Flea Market Setup for Maximum Profit

You arrive in the pre-dawn hours in a huge field filled with rows and rows of plain wooden tables. In two hours, the sun will be up, and hundreds of bargain-hungry shoppers will fill the flea market, searching for a great deal or a priceless treasure.

There are three ways you could proceed.

Option One: The Junk Pile

Snoozing in your car until people begin to arrive, you then hurriedly dump your boxes out onto the table. Your baseball cards are in a shoebox, the carded earrings are in a pile, the clothing is a jumble in a big box.

This flea market table might attract some attention, but not many buyers. Who wants to sort through a pile of assorted stuff? At the flea market, the vendor must declare the quality of his goods to the buyers. The junk pile method of displaying your flea market merchandise will make people believe your items are junk.

Option Two: The Boutique

The basis of your flea market display is a fine lace tablecloth that you drape artistically across the table. You spent over $200.00 buying velvet-backed jewelry displayed and glass shelving to display your wares. It takes you a half hour to set up everything in just the right way. Your baseball cards are displayed on tiny easels in a locked case. Your earrings aren't carded, but stuck on life-size head models. The clothing is gently resting on satin-padded hangers on gleaming steel racks.

This flea market table might actually elicit some laughter. People who want to shop this way do not go to flea markets. And people at flea markets do not want to shop this way. The assumption will be that your merchandise is too costly.

Option Three: The Right Way

As the sun comes up over the far horizon, you are busy setting up your flea market table. You began by laying a clean, plain-colored sheet or tablecloth on the table. This provides a pleasing backdrop to your merchandise. One great trick to setting up a flea market display, is to build it from the side of the table where the buyer will stand. This ensures that everything will be easily seen from their point of view.

For maximum visibility, it is a great idea to build risers, or platforms, at the back of the table, or to display special products on higher platforms. An inexpensive and simple way to build these is to cover a sturdy cardboard box with a plain-colored contact paper. For a touch of elegance, you can get contact paper that is marble or wood patterned.

Every product on your table should be displayed in clear site, in a manner that makes it easy for a buyer to look at it closely. Baseball cards are housed in a 3-ring binder: easy to flip through, with tabs for teams or years. Carded earrings are either laying flat on the table in rows, pinned to a felt-covered piece of styrofoam board. Your clothing is folded, and organized by type or size.

Flea market buyers are impulse buyers. You must display your merchandise so they can judge it with a quick glance. Each type of flea market product will have a best way to show it. A neat display makes a buyer think that the items are well cared for and clean. Flea markets are easy going places. Your table and demeanor should reflect that feeling. Buyers will respond to the effort you make. The best thing to display when selling at a flea market is your smile.