So you've been contemplating whether you want to start a flee market business. I know how you feel and I'm sure you have many questions. I'll be more then happy to answer any questions you have with real world experience I've gained. Now i use flee market selling to help pay for college. I'm very happy to say i make a min of 100 dollars and up to 300 a week. I know this isn't a lot of money but it definitely helps with buying food and paying for my room.
So first off.
1. You'll need a product.
I found going to thrift stores to be very profitable and easy on the wallet. Usually i can take a 50 dollar investment and turn it into 200-300 dollars.
1.5. Your product
can be really anything just so it holds value to the consumer. I personality major in shirts and pictures and other house decor.
2. How do i make my stand or booth... well stand out?!?!
Ok so this is very important!! As having very extensive marketing experience i can tell you that the booth its self will sell you more product then the product its self.
2.5. The value of your booth.
The booth has to be professional and may be flashy. Don't build a booth that looks like you threw crap together and prayed it stick.
Use ads you've made to lore your buyer in. They don't know about your box of cell phone cases unless there up close so tell them you have that iphone case they are wanting.
3. Use your personality
persuade the buyer they need something they wouldn't buy normally. This is a sellers trick.. its mind over your buyers mind. Its some what hard to explain but simply put you entertain your buyer, make them laugh and throw in some sales while your at it. So for example your gonna wanna keep there brain occupied, meaning you don't want them thinkin about the money there giving you, trick them and make them think they want your junk for absolutely no reason either then returning the favor and giving you happiness with the dollar.
This is a very hard skill to master but if you can continue the energy you'll be selling broken plates to a homeless guy.
4. Pricing***
very important information right here. This is a trick i learned from my very informational grandpa. Your pricing has to compliment your product. For your example your not going to sell a picture for 15 dollars until you raise the price to 45 dollars. This is another little brain trick that plays on the consumer. This works because a buyer doesn't want to buy junk, if your selling a picture for 15 dollars they think its junk.
5. Storage.
Storage was a big issue with myself, i lived in a dorm and there is only a we little space for storage. I got very lucky and purchased a box trailer. I got a very good deal at 650 dollars. So get on Craig's list and look for a small box trailer when your serious. I however needed a box trailer since I'll be using it for lawn care and other side jobs.
6. Cash and debit and credit cards.
So your going to have to have at least 100 dollars in change (Lots of ones) for cash purchases so you can return change. Now as the above states i was always talking about credit and debit cards, you'll need to set up a merchant account and have a smart phone... now there is a catch to accepting cards, although its very easy to set up there are the down falls. When setting up a merchant account you'll be given a smart phone card scanner that attaches to your phones head phone jack. For every purchase you process the merchant will take 2 to 3%. Another down side is your payments might not be available for up to 3 weeks or 21 days.
7. Taxes.
You'll have to pay your taxes for the end of the day. Personally i pay all my taxes to the markets over seeing manger at the end of the day and he mails me a w4.
I hope i gave you some valuable insight into the world of flee markets. I'm open to answering any questions.
One more tip is to goto a big market with over 25-30 other vendors.
