Posts Tagged ‘flea markets’
Flea Markets and the Wholesale Strategy
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
When Manuella Lizzio co-founded the International Trade and Marketing Group (ITMG) in 2001, she originally conceptualized it to be an exporter. But when inspiration struck Lizzio to design a line of handbags, the Rockville, Md.-based company soon had to figure out if her vision could sell.
“The main goal of the company was really to do wholesale as opposed to retail,” Lizzio said, “but to make something that’s really tailored to the consumer would imply that we really want to get into that retail mentality.”
Two years later the Bethesda Flea Market, hosted by the Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative, would become Lizzio’s testing ground. While selling five to ten handbags would have sufficed, her stand sold 15 handbags on the first of three days she spent there.
“It was just a good way of really seeing how people react to the designs that we were trying to start with,” she said.
Shoppers across the United States can now visit more than 2,000 flea markets, with each of them hosting hundreds of vendors. And while they are typically known to house antiques and vintage wares, flea markets have also slowly become promising venues for aspiring wholesalers, with any sort of merchandise.
Over the past year, the number of flea market shoppers has grown by 2.3 percent, while the number of vendors has grown by 1.2 percent. And with the number of sources for antiques and vintage wares dwindling, now more than two-thirds of vendors sell new merchandise they get from various suppliers, said John Schoen, executive director of the National Flea Market Association.
According to Schoen, the industry flourishes a little during an economic downturn because today’s flea market shopper and vendor are both looking to save money. “Shoppers say, ‘I’ll be going to the flea market because I can get what I want for my family, for a lot less money.’”
Meanwhile, vendors are likely selling at flea markets for supplemental income. Jerry Stokes, National Flea Market Association founder, stands convinced that the flea market provides the cheapest, easiest way to start a business, being “the landlord for the entrepreneur vendor.”
The Pasadena City College Flea Market – which regularly hosts over 450 vendors – charges $70 to $100 for space ranging from 17-by-16 to 17-by-32 square feet. Meanwhile, the San Jose Flea Market charges anywhere from $20 to $75 for a space approximately 17-by-20 square feet.
“If a person is going to get into a business, they have to rent a storefront. They gotta get a license, they gotta get the overhead, they gotta have a lot of money to start up,” Stokes said. “But a [flea market] vendor, they can rent a booth and they can be in business.”
For the past ten years, Stokes has worked to create representation of the flea market industry. Since founding the association, he has created a number of online resources for flea market vendors, including Vendors Only and Find a Flea Market. Suppliers of anything from closeout apparel to sporting goods have also begun noting that they sell to flea market vendors – or, like AAA Flea Market Supply, work solely with them.
Meanwhile, Lizzio and a number of jewelry designers she met in Bethesda have since moved on to wholesale efforts, thanks to the responses they received.
“Just staying in your community is sometimes the best way to begin something,” Lizzio said, “and the flea market just presented itself as a pretty good opportunity to do that.
Tags: AAA Flea Market Supply, Business, buying wholesale, christina lee, Find a Flea Market, flea market business, flea markets, International Trade and Market Group, ITMG, Jerry Stokes, John Schoen, Manuella Lizzio, National Flea Market Assocation, Pasadena City College Flea Market, San Jose Flea Market, Vendors Only
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How To Start Selling at Flea Markets
Monday, October 1st, 2007
Flea markets give sellers an unlimited income potential, while not limiting them to one product or sector of sales. Where else can you find a gallon bag of baseball cards for a dollar, an antique clock for three dollars, and all the stuffed animals you could want thrown in for good measure? Flea market sales have found a niche, and you can have a piece of the pie. Unlike other retail sales businesses, working a flea market doesn’t involve a large startup cost. In fact, crafters and others who can make their own products can begin right away.
There is no “flea-market template” that can guarantee success, but if you follow the steps below for starting a business selling at flea markets, your road to profit will be less bumpy; remember, though, that the time you put into this venture is going to directly relate to how much you will make.
Step One: Find a place to sell
This will involve making some phone calls and looking in the local paper. Most flea markets advertise in the community classifieds; but you can even look online for flea market directories (like FleaMarketListings.com ). Call around for the best rates, and visit the flea markets before you decide to rent a booth. Check out the other merchandise offered at the flea markets you visit to see if your product line would sell. If one flea market is over-saturated with your product or its direct competition, try another.
Consider all of the angles. An indoor flea market is ideal if your merchandise is easily damaged, since the elements can take their toll quickly. Ask if the flea market can be locked up after hours, or if it has storage facilities for vendor use. Once you’ve found that perfect flea market, try to find the best booth possible. If there are tables open that are in the middle of the building, pick one of those, since they historically see more traffic. Pay for a year up front and you’ll have a better chance of getting one of the good spots, although trying to move into an established flea market might require some waiting as seniority dictates.
Step Two: Obtain the proper selling license(s)
What kind of license you’ll need depends on where you are located. Some states require you to get an occupational license, while others permit sales with a reseller’s license. Still others don’t require a license at all for flea markets. The best thing to do is check with your state’s Small Business Administration office.
Step Three: Build your inventory
To create inventory, visit yard sales, auctions, estate sales and other public sales that you can fit into your schedule. Try to be one of the last folks to visit a yard sale and volunteer to purchase the remainder of their sales items for a small discount. Many people will simply give you their leftovers, just to save the hassle of having to move everything. Don’t forget to see if friends and family have anything to donate.
If you want to add homemade products to your inventory, you can display your own creations or put a classified in the local paper for crafters. You can also purchase new merchandise to display through wholesale websites, but don’t buy until you have checked on the viability and legitimacy of a wholesale business. Bulletin boards and forums often have posts from people willing to give stuff away or sell it for next to nothing. Finally, websites like Liquidation.com and Overstock.com specialize in selling surplus and bulk products.
Step Four: Attract attention
So, you have a good booth, good merchandise, and a great attitude. Now it’s time to attract the customers you deserve. Clean your merchandise, polish or paint it if need be, or fix small problems. If your products are already in good shape, arrange them in an attractive manner.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. If you sell food, offer a variety of packaging options, including individual servings and family sizes. If you really want to attract people to your booth, and the flea market doesn’t have a policy against vendors selling edible items, offer free food or samples of your food products. This is guaranteed to bring hungry shoppers to your booth.
If you sell electronics, try to provide an outlet that shoppers can use to test electrical items. Customers will appreciate the gesture, and you just might make a sale that you wouldn’t otherwise have made. Finally, don’t cram two tables worth of merchandise onto one table. Although some shoppers like to rummage through unmarked boxes of merchandise, most are trying to find particular items. If you keep neat, organized rows of tables and clearly priced items, people can see if there’s a reason to linger at your booth. Hopefully, they’ll at least stay for a cookie or some warm conversation.
Tags: building inventory, flea markets, fleamarketlistings.com, jennifer ratliff, Liquidation.com, overstock.com, small business, Starting a Business
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