i am not an amazon seller so i could be losing out on these but i just dont have the time to do it)
ethnic history and related books sell very well if you have the right person for it , black history will do well if you have a large black customer base , but wont sell worth a damn if your clientel are all hasidic jews, KNOW YOUR MARKET
novels so so at best for me
romance i chuck em or donate them


get there early , if your market opens at 7 be on line before 7 , if you are going in at 8-9 am the early birds are already on their way home 25-40% of what you are going to do at flea market will go on in the first 90 minutes or so

know what you are making , this sounds silly but its a mistake many people make (this applys to all areas of the storage locker buisness and its a mistake i see folks making over and over and over again
locker purchase $200 sold $850 made $650 right , nope not really
you bought the locker $216 aftersales tax
flea market rent for sake of argument lets say $35 with gas (cheaper some places more expensve in others)
ebays fees $25
now your looking at 850 -276= 574$
now add up your time
6 hours on auction caravan and another $20 in gas $554
4 hours loading and moving and unloading locker
5 hours sorting  cleaning ,and checking things
3 hours researching and listing on ebay
2 hours listing and meeting sellers from craigslist
12 hours for flea market Loading and unloading before and after  and selling on the day of
2 hours loading and trip to the dump about $50 now your left with  $504 divide that 504 by hours worked 34 and you come up with close to $15 and hour , not bad but not earth shattering a well paid pizza boy will do about the same and wont have to lay out the cash out of his pocket to do it
if you paid 100 for the locker you money goes up to 17.75 an hour , if you paid $400 for the locker your going down to under $9 an hour
if you had to hire a helper that expense comes out before the hourly division
if you dont have an idea of what you want to make and what you are making you wont really have a clue how well your doing at it

if your doing this just as a hobby it really doesnt make a difference one way or the other , if you are trying to make a living at it you really need to keep every thing in perspective
just a couple random thoughts
hope it helps someone

another quicky
.25 and 50 cent sales arent great try and sell the stuff 4 for a dollar or 2 for a dollar, if they dont have a full buck to spend they are not your target customer and if you give folks the cheapest way out they will take it everytime

besides folding money weighs less and you will be able to keep your pants up better without all that change in it 

I have to disagree with you on the $.25 and $.50 items.  I do really well with them in my area.  I have a small tote (about large shoebox size).  That I put in all sorts of misc junk that I'll sell for $.25.  Then I have a larger box of $.50 items.  These bring in a number of customers that like to rummage around in the boxes.  This in turn has resulted in additional sales as the husband looks over the tools or CDs while waiting on the wife.  Or the person that has now rummaged over the box looks around for other great deals.

Most people have quarters in their pocket or they keep looking till they make up a $1 or more.  I keep the same $5 in quarters in my cash box and have yet to replinish them.  I normally get a good $4-5 in quarters at the end of the day.  Good snack food money for work

Most things in your larger post are spot on.  My market is a bit different from yours, so some of the items you sell well don't move for me no matter how cheap.  But, your overall info is great for anyone new to the flea market.  Thanks

speaking of books
books seem to sell well for me in the spring and fall not so much in the summer
bibles , religion , self help , how to and coffee table books sell alright (note i am not an amazon seller so i could be losing out on these but i just dont have the time to do it)
ethnic history and related books sell very well if you have the right person for it , black history will do well if you have a large black customer base , but wont sell worth a damn if your clientel are all hasidic jews, KNOW YOUR MARKET
novels so so at best for me
romance i chuck em or donate them

There is big money to be made on amazon with religion books. They sell fast and the sell at a premium price.

In my area everyone sells clothes and they sell them $2 whatever you fit in a bag so I don't even bother with clothes.  Also, I will not sell for less than $1, I may go 2 fo $1 but that is as low aas I will go.

everything is relative and every market is different

several years ago when i started selling junk i was selling things for  quarter and 50 cents and on a bad day would take in a hundred dollars 2 hundred on a good one
i quit playing around with the nickel and dime crap upped my prices and held them on the cheap stuff and my bad and good days have both tripled in sales on a consistent basis
overall im quite happy with what im doing , im not getting rich  mind you , but this is all found money as its stuff that would be completely useless and unsellable to me otherwise

Here's a pic from the 2nd best flea market in my area; #3 and #4 haven't rated a pic yet.

Take the image below and then expand it back 50 feet with more of the same; wonder how many
pair he sells in a day.

Least those shoes look better then the ones I keep pulling out of units.  Shoes / boots in boxes I seem to sell quick.  Shoes standing like those in picture can get some looks but don't move fast.

You should change your caption under your portrait MovieMan to "bag of cloths" instead of "box".   Or maybe that is only down here in the south.

Here's a pic from the 2nd best flea market in my area; #3 and #4 haven't rated a pic yet.

Take the image below and then expand it back 50 feet with more of the same; wonder how many
pair he sells in a day.

wow!
where i go i could get rid of near all of that in a day 5-15$ a pair

wow!
where i go i could get rid of near all of that in a day 5-15$ a pair

Well, I don't know what he charges, but he is there every flea day and has the same quantity every time. Whether he is selling a bunch and restocking or not I don't know. I would guess he sells maybe a dozen a day, which would only be a row or two of the maybe 50 rows he has.

another tip i meant to share and forgot about isif you have dufflebags , rolling suitcases,or those fold up shopping carts , display them in the front of your stall , easy sales to people who bought more than they can carry