# Flea market ideas?



## clovis

I have been flea marketing on the side for many years. We have two booths at a local indoor flea market.

In the past, I've focused on selling estate auction finds, mostly household stuff, and an occasional piece of furniture. Overall, my biggest niche is used tools, and they have sold very well over the years...but I also focus on good quality stuff, and price them to sell.

What items have sold well for you in the past at flea markets? 

Any new ideas that you can share with me????

New items or used items?

Do you have links to wholesalers or distributors???

I am wide open to new ideas...PM me if you don't want to post them.


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## Bandit

We have sold off and on over the years too , in the resort area flea markets , We are 1/2 way between Old Orchard Beach Maine and The biggest flea market on Cape cod , same driving time , We based set up on the day of week and weather .
We sold new hand tools , tape , toys , sunglasses , jewelry and misc . odds and ends ( what ever was HOT ) like Virtual Pets . Pog's and Slammers etc.
What I found frustrating was We sold DeVilbiss air tools for $ 49.00 with a 1 yr, no question's asked warranty ( We were a master dist. ) . and We sold a lot , but I lost a lot of sales to customers that wanted Me to price match another dealer with $ 19.95 units made in China with the famous 50 / 50 warranty , when it broke , You owned both pieces .
My opinion of indoor flea markets in the North East in the winter , is that You are just paying for a warm place to store Your merchandise , after seeing what some of Our friends are making every week , I am thinking I was right .
Bob


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## clovis

Thanks for the reply!!!!

One thing about the indoor flea market here in central Indiana that may be different than the NE is that the winter months are boom times for us. 

It can be a struggle to make any money through the summer, especially August, which is back to school month. People are trying to squeeze in vacations and shop for back to school stuff. This means they aren't wasting time in a flea market.

But once the cooler weather starts in October, sales are generally excellent...sometimes almost stunning for the rinky-dink operation we have going.


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## Bandit

Hi Clovis
Have You been to any of the Closeout or Wholesale Merchandise Shows ? 
The amount of Merchandise Available and the prices will boggle your mind. But most of the better dealers have a $ 500. / $ 1000. minimum .
But when a gross of retractable dog leashes cost You $ 2.29 ea. You can learn to live with it , and make a little money too .
You are only about a 12 hr. drive from one of the major wholesale trade shows , but Not the Largest , shall We hold a HT Meet & Greet there ? 
There is also a show just for Closeout Wholesalers , but they don't hold it in Atlantic City any more .
One thing that We did learn there , was that We had a couple of " Local Dealers and/or there Salesman that didn't advertise , but lived near Us . 
Bob


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## Ken Scharabok

If you are allowed to do so by local and state regulations one of the most lucratives markets is pornograph. 1.000% mark up is about the norm.


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## truckdriverx72

Bandit said:


> Hi Clovis
> Have You been to any of the Closeout or Wholesale Merchandise Shows ?
> The amount of Merchandise Available and the prices will boggle your mind. But most of the better dealers have a $ 500. / $ 1000. minimum .
> But when a gross of retractable dog leashes cost You $ 2.29 ea. You can learn to live with it , and make a little money too .
> You are only about a 12 hr. drive from one of the major wholesale trade shows , but Not the Largest , shall We hold a HT Meet & Greet there ?
> There is also a show just for Closeout Wholesalers , but they don't hold it in Atlantic City any more .
> One thing that We did learn there , was that We had a couple of " Local Dealers and/or there Salesman that didn't advertise , but lived near Us .
> Bob


How could one find out about these shows? Thx.


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## Nomad

There are quite a few indoor flea markets in this town. We used to call such places junk stores, but now they are flea markets. I sell at one of them and do OK, but I'm not buying any regular items just to sell. I have a garage full of stuff accumulated over the years and that's what I'm selling. One item I did buy to sell was some oil filled electric heaters Walmart had last Spring. They were regular $37 and I got them for $7 each. I put one in the flea market store and it sold right away. I did that two more times with the same result. For $21 I took in $75. If they have any kind of deal next Spring I'm going to get more of an item if I think it will sell.

