posted on October 11, 2001 12:59:09 PM new
I come from a long line of traders, my grandfather was a horse trader and my dad is a flea market dealer, so it's in my blood. Until eBay I never thought I could be a trader/dealer. I love doing this thing. Standing in the rain at auctions and digging through people's basements seems to make me happy. I love the thrill of the deal.
Those of us who have been around for several years (or even less) on eBay know that it has become harder and harder to get a good price for items that only two years ago sold for a handsome profit. There were many more "happy dances" being done here. I have a lot of items that I feel certain would sell in a brick and mortar but they are not worth all of the fees you would have to pay on eBay.
I live in a small town and in today's paper there is an advertisment for a new antique mall being set up in a neighboring town. This is no means a large town but there is only one antique dealer in town and parking for that store is a hassle. Here are the few details at are in the ad: no advertising cost, no commission, $50 month booth cost, opening November 1st.
As you can guess, I am considering giving this a try. I want and need advice from those of you who have experience in this area. I want to learn from your experiences.
Thanks in advance and I will be checking back later tonight.
posted on October 11, 2001 01:14:44 PM new
dixiebee - go for it! Here in my area, I pay $75 for a large showcase plus the mall gets 10% commission so you would be getting a real steal. I sell in a very specialized area and it's nice to have the mall for "not quite good enough for ebay" things. You might also want to check to see if they are going to have the dealers work the floor for credit on occasion. I do that two days a month which more than pays for my showcase so all it costs me is the 10% commission. It's also a nice way to have people contact! My mall also allows us to have our business cards in our spaces/showcases and I've gotten some really good leads from customers who have things to sell.
posted on October 11, 2001 01:24:40 PM new
I would say to go for it. There are still many people that do not shop on internet auctions, some that go to neigboring towns for a drive, etc.
Lots of impulse sales are made to these people. Many items bring much higher prices locally than they will on ebay. I think people still enjoy the "hands on" experience of buying antiques and collectibles.
posted on October 11, 2001 01:50:33 PM new
dixiebee, I've been a part time seller since graduating high school. I started at an outdoor flea market, went into an antique mall, then decided to get out altogether to do ebay. Ebay has been by far the most lucrative for me, but I haven't ruled out renting a mall booth in conjunction with ebay.
Your local market often has a different demand from the ebay market, and items that are duds in one venue might sell well in another. Low-priced items are especially easy to turn over in a mall environment, especially compared to the effort needed to prep them on ebay.
There's a number of pros and cons of an antique mall. Pros include getting to meet customers face to face (though some may consider that a con), making local contacts to buy inventory (I even managed to get a lot of great stuff through trades), having a support system/network of other dealers (direct competitors can often be your best buddies), less per-item effort (ie, no photos write-ups, uploading, etc). Cons include shoplifters, abrasive hagglers, cleaning displays, and "duty days" (if they require them) can drag on when it's slow. I'm sure there's other pros and cons I'm not thinking of right off the top of my head.
I would keep in mind a couple things before signing the contract: Location, location, location! Make sure you're on the beaten path if they're asking you to pay a good chunk for rent. If it's off the beaten path, ask the owners how they intend to drive business to their location (advertising, etc).
Also keep your pricing reasonable. The sellers I've known who were the most successful were the ones that priced stuff to move and kept the cash flowing. I've been to too many antique malls where I've seen the same item sitting in the same spot at the same price for the past 10 years. Don't give away your merchandise, but do turn it over as fast as you can.
posted on October 11, 2001 01:57:13 PM new
Go for it!
I’m sure the terms are for an introductory period, even if so you have nothing to lose. I was at one time (before eBay) in 4 antique malls. I am now down to one mall and with eBay and net more than before. I find things that don’t sell on eBay will sell in the mall and things that have been in the mall for a long time sell well on eBay.
posted on October 11, 2001 01:58:14 PM new
I like the no commission. That helps a lot. The rent is more than reasonable too.
The trade off might be small town-less traffic-slower sales. But that's OK if your rent is cheaper, plus no commission.
A good sales level to shoot for is 10 times your space rent, per month. If you can sell $500 per month out of the booth, it should be reasonably profitable (that is, if you have good markup on your items!). Notice I said "shoot for". You may not make it every month. Some good months may be surprisingly better.
Another way to look at it is if you have $10,000 worth of merchandise in the booth, selling 10% of that stock each month would be doing pretty well.
You will be in competition with every other seller in that mall, and in the town for that matter. Put some thought into presentation and display, and of course, try to have a wide selection of quality items. If you are loaded up on mostly glassware for example, you'll miss possible sales because not everyone even glances at it. But if you have some nice glassware along with lots of other types of items, people will actually "shop" your booth instead of just glancing at it, and you'll make more sales.
Restock at least a little every week or two and rearrange and dust your booth often. It makes it look "new" all of the time. Regulars will look at your booth each time they come in (because it looks different and new) and that possibly means more sales. I was always amazed that a certain piece wouldn't sell, then move it four feet from a shelf to the top of the showcase and it sells immediately. Seems to be something to that.
