My adventures at the Antique/flea market

I rented 2 booth spaces yesterday, do not know if it is a good deal or not ($90 a month for both and 10% commision).  Is this normal?

Ths is a very large and often crowded mall.  She says they stay full and only had 3 spots open.  Seemed like there were more spots than that oped but whatever.

Everyone there was really nice, and answered all my questions. I asked if they knew where i could get some shelving to put my items on and they offered to try and find some of theirs that i could use.  They also offered me some clothing racks but I allready have some.

Even though they may be giving me some sheving I have spent all morning on the computer adn going from store to store in town pricing some shelving. I bought 4 metal shelving units for $20 a piece to start with.

Right now I am over whelmed, with finding and putting together shelving and now I need to go through 2 rooms at my house full of things and select what to send to the mall and what to keep for the regular flea markets.  Then I need to tag and price every item.

Whew I feel like I will never get done and I just started  LOL

Thanks for posting! I have been out of the "business" for almost 10 years due to kids in sports, 4H, band, horse shows, etc. The youngest is now 19 and I am ready to jump back in!

I have spent the last week going through two outbuildings that have been the repository of all things to good to throw out but ..... Whew, what a chore! I have a space reserved at a swap on Saturday but I also have a pile of things that are too vintage to take to the swap and I have been kicking around renting a space at the antique mall. The major drawback is the closest city that has one is Bakersfield and they are almost an hour away. My concern would be - would I commit to the time it would take to keep it stocked and looking fresh.

I will be interested reading as your journey progresses!

Good luck.

No problem!  I'm sure I will have questions for our members as I go along.

Pricing wise, our antique market wants $2.60/ sq. ft. + 10%. So a 10x10 booth would be $260/month. You are ahead of us there.  

The nice thing is, a lot of your inventory can be out in front of the public instead of being stored and that also means more space to move around wherever you would normally keep it.

Honestly, if ours was $90/month, we would jump on it, but at $260 we're not sure if they have the traffic to justify it.

Good luck!

Pricing wise, our antique market wants $2.60/ sq. ft. + 10%. So a 10x10 booth would be $260/month. You are ahead of us there.  

Honestly, if ours was $90/month, we would jump on it, but at $260 we're not sure if they have the traffic to justify it.

Good luck!

Me too. Our current market is $2.00/sq. ft. + 10 %. We did find an indoor Flea market open 6 days a week for $150 a month. and you run your own booth when you want too. no rules of you have to be here so many days.  Really looking at that. 

@ bulldogmom with you on the commitment of keeping it fresh and stocked. Why we still have not rented a permanent space in an antique mall .

@money4nothing.... I have to be in the big city tomorrow sooo.... I may stop in at a few and check prices. I also have an old business partner who bought me out of our consignment store many moons ago that may be willing to let me have a corner. I hope the prices are nothing like in your area!

Well sounds like I am getting a good deal.  I do not live in a large city 90,000 people, but large enough to make it worth while.

I was suprised at the traffic at this mall, and it was a Wed.   My only real fear at this point is the mall is so large people might get bored before they make it to my booth.  It is down stairs and there is about 200 booths.

I will see over the next 2 months if it is worth while.

My booth at Southern Pickers is about 6x8 $60 month and 15%.  I am lucky that is next to the check out.  It is about 5 miles away on my way to work.  I like it for selling items that are no going to bring their value at the flea and would not do well on CL or eBay.

My booth at Southern Pickers is about 6x8 $60 month and 15%. 

For that kind space and cost we could drive to Ga. once a month. 

Be cheaper than what we are finding.

Well sounds like I am getting a good deal.  I do not live in a large city 90,000 people, but large enough to make it worth while.

I was suprised at the traffic at this mall, and it was a Wed.   My only real fear at this point is the mall is so large people might get bored before they make it to my booth.  It is down stairs and there is about 200 booths.

I will see over the next 2 months if it is worth while.

Advertise your booth on CL. With pictures of new items. 

I found an antique place on CL took me to her Face Book page. Had pictures of what she had with prices, I was just seeing what she was getting for old windows (We have 50). Selling at the Flea, cheaper than her but moving them.

@Money   Thanks for the tip, I will look into this. I am also going to run an ad in my local paper.  I can run as many as I want as long as the item I list is below $300, I could run an ad for very item I have LOL

looking for a space and hoping to get less than  $100 on the rent.will hear from your report after a month then. good luck. moi still salvaging stuff worthy of displaying

I still haven't had time to finish stocking my space but it is coming together.  I had to go up front to ask some questions yesterday about how the booth owner will know whats sold.  They keep your tags and give them back to you at the end of the month.

 While I was there they told me I had sold some items, $56 worth of items in 1 week and I only have about 1/3 of my booth full.

 I even sold a Vintage radio I icked last week from a thrift store.  This was my first shot at picking. I bought it for $20 and sold it a week later for $28!

Going to try to find time to put up my other 2 racks I have bought and do some more stocking today.

UGA*FAN  That sounds good.  Keep up the good work.

Just an update

Nothing much new at the antique mall, I have so far set up 4 metal utility racks, 2 clothes racks,  and my display case i got in a unit.  Not to bragg but my space looks way better than most peoples there.

I haven't checked in a few days but I think I have sold about $160 since the first of this month. 

What I have noticed is a don't have any larger ticket items, so I am taking over a couple of smaller pieces of furniture.  Most of my items range from $1-$25 ( I may have most things under priced).

Well give you guys another update soon....

Just an update

  Not to bragg but my space looks way better than most peoples there.

I haven't checked in a few days but I think I have sold about $160 since the first of this month. 

What I have noticed is a don't have any larger ticket items, so I am taking over a couple of smaller pieces of furniture.  Most of my items range from $1-$25 ( I may have most things under priced).

Well give you guys another update soon....

That sounds good.  Making your space look good is the best thing you can do. In my previous life was a frequent shopper at antique malls and I had my favourite dealers and there booths always looked nice so I could see everything.

We are still looking, the closes place is a dump.the owners don't keep it up, I have seen booths that looked like something large had sold and they just left stuff everywhere. then again they are close enough for me to stay on top of that.  But they sell so might just have to do it and work our way to a better place.  Sure beats the stuff sitting here with no one to look at it, but the dog. 

Have everything on CL not moving.