Before I became a wholesaler I started out in the outdoor swap meet. I did quite well for a swapmeet vendor and learned lots of things about how to make it successful. I wrote this article for people who are thinking about opening up a booth in the swapmeet. Although the products I sold were mainly cellphone accessories. These tips can be applied to any goods sold at the flea market. I used to work Saturdays and Sundays at a day swapmeet and come away with a profit of about $1100 as an average amount. $400 profit on a Saturday and $700 on a Sunday. Until now I believe that a swapmeet vendor can profit more than a wholesaler on a weekend if he knows what he's doing.
Finding a swapmeet
The first step for a potential vendor would be to find a swapmeet that is busy. Usually, a simple search on google maps would get you a list of local swapmeets and fleamarkets. As a rule of thumb usually, the location with the most reviews on it would be the busiest. When it comes to swapmeets(or any store for that matter) the busier the more sales. At this point, you can either visit the swapmeet as a customer and check it out for yourself but if you are really ready to dive in well I suggest to just open a booth there because time my friend, is money, and wasting a weekend walking around thinking about what you want to do is not equivalent to actually doing it. After you have found the swapmeet then go on their website and see what is required to open up there. Usually, there will be some cutoff times you need to show up by and its always super early in the morning around sunrise. Other times the swapmeet is so darn popular they don't guarantee anyone space there and you have to take part in a raffle for a booth. Although it may seem discouraging these are usually the best swapmeets. Once you've tried out a swapmeet and you have found that it works for you don't settle for that. Always try out new swapmeets and you may find even better ones. Although you may get some hit or misses and lose some weekends if you find a really hot swapmeet the yearly sales you generate from the good one will make up for the lost days trying out new things.
Are you legal?
Usually in the United States, you will need a seller to permit to sell at a swapmeet but most swapmeets will allow you to sell the first 3 times without any permit so you can try it out first. Once your ready to become a legal seller check what your state requirements are. Applying for a seller's permit is super simple, it's done online, and you should get instantly approved!
Choosing a Product to sell
Personally I started out with Women's shoes then I switched to cellphone accessories. I made the switch because cellphone accessories were way more in demand and they were small and easy to transport in my small car. Shoes are bulky and you cant fit many in a car. It was also frustrating waiting for people to try on so many pairs of shoes and not buy anything. Keep things like this in mind when searching for a product. Swapmeet vendors also sell used items and services if that's something you are looking to do. If you are new to swapmeet selling and have zero experience, ask the wholesaler if you can return the goods if it doesn't work out for you. Most of the time they will not agree but it doesn't hurt to ask. As a wholesaler myself, I personally offer this chance to new vendors who are trying it out for the first time. Not for any incentive but just to be nice because I know how hard it was for me when I first started.
Mental Preparation
The key to succeeding in any business is perseverance. Chances are you won't succeed right away. As long as you don't give up you will have a greater chance of success. You may go to a swapmeet and not make many sales due to it being a slow swapmeet. It may even be because of poor weather, or because the product you chose is not in demand. This is normal and it is your job to try and fail until you figure out what works. Look around you at the swapmeet, you will see people who are successful and are getting tons of traffic. If they can do it you can do it too. Don't give up and mentally prepare yourself to keep trying even if the going gets tough. If you want, put in your mind you're going to devote one full month to make this work or whatever time you wish to invest. Then keep trying for this period without stopping until it works out.
Presentation
This is where things start to get more fine-tuned. The presentation is everything at the swapmeet. In business terms, you can also call this marketing. What's going to set you apart from other vendors? Ill tell you one thing if you can do something extremely unique you will kill it in the swapmeet. When your first starting out then some fold-up tables will have to do the job but down the line try to find ways to make your booth stand out. Go to your local print shop or crafts shop to look for ideas to make your booth stand out. Whether it be signs or lighting or decoration. Another important thing is the products you carry. The more you have the better. When you have only a few scattered pieces of your products the customer passing by won't take you seriously. Just put yourself in the customers place, if you are walking in a swapmeet and you see one vendor with a single table and a random amount of cables and chargers thrown on it like he just doesn't care, then across from him you see a triple booth with 10 tables full of every phone accessory in the world along with lighting decorations and a guy with a microphone speaking like a TV host which one would you be inclined to check out? So with that, I give you an important rule that will make or break you at the swapmeet. Go Big or Go Home. Inevitably the more products you have the more you will sell. A swap meet vendor with $300 of products will not sell nearly as much as a vendor with $10,000 of products. That may be out of reach for a new vendor but it should be kept in mind as you expand. Don't throw your products across the table in a random way. Place them neatly just like when you go to a supermarket everything is placed neatly. There is something in the unconscious mind of a consumer that makes him unlikely to buy when he sees products all messed up. Don't leave empty spaces on your table or place of display, everything should be as full as possible and as neat as possible. Expect to constantly fix up your products as customers or children ruin it. That's just part of the gig and every major retailer has to deal with it too. When your booth is set up walk by it from far away as if you are the customer. See what he sees and you will be able to better decide what changes should be made. If you have a large stock of good products make sure to display all of it and not keep it stashed in your car. You see the more you have the more legitimate you look. So if you are selling watches you want people to be WoWed by your booth and have them thinking: "Yes this is definitely the guy to go to for watches." So whatever item you sell you are going to specialize in it so that you have everything there is to have for that particular category of item. When people are looking for hardware they go to Home Depot rather than Wal-Mart's limited section, and when people want phone accessories they would know I'm the guy to go to back in my swapmeet days. I hope you get the idea. :)
Selling
Swapmeets and flea markets are all about haggling and bargaining. If you are against that then this is not the place for you. If you are not willing to bargain or be flexible on pricing you are going to lose the majority of your sales. There are two major rules I have discovered to increase sales in swapmeet.
1. Someone asks the price of an item and you tell him, he puts it back down and loses interest. Go down on the price! He will likely pick it back up again and buy it.
The fact of the matter is, in the swap meet, you'll be giving different prices to different customers. You will set a standard price for all of your items and then you will set a minimum selling price for those customers who want to haggle. For example, I sell an iPhone charging cable for a $6 per piece at the swapmeet but if someone was trying to haggle(or simply lost interest because of the price) the best I could do would be $4. So obviously I would try at $5 at first then if I had to I would go down to $4. Obviously the goal would be to sell for more. Once again if a customer haggles you will need to go down and if he doesn't haggle but loses interest you will also need to go down. Some people don't actually like haggling but they won't buy unless you fix the price for them.
2. Up-selling. Someone buys a pair of earphones for $7. He picks them up and is about to leave when I tell him "Hey, my friend takes one more pair and I will sell you the additional pair for $5." He thinks to himself hey that's a great deal and can't resist and buys that one too!
Master this and you can increase your daily sales at the swapmeet significantly. Although this is the most important part of upselling, other kinds of upselling encouragement would be showing the consumer different new products and letting him try out the quality or taking the time to describe the new products to him.
Be prepared to be interactive. If you just want to sit down and avoid talking then you are unlikely to sell much. By being active and interactive with every consumer that crosses your stand you are likely to sell more!
Develop Relationships
Although this is not mandatory, in this day and age the online world is quite profound. If you make a Facebook page or other social media platform for your business you may be able to make some money through it. At the swapmeet ask customers if they want to share their phone numbers or social media platforms so you can send them pics when you get new products. If you develop any kind of relationship with them they are more likely to remember you and become repeat customers. Many customers you see at the swapmeet live nearby and come by the swapmeet often to look for great deals!
Sourcing
The cheaper you can get your products the more profit you can make. Always look for better deals so you can increase your income!
