Featured Question for the resellers

Resellers, what's going on out there in yalls corner of the world?

I feel like I'm just floating, trying to make a guess at what will sell, which I know is totally dependent on regions..

I have a very small booth, a whole 64 sqft, but we've been working well together for many years now..
It hasn't been difficult to find stuff I think would sell, but now, I'm in a rut and I'm not sure if it's me or an unenthusiastic economy.

I'm selling stuff, sure, mostly random old stock I've had laying around, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason.

Usually I theme my booths out with the energy in my local area..
Ie. The last couple years have leaned towards patriotic/love of country and small town, before that primitives/farm house, before that industrial, etc
But now, it's like the air is stagnant, like everyone is holding their breath, irritated.
...and how do you sell irritation?

Here we are experiencing a major BOOM in housing development, which at first everyone was excited to see their houses selling at double plus what they bought them for a couple years ago, but now everyone seems irritated about taxes going up and that on any empty acre they are shoving 4 houses, cow pastures are turning into 400+ house neighborhoods..
And you'd think that would create a big market for us, but these houses are going to people from up north, or people fleeing Atlanta and the over populated suburbs, all these who already have established furnishings and decor, not your young excited couples in need of everything.

Dont get me wrong, people are still buying, it's nothing like it was last year, I'm making rent, with some spending and savings after the cost of everything, but moving forward the market feels stagnant with no trend in sight.

Is anyone else feeling this?
What direction is yalls areas moving in?

 

I send everything I can to consignment stores. They sell it too cheap and they take 40% but at least I get something back to offset my original losses.

 

Been out of the business almost a year now. When I left, furniture at cheap price points were the only things consistently selling. Mostly, needed to be in paint if not MCM. Quality smalls and artwork sold if at deep discount prices. Junky-ish decor was mostly sitting.

 

Friends who sell at fairs and such here are doing very well indeed. I think it's sometimes because it's a social day out and people are still loving being able to do that. And it's seen as very green. Can't speak for booths and malls.

 

We sell a lot of older kitchen stuff like kitchen implements with bakelite handles and old coffee jars, but the thing I can't keep in stock are blue ball mason jars. They fly out of here as fast as I can get them put out.

 

The local farmers market seems to do pretty well here, though I haven't visited it yet this year.
I think people like the idea of being in a small local town and shopping on the street, but I cant tell what is really selling.
Mostly it seems like stuff we don't need or want, so I've never personally purchased items myself, though I do tip the weekly musician, they are my favorite part

I have done well with kitchen items, interestingly, I've wanted to open a booth designed like a 1910s kitchen to sell kitchen items.
I feel like a 1910s kitchen is a nice transitional period, one that can carry items prior to the era, and items into the 50s/60s/70s
...but I cant tell if that's mostly because I want to live bicuriously through it, as my 1905 kitchen has been modernized

 

Right now the hot seller seems to be Pyrex. I'm betting it'll pull Fire King and Anchor Hocking up too sooner or later, since some folks will want the look without the $$$$.

As for me, I'm slowly closing up shop too. Sales on line are just about dead unless you're selling dead cheap. Hand-made items don't sell at all. The really gaudy jewelry I used to sell as fast as I could list it is dead in the water; it all went overseas to people who can no longer buy.

 

Perhaps you meant "vicariously"?

 

The vintage Pyrex measuring cups with the D handle sell nicely providing there are no chips or loss of paint. Some vintage tupperware sells. Canning cookbooks sell nicely if they are the old ones. Old kitchenware in my experience sells well when we enter the fall or winter months.

I thought Fire King Jadite would sell well for Mother's Day as it usually did but it was a no go for the most part.

I agree that an outdoor market puts people in a better mood and more apt to spend some money as their mood is better.

Having said all that, I hear so many sellers on etsy complaining that they are having literally no sales. My thought is that people are now spending money on clothes, vacations, eating out and just basic necessities to get by.

JMHO

 

less discretionary income.......... chewed up by a vast array of higher prices on just about every ............ other thing !!

 

It’s been slow and steady here. I have a bunch of different items and I think variety helps.

 

I closed up my booth at the antique mall in January.
After eight years, I finally threw the towel in.
Rent was routinely more than my checks were, and I had to give up.

 

Last month, April, was close to my worst month ever. I covered the rent, but factor in what I paid for the things I sold and it's a total loser.

The month of May has been a bit better, but not much.

I hadn't thought of inflation as being a contributing factor.