Nomad


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## ldc

For years I sold starter plants in the spring from a local wholesaler with very high quality plants. A few times I tried that at Thanksgiving-Christmas time w seasonal plants from the same wholesaler, and did spectacularly well. Did mums twice in early fall, and could have gone to FLA for the winter on those profits alone! This was all up in central NJ. ldc


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## Bandit

truckdriverx72 said:


> How could one find out about these shows? Thx.


http://www.asdonline.com/


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## Nomad

Here's a link to look at.

http://wholesalecentral.com/

They have a trade show calendar that lists a lot of shows all over. It also has a lot of listings to get merchandise. You have to watch the prices though. Some are not much lower then retail. I've made money buying from people through that site.

Nomad


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## luvrulz

Ken Scharabok said:


> If you are allowed to do so by local and state regulations one of the most lucratives markets is pornograph. 1.000% mark up is about the norm.


IS THIS A TYPO??????? What a load of crap -


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## PD-Riverman

Clovis, My GF and I sold at the Flea Market(F-M) for 2 years and sold the type things you mentioned except no big items like furniture(no room to haul it) and we did REAL GOOD. I have seen people set-up at the F-M then get their chair and sit, selling something every now and then. We Rarely had a minute to sit and rest our legs, from the time we got there till we closed for the evening we were busy putting out items, waiting on customers, taking in money and bagging sold items. This happened EVERY weekend weather allowed us to sell. We had so many Sellers around us that were so jealous because we did so good and they were selling little. One walked over one evening after loading his stuff and ask me "are your elbo's tired" I questioned him----he said he had been watching us all day and all we were doing was reaching out for money and putting it in our pocket. He said he sold about $30 all day, we had sold about $1300 that day, with the most expencive item that day was $20. I typed all this not to Brag(did enjoy the Money) but to let you see how we did. Its ALL about Location, the type items sold, price, and How the customers "FEEL" when they leave with our Items. If the price is right and they are happy they will come back their next trip. Repeat customers are what Makes it Very Successful. If you or anyone else reading this wants to be more successful-----Read This sentence Very Careful------YOU have to find the location, find and bring the items that the Customers are looking for(you can bring a truck load of the wrong items and take them back home because they don't sell) and make sure it is priced right and Make the Customer Feel REAL Good. I have went up to alot of other sellers booth and they acted like they were mad at the world, some would rarely speak and most of them took home most of what they brought to sell. I will round this off by saying what worked for us. LOCATION---We have 6 F-M with in 1 hour away, 4 of those within 30 minutes, 2 of those within 15 minutes----The one that works for us is the fartherest away, renting a indoor booth did not work the best for us, so we had to set-up all our items each weekend(that weather allowed) outside. We would set-up on Sat morning sell all day, cover our things and spend the night in the trailer then Sell Sunday, then reload our items. It was work but the money was good. ITEMS and PRICE. We took note of what the customers bought and price they were willing to pay and Items they asked if we had or could get. CUSTOMERS---We made them feel like our friends or family, talked with them etc. We Did Good. We are taking off from selling for a few months to build a new shop and remodel a home for my GF and I to live in. Then we will be back selling again. I visit the Flea Market we sold at often and so many customers want us to hurry back and tell us they miss us so much. There is alot more I could tell you but I want bore you any longer. Good Luck



clovis said:


> I have been flea marketing on the side for many years. We have two booths at a local indoor flea market.
> 
> In the past, I've focused on selling estate auction finds, mostly household stuff, and an occasional piece of furniture. Overall, my biggest niche is used tools, and they have sold very well over the years...but I also focus on good quality stuff, and price them to sell.
> 
> What items have sold well for you in the past at flea markets?
> 
> Any new ideas that you can share with me????
> 
> New items or used items?
> 
> Do you have links to wholesalers or distributors???
> 
> I am wide open to new ideas...PM me if you don't want to post them.


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## clovis

PD~
That is some of the best advice I've ever heard.

Overall, we've been very blessed, and have always been profitable, except for two months. Those two months were entirely my fault. I had some health problems, and didn't step foot in the FM for those two months.

I am hoping to step up our FM business, even though we've had two very good months so far.

This thread has been very beneficial....and I am very, very thankful for it!!!!!


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## Ken Scharabok

"Originally Posted by Ken Scharabok 
If you are allowed to do so by local and state regulations one of the most lucratives markets is pornograph. 1.000% mark up is about the norm. 

