What I learned about selling in a booth…and the bottom line…is it right for you?
I was in the antique booth business for only 4 years, but it was long enough to figure out whether it was a right fit for me. What did I learn? It took over my life!!!
Excitedly I jumped in with both feet figuring I would have no trouble keeping a booth filled up. After all, it was just a continuation of the vintage items I was selling online, right?? Not exactly.
What I Learned About Selling in a Booth:
♥ Inventory needs to turn over regularly. Ideally visit your booth once or twice a week to poof, fluff, and rearrange.
♥ Do you have a flair for display to make things look attractive? (My weakest area). Here’s my first booth. I was so proud!
♥ Do you have big display pieces (chests , bookcases and shelving) available to display wares at eye level? This is very important. Eye level, eye level, EYE LEVEL was preached to me constantly by the mall owner! But see in the photo above? Far too much landed on the floor because I didn’t have enough big display pieces!
♥ You better be hustling out every weekend for yard and estate sales, with visits to thrift stores during the week. This is the fun part, (if you’re the morning person type)…but the downside? There’s tons of competition!
Now if you’re not the morning person type…well, let’s just say it becomes a hardship getting up so early every weekend. I’m definitely not a morning person. I’m a night owl, so it became tiring very quickly.
♥ Keep a running list of what you take to your booth, what has sold, and what you’ve removed. I learned the hard way that I couldn’t trust the shop owner to keep up with that for me.
♥ Dealing in furniture and other big ticket items tremendously helps the bottom line, but smalls are your bread and butter. Like the little mismatched jewelry pieces below sold well bringing a profit.
I was only asking 50¢ each for them…cheap…but it adds up quickly.
♥ Do you have help to haul furniture to your booth? This is a biggie! Do you have a vehicle to do the hauling? We managed with a small SUV, but a truck would have been great.
♥You will be spending lots of time repairing, painting, and/or repurposing furniture and other items to take to your booth. YES, it takes over your life!
♥Do you have the skill to make those furniture repairs yourself? I depended on my husband to do that for me, but he was retired and had the time. I certainly couldn’t have done them myself. I just didn’t have the know-how!
♥ Do you have a stock of items to decorate your booth around the major holidays? I tend to sell everything, so am left with nothing to decorate with.
♥ Be aware of what your commissions, credit card fees, and rent amounts are. Rent is a huge chunk of change! The first big item I sold was a large desk. I might as well have handed my entire “profit” to the mall owner in rent!
♥ Consider having insurance for theft losses. We learned there was a kleptomaniac living in the neighborhood, and things displayed outside began disappearing…even when the owner got security cameras! You know how you think it’s not going to happen to you?? It did.
♥ Do you have a stock of paint on hand for fixing up your pieces? Paint and supplies are expensive.
♥ Do you have cleverly repurposed items to stand out from the competition? These can fly out the door if priced right, or they can sit!
♥ Be prepared to weather the slow months when nothing is selling. I found that January, June, and September were the slowest selling booth months.
♥ Promote on social media, especially Facebook! It helps get people to the shop by posting what you have for sale. When I started out, I was totally clueless. I had no idea how to promote myself or my shop.
Have I mentioned that a booth takes over your life?? There are days when you don’t have time and/or aren’t in the mood to go to the booth or work on projects. I worked all the time, even on Sundays, which didn’t set well with my husband or me. Little time was left over for other pursuits. I miss it, but barely had time to glance at my Etsy/Ebay shop, much less create a listing! Maybe some can, but I couldn’t do both.
Booth dwellers out there, what are your thoughts and experiences?
PLEASE PIN OR SHARE!
Florence
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Great article! I have shared it for other booth owners. I have been in business for 18 years. You have to really LOVE it to do it.
I totally agree Donna, and I can tell you do love it. Wow, that’s a long time to be in that business! I miss it some & toy with the idea of going back just because I have so much JUNK! I may do it yet…still thinking it over…
Hi Florence, there really aren’t any local options for me, so I haven’t had one. You gave some great tips and things to consider!
Thanks Cecilia! No local options for you? I’m surprised…
Florence, I’m on a waiting list at a local flea market but maybe it’s a good thing I’m still on it. I don’t think I could handle such a time consuming endeavor right now. I still haven’t given up on it but perhaps the timing has to be right for a booth. Anyway, this was a fantastic article and I’m so glad you shared this!! It’s given me a lot to consider.
