Low Cost Business Start Ups: The Flea Market
Flea markets come in many different sizes and styles. Some are one-shot deals help in the recreation room at a school, firehouse, or church. Others consist of acres of spaces, booths, and tables that operate all year round. Finding the right flea market for your merchandise is up to you.
Whichever flea market you end up selling at, you will find that it is a very cost effective proposition. Most outdoor flea market tables or booths cost anywhere from five to twenty dollars. Spaces with built in tables, roofs, or indoor booths will cost more. Still, these places cost much less than a traditional brick and mortar store rental.
For a flea market business start up, the only other expense is the cost of goods to be sold. If you intend on selling used goods, you might not have to spend anything on product at all. After all, many people start their flea market careers by cleaning out garages, attics, and closets.
If you run out of personally owned things to sell, you can get additional used merchandise at other flea market tables, garage sales, and thrift stores. Purchasing a bag of children's clothing for $3.00, for example, and reselling each item for $3.00 is a great way to make a sizeable profit.
Other flea market vendors do not want to sell used merchandise. Instead, they opt to find a wholesaler of product and sell new items only. There are two ways of doing this.
One way is to find a general merchandise liquidator or surplus seller. You can purchase large job lots of mixed merchandise that are either store returns, overstocks, or shelf-pulls. These are all items that could have been found in a normal retail store.
Another way is to find a manufacturer of a certain product or product line and negotiate a wholesale account and pricing with them. This may be even more profitable if you have a ready market for the particular merchandise. Dealing with the manufacturers of the items directly is more cost effective than dealing with middlemen.
Whatever merchandise you choose to sell at the flea market, you will find that it is a very inexpensive way to get into business. This low cost small business start up is simply for anyone to do. The only costs involved with this business is merchandise, transportation costs such as gas and wear on your vehicle, business licenses if necessary, and the flea market space itself.
Published by Melanie L. Marten
Melanie Marten is self-taught and self-employed. Besides freelance writing, she dabbles in website design and owns dozens of websites and blogs. Work is squeezed in between parenting two boys, homeschoolin... View profile
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8 Comments
Post a CommentI would like to know whether you have to get a tax ID number in TN to used swell used merchandise which you already own which was not bought specefically to sell?
Great flea market resources and directory can be found at www.thefleamarkets.com/directory/index.php
we had one but it closed down we rreally need one the closest one we can go to is 50-to 100 miles which i think is crazy.i am looking for venders as well.if anyone is intrested please call me at 910-554 6182 for more details
i have an exclusive linen company and will be doing my 1st flea market and showing my merchandise as a SAMPLE SALE, prices reduced way below wholesale...my pillows and throws are very high end and i will be offering throws(wool/alpaca ) at $ 50.00 which usually sell for $150.00. ANY SUGGESTIONS? I have already contacted some new clients and friends to spread the word,,,,,,
does anyone have good vendors to buy from?
I tried selling at our local flea market. I didn't do very well. But I did learn that big ticket items sell the best during the first of the month. Crafts and the like are big sellers, too. You would think you could do good with video games, but the competition is tough. So if you go that route, watch about investing too much, too quick.
Sounds good if I only had the time and energy and resources.
I love going to my local flea market every Sunday, and know the kind of crowds they get. This could be a very profitable and easy business start-up.