Buying at auctions & op shops then reselling at the markets

TIPS

 

• Many people visit the markets as an EXPERIENCE so what can you do to add pleasure to that social outing?
• Everyone shopping at a market wants a bargain. So.....Consider having $1 and 50c boxes of small items. Everyone loves a bargain and kids love to search through them. These boxes can include odd quality crockery like Royal Doulton saucers, small toys from Kinder surprise, pretty single glasses, craft scraps and the like If you are selling off stuff you no longer want, be prepared to haggle. Better to receive a small amount of money and not have to take it home and store it. 
 

• If you know the item is valuable or can't part with it UNLESS you reach a certain price, then do the research. A market may not be the best way to sell it. Consider specialty auctions, online auctions, the Trading Post or advertising in an appropriate collectors journal.

 

• Keep an eye out for good ideas you could replicate or create a new version of. Most craft products are not under copyright or patent, but check before investing in materials and equipment.

 

• Consider whether you would buy this item at this price. For instance, I saw old cds painted with glass paints to be coasters sold at $20 a set. Problem: Not everyone uses coasters, the designs were easy to produce at home oneself, and glass paints tend to come off the sruface went heated- for example when washing or spilling coffee on them! 

• Offer a variety of items, including some small change sellers. Sometimes those $5 or less items pay for your stall costs AND make a profit.

• Persist and try to have your stall in the same area each week. Regular market goers may be short of cash one week, but think about an item during the week and come back.

• Be friendly but not pushy.

 

 Our 2 year adventure in selling used goods at Glebe markets on a Saturday started with the generous donation of 4 huge bags of stuff from my Mum, bless her. It included a great number of decorative unicorns, some musical, some soft toy type, some gift box or picture stlye. In addition there were books, clothes, jewelry, crockery, some Wedgewood blue and white ware. A veritable treasure stripey shopping bags chest worth. When we began Glebe markets were very popular and we could only get in on the less fashionable Saturday. We did well in our first foray, as dealers and market regulars always like to check out a new stall, especially one that is clearly the result of a clear out of goodies. We still had plenty left, and this was the start of our Saturday work for 2 years or so. As Mum's stuff sold fairly fast, we added more out our own declutterings. I was very chuffed to sell a framed photo I had shot of the University of Sydney Quadrangle, left over from an exhibition I had held in a local cafe.

 

Gradually we didn't have too much stock and started to look around for more. I was into glass painting at the time, and started selling my creations. I had a couple of designs on wine and champagne glasses which were popular. The glasses were cheap from Vinnies, but the paint is fairly costly if you want a good range of colours, so we expanded into candle bowls. Basically those 70s prawn cocktail dishes, painted with bright designs and a tea light candle inside. These did really well as $5 a pop gifts. One Christmas we made $1000 and much of it came from our candle bowls. We actually sold out within 2 hours and could have sold many more had I been able to make them in time.

 

Another 'hit' item was handpainted lightglobes. We found simple polychrome designs sold well. Looking out for ways to increase sales we offered both bayonet base (most commonly used in Australia ) and Edison screw base. Commissions were accepted for unsual size or shape bulbs. A customer told us they were sensitive to the chemicals which could evaporate whent he light globe was in sue, so we offered one on a free trial basis, and then went in search of low chemical paint. My husband found a manufacturer of the plastic like paint guarranteed not to have the offending chemicals. This had the added advantage of us being able to buy paint in bulk, and to genuinely advertise our products and low allergy.

 

We used to haunt the Newtown St Vinnies, and both being into early 20 century porcelain, did snap up a few bargains, like the Carltonware tea pot for $10 which we sold for $50- a bargain both for us and the buyer. we made friends with Lesley and Andrew, two specialists in old items, and old hands at the markets game. I bought quite a few very useful photographic tools from Andrew and Lesley was always good for a chat and full of excellent advice. They encouraged us to go to the local Auction houses.

 

 

We found on certain days there were auctions of all manner of stuff. Porcelain was one of our interests, which often meant spending money to addto our collection rather than making money! But we also found interesting mixed lots with items we could resell such as interesting books, figurines, one off items of porcelain like interesting dinner plates, a apile of theatre magazines from the 1950s. One of the problems with these lots was security. As each lot (a group of items being sold in one go as one item) was laid out on long trestle tables, some delaers would surreptiously take an item from one lot and move it into the lot they were bidding on. You would win the bid on a lot only to find when it came time to collect, that the item you wanted the lot for had been stolen! The other danger is "bidding fever"- it feels like a competition so as opthers outbid you, you become determined to "win", forgetting that you are committing to pay the final bid. This may end up being far more than you have budgetted for.

 

Some items do not seem to sell well- clothes interestingly do not tend to fetch a high price, unless they are new, unique designs or speical antique items. All the old hands at Glebe Markets found business reduced for everyone when the market became flooded with second hand clothes for sale.

 

Food sells well, but make sure you have the relevant permissions and licences, not to mention insurance.

 

Overall evaluation- what did we get out of this?

 

We found that we put many more hours of labour in than we aearned back in cash. However it did give us a cash flow at a time when other work was scarce. It was also very empowering- it felt great to make things for sale, knowing I was generating my own income rather than depending on government handouts. We made great friends there and learnt a lot from other stall holders who were generous with help and ideas. At auctions we found some great bargains which added to our Noritake Porcelain collection, and others like the Austrian enamel coffee cups, from which me made a significant profit. Business skills and the motivation to study basic bookkeeping for my dear husband were other side benefits.

 

Definitely worth doing. Decide if it is a one of garage style sale or an on going project. This will affect your choice of market and strategies for selling.