Thank you Keri. I don’t want to be discouraging…it’s just my experience. You will do the right thing for you. I just found it to be very time-consuming.
Great post Florence! I’ve toyed with the idea for ages, but I know I’d never have the time to put into it right now to be successful. Plus there’s way too much competition at the local flea market with one vendor really cornering the market with a huge portion all to herself. Maybe someday I’ll give it a go though. I’ve always wanted to try it.
Thanks Tuula! It is fun having a booth, but I found it to be so much work. It just got to where I couldn’t do what I really loved, which was my Etsy shop. Well, I really loved both, but had to give one up. Yes I found it to be a lot of competition at yard sales, estate sales, & thrift stores with seemingly everyone doing the same thing.
Do you actually sell things on Etsy? If so, how do you market on Etsy? Thank you…:)
Yes, I do sell on Etsy, but I don’t do much marketing there. I just wait for people to come to me. Etsy has something called “offsite ads,” which are mandatory if you make a certain amount of money over the year. That’s the only ads I do.
You have a knack for displaying… beautiful presentation in your booth.
Thank you Maria! So sweet of you to say.
Florence that was an eye opener. I had no idea so much was involved in running a booth. I have never thought about it but I have shopped in booths in the past. That takes so much dedication and work.
Thank you Mary! Do they have booths in Greece?
I’ve never seen any. They have outdoor farmers markets and sometimes they will sell knick nacks. Also there is one huge market in Athens but it is really overpriced. Florence, I really do live in the Boondocks!! 😉
Well, I like the look of your boondocks!
Oh cool ! Your post is so helpful, especially for me cause i’m gonna having a selling booth in the future 😀
Thanks for sharing your thinking Florence ! Have a good week xD
Glad it’s helpful for you Minnie. Good luck for the future in your booth!
I love your idea. I am quite busy even on weekends so your what you did with the booth really inspires me. Love it.
Glad you like it Thomas!
I would think having a spot in a brick and mortar would be confining. Did you make enough profit to make it worthwhile?
My first booth was a loss. My second was a win, but for me, almost not worth it anymore, being that it was so time-consuming.
Florence you hit the nail on the head. It is getting very competive in my area as well. And then when you add a blog to it you really don’t have much time for anything else. We love it though or else we wouldn’t be doing it.
Blogging & Booth would be all I could manage too! Wish I was blogging when I had my booth.
If you had blogged , what would have said ?
Great advice, i was thinking of doing something like this for my crafts
Maria
Thank you Maria!
Great advice. I have been pondering an antique mall booth, but have been shying away because of the high rents. Pinning.
Doing the booth thing is fun & it has its positives, but no doubt rent takes a huge chunk. Have to sell a lot to make a profit!
Great tips Florence!
Thank you Terri! Appreciate your stopping by.
Hi Florence! What great info. I don’t have a booth, but have bookmarked in case I ever need to circle back. Thanks so much for sharing! Susie from Chelsea Project
Thank you Susie! Hope it’s helpful info for you sometime! Thanks for dropping in.
Hi Florence–Great info. I’m sorta in a dilemma. I’ve had a large space at a nice antique mall for the past 3 months since January. Very well decorated and great assortment–large and small–etc. Ive lost close to 700 dollars since opening –not counting my time and fuel. My best month was still short over 100 dollars to break even. Now, this virus problem has begun. this month 10 dollars. Should I close shop with the economy like it is?
Hi Jerry,
I would be inclined to say close up if you’ve lost that much money. You could try selling your inventory on Facebook Marketplace, which is a good alternative for furniture. Selling in an antique mall is a lot of fun when times are good, but even then, it’s hard to make enough for all the hard work you put into it. When times are bad, like now, it seems like a losing battle.
I’m in a booth again as we speak, and frankly, I wish I wasn’t now with this virus. Restrictions in our area have forced it to close temporarily, and the manager is trying to get us exposure online, but it’s tough. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
You got the whole booth thing covered. I really didn’t know what I was getting into. At first I went all the time and sales were great but have fallen off over time. The mall has new owners and I don’t really like some of the things they are doing. I am going to stay through year end then decide for sure if I am going to continue but right now I’m leaning toward closing it.
Sharon, you will know what you need to do. I totally didn’t know what I was getting into either. I liked some parts of it. I don’t see how you have time to blog and do a booth too!
Your post is really helpful in the way that how to display and restore the items. Yeah I agree with you that as doing business, we must follow and take care of the products. I am going to share your post on my facebook. Thanks for your sharing,
Thank you Mary! Glad it was helpful for you & thank you so much for sharing!
