A Lesson at the Flea Market
by V. Raposo
Published on this site: February 10th, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
For those of you that don't know, I started my business 9
years ago at the flea market. I think back of all the fun
that I had and when I started selling off odds and ends that
I had around the house.
After being there for a while I noticed something quickly,
that I could buy certain products from the "newbies"
who were coming in and then throw it on my table for more
$ and voila a valuable lesson.
This is what I did for 2 years! I went through my second
pregnancy spending every weekend at the flea market. I got
bit by the flea market bug.
I kept my tables set up for each weekend and had a following
of customers. When people saw that I had unique items, they
kept coming back to check out what I had.
Now fast forward 9 years and no, I'm not selling at the flea
market anymore. That was before I knew about eBay. So what
is the recent valuable lesson I learned recently from the
flea market?
My husband loves framing pictures, he went to school for
it, got the equipment, and now does framing for friends, family,
and co-workers. It's a fun hobby that he's turned into an
extra stream of income for our family.
Recently, we've been going to the flea market on the weekends,
it's still in our blood. lol. Often you'll find companies
that want to off load product, maybe it's slightly damaged,
etc. Well, he made a contact with a man who was willing to
sell frames to him for so dirt cheap, only because of a mark
here or there that we can easily paint over.
Now we are able to pass those savings onto others and at
the same time have some great frames for ourselves.
All of this got me thinking about how I can hand over this
lesson to you.
As an auction seller you might have not thought of the flea
market being a great place to get products, but here's some
great tips that I learned from those flea market days:
- If you want to get the "best" finds, you need
to go looking at the market first thing in the morning,
even while they're all still setting up. And of course before
the other sellers have a chance to purchase from new vendors.
This usually means being there around 630am on Sunday.
- A lot of times what happens at the end of the day is people
have made most of their money so they are willing to off
load their items at a cheap price or even give it away to
you. Just go and hang out when people start packing up,
and I'm sure you'll hear some sellers shouting out "5.00
for the rest." They don't want to carry anything home,
especially if they don't regularly set up at the flea market.
(Our flea market here is so popular that I know a guy that's
been selling there for 8yrs and still can't get a "regular"
spot.)
- Approach the owner of the flea market, let him know that
if sellers leave anything behind that you're willing to
grab it up. Now, don't be choosy, because he would rather
donate it, than sit with a fussy person. So, if you offer
this then be prepared to take most or all of what he's offering.
- If you find someone that has a great product for sale
approach them and exchange phone numbers, maybe he'll want
to just sell straight to you, and that saves him some time
from having to set up at the flea market. (it's a great
motivator)
- Take it a step further, and offer to sell their items
on eBay for them. You'll often find retailers who frequent
selling at the flea market to get rid of extras they can't
sell in their store.
A tip to remember when going to the flea market, keep in
mind of the eBay prices of certain items. Look for unique
gift items, cds, dvds, clothing, & costume jewelry. I'm
sure there's a ton more things that I could mention but it's
very important for you to do your own research and see what's
selling. It won't take you too long to figure out what's the
best items to grab at.
You can find lots of great prices on second hand items at
the flea market, and lots of new items too. So try out the
flea market, I'm certain you will find lots of treasures there.
Vera Raposo has been making a living with online auctions
since 1997. With thousands of completed auctions under her
belt, Vera is now sharing some of her best auction strategies
in a free 90-minute interview at http://www.auctionstrategists.com/special
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