My problem is, I'm not diversified enough: all my stuff fits too tightly into a couple narrow categories. A more veteran dealer told me that once... but what can I do: this Pueblo pot is just too dang cool.

 

it's hard to sell stuff you are not passionate about !!

 

I think diversifying is a good idea whether you have a booth at a mall or selling online. When I first started selling, I was so stubborn. Had to buy depression glass or vintage textiles. Both of which proved to be hard to find when at estate sales for the most part. So when I stopped being stubborn, I branched out and started buying a lot of different stuff. Books, craft kits, Christmas stuff, kitchen stuff etc.

I never had a booth at a mall but loved going to them when they were still near me here on LI. I think variety can be a good way to go in the this day and age, but inflation and covid has definitely made the market very hard to read.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one. When you talk to people in person, everyone seems to be doing "awesome", even though I know that "awesome" is exaggerated.
I dont know why it's always a competition, we'd probably get through the market if we could all put our heads together and brainstorm instead of wondering what we're doing wrong individually (speaking locally of course)

I think having a diverse selection really does help..
Like I said, my booth is only 64 sqft, and pretty narrow, so sometimes manipulating that space into diversity is super hard.
I try and keep some vintage kitchen in there, some true antiques, some art, some painted furniture, some new pieces that look antique but are not the price of actual antiques..
I also started making decals a couple years ago, they don't sell like hot cakes but they are cheap to make and have helped save my rear a few months.

When it comes to books, I try to only keep a couple at a time, either current best selling authors, specialty coffee table books (weapons, war books, cityscapes, local histories), historical novels, architectural, and I try to keep hardbacks only..
But I'll only pick then up if they are $1 or under.
My local library sells books for $0.25 - $0.75, and if there is anything good left over at the estate sales I help with, I'll pick them up cheap.
So books aren't a huge money maker for me, but I'll take turning $0.75 into $5 any day

I dont know yall.
Watching what's being sold at estate sales, depending on the area, it seems to just be "stuff".
Towels, rugs, a random kitchen knife, pots and pans, foot baths, all the boring everyday things.
I have noticed a lot of people buying Blue and white China, pottery, and glassware (ie. blue willow and other chinese looking patterns), furniture goes if its cheap enough and in near perfect condition.
Vintage clothing seems to be going to online resellers like hot cakes.

Hmm.
Where is this world going?

 

Forgive me for asking, as I' a perpetual buyer and only very occasional seller, but do you haggle price as a booth seller? I have noticed over the past couple of years haggling has all but disappeared or been less than 5% of list. Several months ago, at an antique shop with many dealers, I found a book I was interested in at $65 but thought that was a bit pricey. The stall was mostly glassware and 1930's clothing so I presumed books weren't his "thing". Looked it up on Abe Books and found a comparable copy listed for $21. Showed that to the dealer and asked what he could do, the response was "I won't charge you sales tax". I didn't buy.

Is haggling a thing of the past or is it now reserved for big ticket items? I have a pretty good feel for pricing in things I'm interested in so I don't have to search on line very often. But I've noticed tag prices have been high at shops the last couple of years. Not so much at estate or yard sales. Sadly, there's been no auctions locally due to the pandemic. Has the slowdown of foot traffic been the bearer of firm pricing?

 

Folks don't overlook vintage cook books they do sell.
Be weary of stinky musty ones and those that are falling apart unless they are super antique.
I always haggle at estate sales. At garage sales if the price is good, I don't haggle.
The worst that can happen is they say no, this is the price.

 

I always had a variety of items in my booth.
Always my taste, of course!
Depression glass, ceramics, crockery, Asian anything, English transferware, Victorian dishes, Mid Century decor, and the occasional rocking chair or vintage child's desk. I sold jewelry boxes of all kinds. And I had two big cases of jewelry.
I sold more jewelry than anything.
However, since the pandemic, things had gone down hill and never really recovered.
I was tired of *maybe* getting my money back on most things.
The owner of the mall is a multi-millionaire, and all I did in the eight years that I had my booth was make him a little richer.

 

A couple of friends still have booths here in Jax Fl but they are all getting ready to close them. Lots of traffic but very little over $10 seems to sell. I think people are still buying,but only the cheapest stuff.In fact both said what Stracci said about barely making booth rent .The higher sales they depended on (furniture,better antiques) are dead in the water. In fact I used to sell to them on occasion and neither have bought from me in a year. There is no trying to gauge wich way the market will go.Ive never seen it like this in all the decades Ive been into the whole thing.