I love visiting all the flea markets and antique booths in South Africa but never thought about how much is actually involved. I have always had huge respect for what you do and all the beautiful things you find Florence, but now I’m just in awe and you have such an amazing blog too. Wow, how do you do it?
Thank you Michelle! Those are kind words indeed. Thank you for that encouragement! I’m not sure how I do it sometimes…LOL.
Florence, I thought about this in the past, but was worried about the time commitment. The booths here are only about 3 foot wide and they are shelving units built in. You couldn’t display much so I decided not to do it. I can’t imagine the time you put into this! Really a huge job, I think that it wasn’t for me, thanks for the post. It will be in my mind if I think about it again in the future!
Glad it was helpful for you Nikki. Yes, it is time-consuming as any booth dealer will tell you. You gotta love it to keep at it.
Great tips Ms Florence! I’ve never thought of stock items for holidays’ decorating and insurance for theft losses. Thank you. These are really helpful.
Glad it was helpful info for you Kim! Thanks for your input!
This tip is really helpful for all who want to run a business in form of selling in a booth like you, and of course, I am one of them. But it is truly not simple! still need much of patience and attempt! … I haven’t thought that I can have one just by myself. But after reading your sharing, it seems I have known what is the key I need to hold in order to run my small store. Thanks!
Kareen, so glad you got some help from the post! It’s not that simple, it’s true, but you only learn by doing, as you know. Good luck!
I must say you have very interesting posts here. Your website should go viral.
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Thanks.
Hi there, I am looking at the pro/cons of a booth vs Etsy and your blog is proving very informative! Do you feel that the reason the booth was so much more time consuming than an Etsy shop was because of the bigger items that you felt you needed? I am just trying to figure out what the big different is as it seems like sourcing items for either would be the same and that listing items on Etsy and packaging them to ship would also take time….so what do you think the big difference was that made the booth so much more time consuming? Thanks for your input!
Hi Julie,
A lot of it depends on how big your booth space is & how much room you have for big items. Yes for me, having to find, fix up (repair and paint) the big pieces for a booth was very time-consuming. Then hauling the finished piece in was a lot of work. (We didn’t have a truck.) Filling the booth with small items is also important in order to have a well-rounded space, so yes, sourcing is about the same. It’s wonderful when you can sell a big item (like a dresser) b/c you can make a lot with one sale. For me, I didn’t have time to do both booth and Etsy. The booth literally took ALL my time. Doing Etsy is not nearly as time consuming (for me). Yes you have to pack & ship, but that isn’t as much work. Listing probably takes more of my time.
On the other hand, having the booth was fun for a while until I started to get tired of all the work involved. If you have a flair for styling and decorating your space, it’s even more fun.
Now when I go to sales, I know I’m only looking for small, easily shipped, lighter items, so when I see something big I would have bought for a booth, I breathe a silent sigh of relief that I can pass it by.
Thanks so much for your reply! We have decided to start with Etsy since we really mostly just enjoy vintage children’s books and don’t really have time right now to hunt up other things also. So, we will now turn to your tips on shipping! Thanks!
You’re welcome Julie! I’m glad it was helpful to you & helped you make a decision about which direction to go in.
Thanks so much! I am in third month of renting a case at a local antique mall and am still working on getting it filled! And have not immediately made money- your tips are helpful and will try them soon!
Am also considering an Etsy store for more specific items and upcycled art. Not sure how to have enough time in the day?
Debbie, I know exactly what you mean! There was never enough time in the day for me to do both Etsy & booth. I simply didn’t have time to do justice to both. I’m so glad to know the tips have been helpful to you! And good luck with your antique mall venture!
Thank you for this post! Very informative for people to know what’s involved. I’ve had a booth for 3 years , opened up a second booth in September and have learned lots. Definitely takes time and even space in your house to have stock ready to go in. Sometimes I feel my projects I’m working on are taking over my house especially when it’s big pieces. But it’s so much fun!!! I love being there to negotiate prices with customers when I can. I’ve learned it helps to move things around often, even small items weekly, big items monthly or every two months to keep it looking interesting. Group like items together either by color or by where it goes in a house. I’m able to put so much into it because this is like a job to me as I am just a housewife. Sales are good, it’s worth it to me.
