How to Make Money At Flea Markets

The basic concept

This idea requires a bit of work, but it can also give you fairly consistent earnings and leaves little to chance.

Here’s the basic concept: if you knew what people were willing to buy and at what price then all you would need to do is get the product, at the right price, and get in front of those people.

Most people who sell at flea markets have a product in search of a customer. Typically they are making very little money, often barely more than their rental fee for the space, which is usually around $20 to $40.

Testing products

We go to flea markets and very rarely ever earn less than $300, usually more than $500. How do we do it? We test products, we find the products people really want, and we get these products. Our tables always have the most people around them because we understand how to use products that rarely sell or that make us little to no profit to attract a lot of people who then buy our other products.

Here’s an example. We buy 200 air soft pistols, we pay $300, we sell them for $5 each, which is half of what they cost anywhere else. We know these things sell because we first ordered a few and tried different prices: we found $10 was OK but products moved slowly and we found that at $4 or less people thought the pistols were junk.

So what’s the deal?

So, how can you turn $100 in products into $500 at flea markets?

Buy a few items that are hot sellers and test them. Go to flea markets, try different ones, and see what sells and at what prices. Over a 4-6 week period you may only break even, but you will not lose money and you will have valuable data about what sells in your area at what price.

Think in terms of customers…..

Don’t think in terms of products, think in terms of customers. You will have older men and women, children, teenagers, and young couples. Over time, figure out who your customers are. We have found that old men are a big group and we have found that in our area they love collectible toy cars. We know what they’ll pay, so we look high and low to find what they want and get it for them at the price they like.

Finding suppliers

As you do this you will need suppliers. That is not easy to find. If you email me at americaforchrist@yahoo.com I can help, but generally it requires a lot of searching and digging. Try simply typing into a search engine things like “wholesale bulk lots knives” or whatever. Don’t pay for sources. Use superpages.com and type in wholesale in the search and pick a city, like Los Angeles or a city near you. And make some phone calls.

Make it official

You will need a tax ID from the IRS, a bank account, and a sales tax ID for your state. Don’t cut corners here. You will not find good suppliers if you lack any of these things. Getting a federal tax id, EIN, is easy. Type in IRS EIN in a search engine and you will find the IRS site. Same is true for your state, type in “sales tax ID YOURSTATE” and you will find the appropriate location. These services are FREE and you can do everything online.

Once you have these numbers, take $50 and shop around for a business checking account. Get the best deal possible, don’t just settle for anything because there are LOTS of different programs at lots of different prices!

In your city you may need a business license. Usually you won’t have any problems. Just go to the clerk’s office and ask them, or just call. Some cities or municipalities charge $25 to $50 for a license, some charge nothing. Make sure you let them know that your business is a home based business and that you do not have customers coming to your home.

Storing your product

At first you might use your garage or attic. Eventually you will want to have permanent storage. Pick your favorite flea market, many of them, but not all, have storage space they rent. We have one where we pay $40 per month for space and since we share it with another vendor who stores tables there we pay only $20 per month. You may want a larger more secure space, so consider getting space at self storage facility but make sure you can access your goods at odd hours and make sure you the location is convenient in light of where you sell your products.

Take it slow at first

Limit your product lines at first. Focus on what really sells or on what really gets a crowd. We use CD’s and DVD’s. We have hundreds of them in boxes and we sell them real cheap. Even when we put them in the back, away from easy view, we always have a nice crowd of people going through them and when people see you have a crowd they come over to find out what the deal is!

Work well with others

You can do flea markets as an individual but it can be more profitable, and more fun, to work with someone else. A good friend who is honest and reliable or your souse would do just fine. You want two people for a couple of reasons, but here’s a few:

1. when you get a crowd it can get overwhelming for any one person and you can lose sales
2. when nature calls, or you get hungry or thirsty, you need someone to watch your stand
3. the energy between two people can keep you on your selling game
4. this work involves a lot of packing and hauling things, and two people can do more than one person
5. if someone does get sick, you won’t have to miss the flea market you already signed up for

Conclusion

This is a good work. It can be hard, and often is, but it can be very rewarding. Working 3-4 days per week you an earn $400 to $1,200 per week or more. the better your inventory and the better the site you choose to sell in the more you will make. This is a trial and error process.

Once you master the flea market you have other options to expand your income: start a buying club with a retail store front, wholesale to other vendors or retailers, sell items through classified ads, and sell online through an auction site or your own web site.

For more information

These are just starter ideas. To get more information or learn about opportunities to make money subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me at americaforchrist@yahoo.com and putting “The Liberation Journal” in the subject line.