Flea Market

Although I haven’t been very active on my blog lately I have been quite busy here at home! My recent ‘big event’ was the flea market here in Congress. I wasn’t sure how that was going to go, but it turned out really good! For some reason, my online sales did really good that weekend, too. It was a good weekend all the way around!

I had been thinking about doing the flea market for quite awhile, so I worked at slowly building my inventory up the last several months. And of course, the last two weeks I jammed everything in that I could -between doctor appointments! (It just so happened that I had like 4 appt. for tests, doctors, ect right in that time frame!)

I sewed Hand Towels and Gift Bags down to the hand sewing. Sewing goes faster for me when I work on the multiples of the same thing for awhile. I packed my bag full of hand sewing to take along to my IV appointment, but it just so happened that they started my IV on my right hand that day! I got a nap instead. 🙂

The flea market was held in the parking lot of the Congress Depot Marketplace. They have a marketplace inside for vendors to rent spaces to sell their things. It’s nice stuff, a lot of antiques. They have a bit of produce and baked goods, too.

I don’t think I could have asked for a better spot for my space. It was right up front where people walk in. They ‘had to’ walk right past my tent to get to the food! 😉  While we were setting up the manager told us to leave Dad’s truck parked behind the tent so people would see the signs for his appliance business.  That was nice of them, although we weren’t expecting that. Mom and Dad set up the tent for us. It actually didn’t take that long. It got a little breezy at times during the day, but the tent seemed pretty stable. My gift bags kept blowing away and then I realized I had laid them on the table so they were open to the wind.

It was cold in the morning when we left the house, but it really got warm during the day. Mom & I both got sun burns. There was quite a bit of traffic through the flea market until a little after noon. It really dropped off then and we were home around 3:00. I didn’t think I really sold that many items, but when I sat down and added things up I was pleasantly surprised at how much I had made. The very low entry fee ($5) helped a lot too!

So now I am quite excited to come up with things for next month! My towels sold pretty good, so I will just re-stock those, but the gift bags didn’t sell well at all. I think I need to figure out how to display them different.  While selling online has a certain appeal, I really enjoy selling local. It is so much more interesting to be able to see your customers. And maybe if I keep practicing, I won’t be such a shy saleslady! 😦  Have you had any experience with a flea market? I’d love to hear about it.