Amy, it’s so nice to hear that sales are good! I’m sure it’s because you’re working your shop regularly, and that’s truly what it takes. You are so right that it takes over your house. You do need a stock of items ready to go in. I found it took over my house. Thank goodness for a patient hubby! I like your ideas of grouping like colors together, and like items. Definitely a plus for buyers to give them ideas I think.
Thanks Florence for your wealth of information! I just opened a booth the first of August. My love is for redoing furniture and repurposing things to sell. I have spent countless hours working on this stuff and the booth. August I sold about $100 worth of smalls and so far in September $10. That of course doesn’t come close to paying the rent, which is $270! How long do I give this booth before I close it? I must be doing something wrong! Or am I not giving myself time to learn and get it right?
You’re welcome Kim! I know what you mean when you say you’ve “spent countless hours.” I remember the same when I had a booth. I know it’s frustrating not seeing a return for your efforts. I would say give it till January. See how you do for the Christmas rush. August & September were among the slowest months of the year for me.
You could consider going to a smaller booth where the rent isn’t so high. Also consider how much shopping traffic you’re getting in your current location.
Be sure to go to your booth frequently to fluff & rearrange. That always helps. And bringing in new merchandise too.
Don’t throw in the towel yet. Give it some time.
Good luck!
Thanks so much for your advice Florence! It’s been really frustrating to say the least! I really enjoy the “hunt” for new items and working on upcycling and redoing furniture. I just feel a booth is the best fit for me vs selling on Etsy (the shipping of large items seems terrifying)! It has been a lot of work which I don’t mind but I’d like to see some sales to encourage me to continue! I feel I must be way off base on my ideas and taste for what I put in my booth! Thanks again! Keep your blog coming, I really enjoy it!
Kim, I know what you mean about enjoying the hunt! I can relate to that. If a booth is a good fit for you, then go for it with all your heart. Anyone who sells online has to deal with the shipping aspect & learning it is often daunting to the average person. Not to mention having to have lots of shipping supplies on hand & the issue of where to store them. I never dealt with large items on Etsy. Only something as large as a suitcase…nothing larger. I didn’t want to deal with freight. I know you want to have some sales though! Don’t we all, LOL. Just remember this is a slow time of year. I think things will pick up. Just work on making your booth attractive & fluffed. Make your prices competitive & I think sales will come. The sale of larger items tends to be slower than the smalls, so have lots of smalls. They were my bread & butter. There will be someone for what you have to offer. Thanks for the encouragement on my blog too! I really appreciate it!
Thanks for your insight, Florence! Your blog is great! Really enjoy seeing everything you “pick”! Also, my husband and I have been kicking around traveling around in a motor home to see new areas and do some picking but we haven’t bit the bullet on the motor home! Kinda leary when I hear that you tend to have problems about every time you take it out!
Keep the blog coming! Thanks again!
Kim
The motorhome is really fun Kim! I highly recommend it! We don’t have issues every time we take it out. There are times, but not that many. Thanks so much for the encouragement for blogging! I’m taking a break, but I’ll be back.
Florence, please do come back! You have such an entertaining blog! It’s been real nice chatting with you!
Love all the tips. I was going to jump right on in with a small bookcase/booth in a great store, now I’m thinking, first I need to research exactly what I want to sell. I can put in jewelry that I create along with the cool random objects I have, The owner did tell me that dishes are hard to sell unless it’s special. Cups have to have saucers to really sell. So now I’m thinking how to re-package a beautiful empty teacup! I have a few months. April sounds good.
It’s good that you’re thinking ahead. In my neck of the woods, teacups even with saucers don’t sell well, nor do plates either for that matter. Lots of people repurpose teacups as candle holders, but it’s not a fresh idea. You’ll find your niche.
Hey Florence! Loved your comments – and can identify. I had a booth with two different businesses for several years and yes, it gets in your blood! But, to be a success is a huge endeavor to constantly refresh, redo, and stylize your booth. I thought your first booth was great, by the way, with a lot of variety! I get the ‘eye-level’ thing, but with rent so pricey, you must make use of all the space, and keep the eye moving! But… we had quite a lot of theft, it became exhausting, so my friends and I pulled out. The business eventually closed. Yes, I miss it, and would do it again in one of my weaker moments, but now prefer projects to do at home and sell online. But your article spoke to me, I enjoyed it, so had to comment. Thanks!
Hi Susie!
