For instance, Abrams says seven years ago she found herself begging North Brooklyn vintage stores to set up booths at her weekend flea market. Now, due to a great sales record at New York-area flea markets, there's sometimes a glut of vintage merchandise — and sellers compete to have the best collection and most knowledge to win customers.
Brooklyn Flea
We've seen hundreds of people go on to use this as a platform to do what they really want to do. That was perfectly true for Nadia Georgiou, owner of childrenswear retailer Brooklyn Junior. She had decided two years ago to sell screen-printed children's clothing when her husband found a flier on the street announcing the opening of the Brooklyn Flea , another market in the New York City borough. After only several weeks of work, Georgiou says she got a better sense of how to build her business.
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Developing a Business Growth Strategy. Designer Amy Adams started her ceramics design company, Perch , more than seven years ago, mostly by bringing her hand-crafted lamps and vessels to trade shows, where she would sell to retailers at a wholesale cost. When flea markets started popping up in, she jumped on the opportunity to sell her own goods to customers at full retail price. Moreover, flea markets became a place for her to try out new products and gauge interest "At a flea market, that's when I bring new things, or samples, to get a feel for how people feel about it, how they are reacting to it," Adams says.
For vendors at the Brooklyn Flea, the atmosphere is also ripe for learning from other vendors — and collaborating with peers. This is especially true of the growing food and beverage sales wing of the market, which has become something of a social network for culinary entrepreneurs. If a vendor need a hand with anything form a business form to a supply-side issue, they're always surrounded by peers who can help, she says.
It's such a wonderful community. Povich got one great idea from one of the Lobster Pound's neighboring vendors, AsiaDog , a business that sells inventive Asian-topping-decked hot dogs. AsiaDog initially grew its business by setting up weeknight pop-up shops in Brooklyn and Manhattan bars. Povich seized on the idea and started branching out to alternative pop-up locations for selling her bisque and fresh lobster.
For vendors who make crafts and handmade goods, the sense of community is equally strong. I would find out how to talk to customers, how to grow my business, where to get supplies. At a time when many customers are changing their buying habits, building loyalty is critical.
That's especially true for sellers of handmade goods who either run — or aspire to open — a retail space. Fortunately, flea markets, especially weekly ones, can be ideal vehicles for creating loyal customers. That's because there's an emphasis on one-on-one interaction — and customers know that the designer, artisan, baker, etc. Molnar became a regular vendor and, within months had such success selling at the market and on Etsy that he needed to spend all day screen-printing to keep up with demand.
He couldn't even spare a Saturday to sell more at his booth. A start-up's efforts shouldn't begin and end at the market, however. Most vendors have websites on which they sell their goods or promote them, Abrams says. And Twitter has become an important tool by which companies can alert their best customers to special deals and where one-day sales can be found.
They want to talk to you; they want to meet the owner.
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And then they will come back. Learning New Consumer Values. Despite the flea market's ability to help educate new businesses owners and help them develop a loyal customer base, there are some parts of the pop-up shop lifestyle that aren't so great.
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If flea-market table-surfing isn't your dream job, first figure out what is. If it's opening up a store or running a website, use your time at the market to work toward that goal. How do you know when it's time to quit your day job and focus full time on your passion?
Abrams also suggests artists early on develop an awareness of seasonal fluctuations in sales, and learn to husband cash. You might feel great when you have a surplus after a great holiday season, but you need to remember that the cash will go to stock up on supplies for next year. For Perch, the lighting business run by Amy Adams, the big moment came after seven years of flea market sales.
My wife offered handmade jewelry, pewter figurines glued to colorful rocks and sea shells, and fish scale earrings we had bought by the dozens in Ecuador. I cut the wood myself and added extras like leather handgrips made of strips cut from thrift store jackets.
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Consider whether you plan to specialize or sell a variety of things. Vendors can make good arguments for both strategies, but we were experimenting and didn't want to invest much in this business, so selling lots of different items made more sense for us. In fact, a good way to start really cheap is to have your next rummage or garage sale at a flea market. For less than the cost of an ad in the newspaper, you'll have access to hundreds of customers, and you won't have to spend a thing for inventory — just clean out your house.
Serious sellers may want to check a wholesale goods directory to help them decide what to sell and where to find inventory. For low-priced items, look for a company that supplies dollar stores. Flea markets come in many varieties. But in terms of doing business, consider the two basic types: One type is best for implementing a solid business plan and the other works best if you want to experiment cheaply or travel from venue to venue. Long-term markets are usually indoors or in permanent structures, rent spaces for longer periods of time usually more than a month and require leases and other paperwork.
With a good business plan this type of market can be great. They're usually well-established, you'll pay a lot less than you would for a storefront in a strip mall, and you'll only have to work three days per week at most of them. Talk to the vendors at this kind of flea market and you'll find that some of them have been there for many years. Many don't have jobs or retirement income — they're making a living from this weekend business. Others, of course, just like having some extra cash. In contrast, the second type is the classic flea market where you just pull up in the morning and pay cash for your market spot.
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Markets like Tanque Verde allow low-risk experiments to see what sells and how much you might be able to make. If you find a winner, consider taking your products to a longer-term market where you can guarantee a regular spot.
Flea Markets to Visit Before You Die | Better Homes & Gardens
Or try other nearby classic flea markets where you pay by the day — you might find that you do best when you move every week. Try using an online flea market directory to find venues near you. Many markets don't have websites, so you may have to call to see how they operate.