What Sold from My Antique Booth in May
Hi everyone! Sad to say, I had another abysmal month selling from my booth at the Gristmill Antique Center. When I started sharing my monthly sales with you all, I had had a very consistent year and a half at the Gristmill Antique Center (and 15 previously consistent years at another center). I’m being humbled before my sweet blog audience.
Fortunately, I had a good month selling via my blog shop, so that balanced things out a bit, but nonetheless, if things don’t turn around with my booth, I’m going to have to rethink things. So my sales for May were $178.50. Stinko, I know. Thank goodness it covered my rent ($130/month).
Over the years, other dealers have mentioned not making rent on occasion; fortunately, I’ve never experienced that, but this month I came pretty darn close. Just to put things in perspective, my personal goal is to make three times my rent, or $420. Yeah, not this month. Here are eight of the 19 items that did sell.
Some of you may remember this large, McCoy basket weave planter from a few weeks ago; it sold for $18.00 the day I brought it into the shop.
A cute little bird house sold for $15.00.
A pair of shoe last sold for $25.00.
A cement tile sold for $10.00.
A 1965 World’s Fair guide sold for $10.00.
A small German mug sold for $10.00.
A Sears chrome flashlight (far right) sold for $4.00 (half off of $8.00).
This metal folding ruler sold for $12.00.
As you can see I sold a number of what I call “piddly” items, despite having a booth filled with items priced from $5.00 to $200.00. I made sure during my last visit to the shop to do a lot of reorganization. I took out a number of items that just were not selling and improved the overall look of my booth. During my next trip I’m going to give it a real overhaul and see if that helps. I’ll let you know how things progress.
Thanks for stopping by!
If you enjoyed this post, sign up via email
and receive every post directly in your inbox.
Let’s connect!
Facebook
Pinterest
Blog Instagram
Vintage Instagram Shop
Twitter
Bye for now,
Always adding new merchandise!
Our party is open until Monday at 8 am.
Would you mind showing us the overall look of your booth?
Oh, I know the feeling, Diana. Sometimes my sisters & I have to put ourselves in perspective and total the 3 of our sales to see the bigger picture, as 1 of us may not reach rent in a given month. Though it’s not frequent, it’s totally disheartening when it happens. But one rule we try to stick by – don’t take anything home once it’s in the shop. If we’re being totally honest, you can imagine the purge job that we really need to do, lol.
Piddly…funny, you use that word. It’s in the title of my post today.
Have a great weekend – I know it’s a big one!
Great tip about NOT taking anything home Rita – I’m sticking to that one too. 🙂
I just opened my booth in May and sales have been slow. I was thinking it was just me until the mall owner told me that sales for everyone have been way down. Several of the other vendors also mentioned the same thing. It may be a trend for some reason. 🙁 I had high hopes for my booth and I’m feeling discouraged so far. I’m planning on sticking it out for a year and hoping things pick up.
Let me just tell you that May was down for everyone I know. I have never NOT made rent. I think the minute I do, I have to reevaluate my booths (I have 3 now, 2 normal booths and a very large back room, with rent a little over $500) and maybe drop one or work in the store 1-2 days a month to save a big chunk of rent. Ideally, I’ve gotta make $1500 to be happy for the month, but in the summer, if you’re doubling your rent (no matter where), you’re doing well. I think graduation/summer vacation causes a lot of the slow periods we experience this time of year.
Slow sales – Sounds like an issue up here in MT too! Although I don’t have many big items in my booth, it’s hard when even the ‘piddly ‘littles stick around too long. Your transparency is refreshing and encouraging, so thank you for that! Good thing we love what we do and who we do this journey with….. Hoping for a strong tourist season!
My sales have been crap lately too. My combined booth rent for 2 spaces is $350.00 and I would NOT be able to cover that if I didn’t work there part time in order to help with my rent! Sucks!
Tania
I remember my booths were always slower this time of year…I hated that feeling, too.I usually had a big cleanout sale at my house to get rid of stuff and bring in some side income. People are going to a lot of outdoor sales right now.
PS I LOVE the little angel I bought from you! Thanks!
Just yesterday I sold a candleholder that has been in my store for TWO YEARS! I was cleaning up the spot where it had been sitting and placed it on top of a dresser then forgot to put it back. Within the hour a man came in the store, picked it up and bought it (it was fishing themed). Let me tell you I did the HAPPY DANCE after he left. It’s crazy but so many times just moving things around makes the difference. Good luck and I’m sorry to tell you that this has been a slow year at THE GIGGLING CROW in Chester, Ca.so far.
Here in Plano Tx things have been slow too! Is this a trend? I do freshen my booth every week even though that usually just means moving things around to the way they were the week before! lol. Its not very big!! But I’m not sure I agree with never taking anything home. I like it when my space feels cohesive and sometimes that means giving a few items a rest.
Thanks so much for the post, it feels so much better to know slow sales are not just in my booth. I hope things pick up for everyone!
My husband and I want to sell some antiques and reclaimed objects, mostly furniture. Of course, I’m the one who is most cautious about money and spending it on booth rent. We’ve looked into consignment as well. What a quandary!
Thanks so much for sharing. Your posts are so relatable.
Hi Diana. Do you sell any jewelry at your booth…either vintage or antique? If so, what do you use for pricing guidelines?
Sorry you had a slow month. Slow here in Maine, too. I am hoping things will pick up with vacation season; I know when I go off somewhere, I’d rather go flea marketing/antiquing rather than gift shop-ping! I am always on the lookout for dishes/things that my friends collect; people look at me funny when I tell them I am Christmas shopping, but it sure makes Christmas nicer to have that stash already paid for! Maine items are popular as people are furnishing their camps, etc. AND our long winters make reading material popular! I hardly ever make table rent; sometimes I call my booth an expensive storage space! Now I have booths in 2 places so I can switch some stuff out. I do take some stuff home and give it a rest if it hasn’t moved. Sometimes it goes to Goodwill or to church for the White Elephant table at the Christmas bazaar! It always finds a good home!
I feel your pain!!! I was told when I opened my booth in December that the summer months are very slow unless it rains a lot. I have just made rent ($175) most months but that is really no fun! My sister, who had booths for years, told me to go in there with a red marker and aggressively mark things down….even if it is only $2 off. I did that, reorganized, took some stuff out, put some stuff in and hoped for the best. The owner texted me out of the blue last week on the 10th to tell me that I am doing great so far for June…$37 over rent so far. I sold 11 items in two days. I am thinking they were the red lined ones! I did not mark down newer things or many large items, just the ones that have been there, sitting and waiting to be taken home! I just want to sell a lot so I can justify buying more, ya know?!
thanks for your honesty. junking needs to be a money-maker for me and when my sales are down it makes me re-evaluate what i am buying. if it wasn’t a painful lesson, i probably would not remember it.
I had good April sales at my two booths, but May was down and so far June hasn’t been great. Hopefully, things will pick up in July. The Albany Antique Mall in Oregon has special events for customers and dealers every couple of months. We have a “Crazy Sidewalk Sale” coming up in July.
Egad, I know just what you mean Diana, and all the other’s comments. When I had a booth, I sweated through the months of May & June, which were always slow. I always made rent ($180), but some months I wondered if I was going to.
I had to give up my share of a booth years ago during the recession. It lost money every month for several months, so I just had to let it go. Sad because I really enjoyed doing it. Many of our local dealer booth antique malls are now gone. I wonder if the next generation just doesn’t appreciate vintage anymore.