My DH works full time and I am a SAHM since moving to KY 7 years ago. I do several things to make money. I sell Avon, work ebay, do a children's consigned twice a year (Spring & Fall) when they come to my town, an last year I did 5 yard slaes trying to make money and declutter my home.

I was wondering...do any of you have a booth at a flea market or antique mall??? Around where I live there are wharehouse like places where you can rent a booth and these places are open all week and weekend long. I am trying to figure out if I want to do that. I am leaning to NOT because of the recession possiblity people are already cutting back their spending...I know that by my AVON sales.

Most booths are like 10 X 10 and $57 a month and you have to pay them 10% of your sales...

I don't like shipping glassware and pictures any more and thought I would put that stuff in the booth. But maybe I ought to just put it in a yard sale...or even just donate it to get it out of the house...

Any thoughts??

I'm' thinking about this summer joining our Farmer's Market. It is like $20.00 the entire summer plus 5% of sales, maybe 10%. And everything you sell must come from this area. So my plan is excess food from my garden and some crafts that I make. Maybe a few baked products here and there as well.

My thoughts on the matter is that presentation is very important. So many people tend to just toss everything on their table and it is hard to sort through and determine prices. I think some of the best sells are those that come in with a couple of racks to display items. Also, meet and great everyone. Part of the appeal to these sort of boothes is that you're getting to know the person that you're buying from -- make it a good situtation. I was at a craft show this winter and was actually thinking about buy this beautiful scarf -- the seller just looked at me and never smiled or greeted me and I finally decided not to buy it. It was like she didn't think I was worth her time -- that's' probably not what she thought but it is how she made me feel. And talking to my friend that does this sort of thing -- she said it is a lot of trial and error on what works and what doesn't work.

Like I said, I've been thinking a lot about this myself -- and these are just some of my thoughts.

That is definitely true at farmers' markets. People very much want the feeling that they're buying from a Real Person, someone who feels like a neighbor or a friend.

It sounds as if it would be worth trying the farmer's market at least. At the worst, you would only lose $20 and some time, right? You could always stop if it didn't work out. If you do baked goods, you might want to try to have your little specialty. Like one woman at ours did empanadas (both savory and sweet--such a hit that she supplies restaurants now!). Another did different scones and was always experimenting with new flavors, so you were always tempted to try one to see what the new flavor would taste like. At another stall, they had an amazing braided cream cheese bread. They had other things, but the specialty would draw people in, and then people would try something else while they were at it.

I don't know anything about flea market booths, sorry! But don't people tend to shift more into buying used things in a recession? (They cut back on spending, but they still need things; so they stop buying new but start scouting Craigslist, going to yard sales, etc. They get smarter about their money in other words!) There are probably some statistics about this somewhere, but I'm just guessing at this point. I don't know what the effect would be on flea markets.

Around here there are a couple of people who run quarterly consignent sales. Instead of being open 24/7, they rent a place once a quarter and hold the sale over a long weekend. Here is a link to one organization:

KiddieKart.com: Home

The ones I've been to have limited their sales to just children's clothing and toys, however, I bet you could do something where anyone who has home goods, homemade items, or direct sales could consign as well.

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