IS THIS A TYPO??????? What a load of crap -"

No, it was not a typo. A DVD sealed in a plastic case can be made for around $1. That same DVD may be priced at $14.95 at an adult book store. But then eBay is likely the biggest seller of porno around. (A friend brought by a bag of 32, well read, adult sex novels from the 1980s. I put them on eBay in lots of eight and they sold for a total of $148.01.)

As I recall the mark up on caskets is something like 700%. (A typical funeral with buriel is something like $6,500. Think it costs the funeral home that?) Around the same for new furniture. Some others picked up off the Internet: text messages - 6,500%, movie theater popcorn - 900%*, restaurant wine by the bottle - 500%, by the glass 3-4,000%, college textbooks - $900 per year average, hotel mini-busses - 1,500% and in-room movies - 200%.

*Watched a TV program on corn. Said initially theaters didn't like popcorn because of the mess left behind. Then they noticed they were making more off of the concession stand than the movies themselves.

Mark up is what the traffic will bear.


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## clovis

Ken is right. There is a huge mark up on DVDs. I saw an ad yesterday advertising .99 DVDs and free shipping if you bought 300 or more.

At the same time, I would _never_ consider selling items like that due to personal religious beliefs.


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## Nomad

clovis said:


> Ken is right. There is a huge mark up on DVDs. I saw an ad yesterday advertising .99 DVDs and free shipping if you bought 300 or more.
> 
> At the same time, I would _never_ consider selling items like that due to personal religious beliefs.


I thought about it a couple of years ago because of the money that could be made. I decided I didn't want to be involved with that kind of merchandise. I may be poor, but I feel good about the things I do sell. Each to his own. 


Nomad


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## Bandit

Hi P-D Riverman
You gave everyone some very good and honest advice about what has worked for You and a lot of other vendors , You try and bring what people are buying , not what You feel like selling .
Unlike You , We are unable to leave anything set up overnight , also We might sell in Old Orchid Beach Maine on Sat. and Wellfleet on Cape Cod , Ma. on Sunday .
I had a few more links I wanted to add but after fighting My wife and Daughter about going to the hospital for only a 103.9 fever on Sat. , they are at home on My Computer , I am still here .
Bob


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## PD-Riverman

Bandit said:


> Hi P-D Riverman
> You gave everyone some very good and honest advice about what has worked for You and a lot of other vendors , You try and bring what people are buying , not what You feel like selling .
> Unlike You , We are unable to leave anything set up overnight , also We might sell in Old Orchid Beach Maine on Sat. and Wellfleet on Cape Cod , Ma. on Sunday . Bob


We only sold on Sunday for a while and did real good, but setting up and packing back up the same day was alot of work, but the money was good. At our Flea Market you can rent a table and set-up more of your own tables behind that table. We rented 3 tables wide then set-up usually about 20 more tables behind those, plus 3 clothes racks and a DVD rack under its on top. We always loaded down the 23 or so tables plus there was usually totes of items under those tables. I have always felt that the More "STOCK" you carry the more you might sell. It sounds like we had a Lot and really we did, but every thing we carried was in a 7x14 enclosed dual axle trailer. Every thing was put into totes---mainly the ones with the interlocking fingers on the lids. If a item was to big for those totes we used some of the bigger plastic totes with lids, but no more of them than was needed. The totes with the interlocking finger stack tight and are heavy duty enough to stack 6 to 8 high. You can put Alot of those in a trailer. 


When we started selling Saturday and Sundays it Helped out alot, we were not as tired(we are in our 50's) and we Made alot more money. One thing that some people don't realize is when you sell as much "stuff" as we did, you don't go home on Sunday Evening and park the trailer, then hook back to it the next Saturday morning and go set back up and sell. We had to Buy Alot the next week to have the stuff to sell when we set back up. If we were working a public job we just would have not been able to do this on the side or be as "Big" of a weekend seller. I will just tell those interested in reading this what we did on a normal week. After we got home on the weekend we unhooked the "Flea Market trailer". Some Monday mornings we would hook to another trailer and go to a auction about 1 1/2 hours away. Most of the time we would buy enough to fill the trailer(6x12 enclosed). Some times during the week we would buy 2 or 3 trailers full at other auction site's closer home. Have to bring a full trailer home---unhook and hook to another trailer and go get another load. Some weeks we would attend 6 to 8 auctions, some weeks just 2 or 3. We would have to unload these trailers into a building so the trailers would be empty to go to another auction. Then when we got the animals fed and the garden tended and had some extra time we would start going through all of this and sort, seperate and get what we were going to take to the Flea Market put into totes and stack them in rows, then the things of value and big items that we were not taking to the Flea Market were put into a Big trailer(7x16) then when we got it full(usually every 2 or 3 weeks) we would take it to a different auction and sell it and try to buy another load while we were there---LOL. Then on Friday I would hook to the Flea Market trailer, back it up to the building and start adding enough totes to it to fill it then It would be ready for Saturday morning again. It Was ALOT of work But My GF and I Loved doing it and had alot of fun. We hope to get our projects done and back to it Soon.
I Wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!