I’m glad to know you can identify with having a booth. Yes, it is a ton of work! Actually I’ve gone back into the booth biz, when I told myself I never would! Ha. Knock on wood, so far no theft, but it did happen in my other location. So sorry to hear that was a big problem for you. Thanks for the encouraging comments on my first booth! It was fun now that I look back on it. Now I spend most of my time painting furniture & don’t have much time for Etsy, although I can’t see myself giving that up either. Thanks for coming by to comment!
Hi Florence. This was very informative. I had been thinking about getting a booth off and on for several years. However all the tihing you mention I had thought about and had made me leery of doing it. I knew there would be some time involved but not as much as you said. I want a little business but that had held me back from a booth because I thought about theft and the rental cost and trying to keep up with it. I have been strongly weighing to just an online business that way I’m not tied to a brick and mortar. Thank you so much. What can you tell me about an online business?
Brenda
Hi Brenda!
Thank you for your comment! For me, the booth was tons of work, not only the time spent acquiring what you intend to sell, but the time spent fixing up/painting furniture, not to mention paint, brushes, waxes, etc. None of that is cheap! Furniture was what I mainly dealt in & where the bulk of the profit to be made, but in order to have furniture, you have to have a larger space, which is more rent. Those are my thoughts on the booth, and it sounds like you’ve thought it through.
For me, I prefer an online business. The benefits of that are doing it from home, but you are still going out often to estate/garage sales/thrift stores. The downside of that: do you have the space at home to store boxes, and supplies for shipping like bubble wrap, peanuts, etc. That takes a good bit of room, not to mention, do you have room to store your inventory? You can choose to have a smaller shop with less inventory, but the more things you have in your shop, the better your sales. I mainly sell on Etsy, and there is a learning curve to that, as there is with any web site.
Hope this helps!
Hi Florence,
Great article. I really enjoyed it. It basically confirmed a lot of my assumptions about how it works, merchandising and so forth. I currently sell on Ebay, Etsy, poshmark and a local forum that seems to do well for me. I have tons of assorted vintage stock and keep on accumulating. I have looked into a couple of vintage/antique markets and have found one that i feel a good vibe about. It’s not too big, quaint, and seems to have a good flow of customers for it’s size. I am looking into a cubical sized booth for about $200 per month (with 10% fee on items sold). So I figure that about $6.70 per day is affordable since the market is open 7 days per week. I use to be a retail merchandiser by trade and I seem to have the knack and the luck of picking and thrifting vintage hard good and collectibles. I work full time (mon to friday) but am off for the next little while so I want to try my hand at having a booth. I wanted to get this up and running before going back to work in the next couple months. Thanks for your insight from experience.
Sounds like a booth might be a good fit for you, Donna, so I say go for it! You can always back out later if it doesn’t work out.
Hi Florence!
I’m so happy I found your posts!!! Thank you for being so transparent about your booth experiences! I ventured into the booth biz after selling at a local open air flea market for a few months. The flea market was a seasonal venture & we were fortunate to set up when we could w/ no contract. We had a blast & made lots of money. Then, I had an opportunity to open a booth space so I took a chance. I’ve had several great months & a few that have tanked. I’m leaning towards getting out & going back to the open air market given the time & energy to run a booth…like you have written…it doesn’t seem like a good fit for my available time. So, NOW, I’m looking at setting up an Etsy shop. I used to sell a ton on FBMP but it’s not the same anymore. Do you have an article on how you ship items & determine shipping prices? Oh, do you think your blog helps &/or the years of selling help with your Etsy shop sales? Thank you soooo much for your time & thoughtfulness!
Thank you Candy! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the blog definitely helps, but alas, I’m not too active on the blog right now. The Etsy shop is another option for selling, but it’s a ton of work too. You have to learn all about SEO, using tags & just the whole schmo for selling here. And because of the economy, too many sellers jumping on the bandwagon, a saturated market, things aren’t selling quite as well. However, there is enough to go around. You have to work at the process just like anything else.
So now, about shipping, get a reliable professional scale, and a supply of boxes & packing materials on hand. Etsy walks you through the shipping process. With the item in the box, you have to know how big it is & how heavy. USPS just started charging a surcharge on boxes of a certain size, so you have to be aware of that, so your profit isn’t eaten up.
Before you start, be aware that you have to have a supply of boxes, & packing materials on hand. Bubble wrap rolls are big & take up a lot of space, so look at YOUR space critically. Do you have room for all that, storing your inventory, and your items while you wait for them to sell?
Good luck!