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## luvrulz

And what makes it any different that drug money or money earned from prostitution. Hope you can sleep at night - making money off of peoples' bad habits......how proud is your momma?????







Ken Scharabok said:


> "Originally Posted by Ken Scharabok
> If you are allowed to do so by local and state regulations one of the most lucratives markets is pornograph. 1.000% mark up is about the norm.
> 
> IS THIS A TYPO??????? What a load of crap -"
> 
> No, it was not a typo. A DVD sealed in a plastic case can be made for around $1. That same DVD may be priced at $14.95 at an adult book store. But then eBay is likely the biggest seller of porno around. (A friend brought by a bag of 32, well read, adult sex novels from the 1980s. I put them on eBay in lots of eight and they sold for a total of $148.01.)
> 
> As I recall the mark up on caskets is something like 700%. (A typical funeral with buriel is something like $6,500. Think it costs the funeral home that?) Around the same for new furniture. Some others picked up off the Internet: text messages - 6,500%, movie theater popcorn - 900%*, restaurant wine by the bottle - 500%, by the glass 3-4,000%, college textbooks - $900 per year average, hotel mini-busses - 1,500% and in-room movies - 200%.
> 
> *Watched a TV program on corn. Said initially theaters didn't like popcorn because of the mess left behind. Then they noticed they were making more off of the concession stand than the movies themselves.
> 
> Mark up is what the traffic will bear.


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## Ken Scharabok

What makes it different than selling tobacco or alcohol products? A lot of people, include Joe Kennedy, Sr., made a lot of money off of other people's vices.

Personally I find porno boring. Same scene, done a couple of thousand times, maybe a tad different.


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## truckdriverx72

for all the replies- I've learned some new things !!!


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## pilot8532

I started selling food reserves at flea markets this year and the market was great. With the cost of food having risen 13% I believe people are looking for alternative ways to save money. Each meal costs $1.84, so its very affordable and convenient. They order online after they purchase from me at the flea market, so I sell one time and on all re-orders I earn 25%. I also give them a place where they can get free samples. (tell their friends) www,freefoodsamples,us so its a win win for both of us.


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## crispin

I sold at the Flea Market for the first time this past summer.

1) my DSO and I had a lot of fun
2) I bought a few pallets of returned furniture at an auction.
Most of this stuff was sold by fingerhut, it was coffee tables, book shelves, buffets, ect.
If I take my labor out of it (and being that I am unemployeed I guess my labor if actually free) I made good money on it. I paid around $40 per pallet and got around $120 from each pallet.

I think I am going to do it again next year. I also bought tools such as small generators, air pumps, wenches, ect (Harbor Freight stuff) and what I found is it brought a lot of people to my area - I did not make much money from that stuff but it gave me traffic which helped to sell my other (more profitable) items.


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## sisterpine

I would have no trouble selling port if it were legal in my town. Sisterpine


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## Nomad

pilot8532 said:


> I started selling food reserves at flea markets this year and the market was great. With the cost of food having risen 13% I believe people are looking for alternative ways to save money. Each meal costs $1.84, so its very affordable and convenient. They order online after they purchase from me at the flea market, so I sell one time and on all re-orders I earn 25%. I also give them a place where they can get free samples. (tell their friends) www,freefoodsamples,us so its a win win for both of us.


I'm having no luck with your link even when I put in periods in place of the commas.

Must have been a glitch in my computer. It finally took me to https://backoffice.mygofoods.com/shop/ProductDetail.aspx?id=237&ref=foodstoragellc

Nomad


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