Try to avoid cramming the booth so full that people can't easily get around in it and see everything. If you have that much stuff you probably need two booths.
Small collectibles are where the money is (space verses ease of sale). If you have furniture in the booth, try to keep it small and price it to move.
You'll probably need a good, roomy, floor model showcase if you intend to sell high dollar smalls. Yes, it will take up 1/5 of your floor space but it will be worth it.
posted on October 11, 2001 04:03:39 PM new
I agree with loosecannon on rearranging the booth every so often. Used car dealers do this. They actually have the same cars there through out the week, but the lot looks different bacause they change positions of the cars. After all, who wants to buys a cars from a dealer who has the same old thing on his lot every day. It makes it appear that people are buying from him.
I have never had a booth before, but if I did I would consider placing the nicer, more profitalbe items at eye level. If you go to the grocery store and look at their pricing structure, you will find this is what they do.
Also, at $50.00 per month, this breaks down to $1.67 per day. It might be a bargian worth considering. I might have cold feet if they required a lease from you. They have no proven track record since they are new. If they require a 6 month lease and the place turns out to be a ghost town, then you are in the lesser position. I personally would NOT sign on the dotted line if there was a lease involved.
edited for spelling and additions
[ edited by yeager on Oct 11, 2001 04:12 PM ]
posted on October 11, 2001 09:40:33 PM new
That is a bargain, what have you got to lose? I rent space in three antique malls along with ebay and some months its very profitable and others it isn't. I also do shows, you can't sell in just one market place any more, why not do ebay and rent the space?
posted on October 12, 2001 05:37:15 AM new
Wow, you guys are great! I don't plan on giving up my eBay job, but considering doing both. I have been giving (or sometimes selling at a very low price) all my eBay rejects to my dad to sell at the flea market. Of course, he may not like my new plan.
My husband and I routinely go to auctions where we see items that would be just too difficult to ship but I think would do well in this type of store. I always have a hodge podge of items so I would not be "specializing" in any one item.
loosecannon: You reminded me of one of my personal pet peeves at antique malls -- booths that are so crowded.
I guess I will give them a call today and see what's up. You all have given me some questions to ask that are very good. This is why I keep coming back to this place.
[ edited by dixiebee on Oct 12, 2001 05:40 AM ]
posted on October 12, 2001 07:22:22 AM new
dixiebee
At that price, grab a booth before they are all gone! I have a booth in a local antique mall, and I'm amazed at how well we've been doing. Last week we sold an item for $245 that fizzled on eBay at $50, and when relisted didn't receive a single bid.
I do well on eBay, but I only sell select items that I'm fairly certain will do well in todays eBay. The good ol days of 99% of everything I listed on eBay selling first time out are long gone.
From what I've seen in the malls there are thousands of people that either:
1. Don't purchase antiques & collectibles on the web
2. Don't want to pay the $5 shipping on $25 items.
3. Are tired of being ripped off by dishonest sellers
My solution is to move all the heavy [high shipping cost] items in the mall, as well as the lower $ easy to find items on eBay.
Many of the items that are very "rare" in my area, are almost common place on eBay.
If you're smart, you can also suck in the odd eBay seller who "thinks" the item will sell well on ebay. [not realizing it's already been flogged on eBay once or twice]
Make sure any of your eBay duds in the mall are off the ebay servers before you list them in the mall. [2 weeks]
posted on October 12, 2001 08:15:09 AM new
Put my vote on the "go for it!" side also.
I just started doing the same thing - $75/mo; no commission. It's not a booth exactly, it's a larger space I share w/two other women. But I love my results so far.
Things that don't get bids on eBay sell.
Also: 1 pair of snowshoes - sold on eBay for $49.99. In shop: I put $95.00 on an identical pair - sold for $75.00 within 2 weeks of being there (customer called me as I leave my phone number at the store). Other examples like this also. With no shipping hassles!
We're not in an Antique Mall per se, and there are other types of stores, so we bring traffic to the other stores in the mall and they bring traffic to us.
I'm also in a small town. The three towns that border each other have populations of about 4000 all together w/the space being in the largest town of the three. I got in after our tourist season, but am still defreakinlighted at my results so far.
posted on October 12, 2001 08:42:40 AM new
Leap of faith ... I'm gonna do it!
You pay on a quarterly basis, so $150 upfront charge. There is a 5% transaction fee on checks and credit cards and no transaction fee for cash. The booth is 8x8. They collect and pay the sales tax. The hours will be Monday-Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. However, because of the grand opening and Christmas, they will be open on Sundays until Christmas. Their first section is already sold out with 22 vendors. The second section will have approximately 30 vendors when full, it currently has 10.
posted on October 12, 2001 08:47:49 AM new
... and just to keep your enthusiasm going, dixiebee....
I got a call yesterday from the mall with an offer on a widget I had in my showcase. It'd been on eBay x 2 and didn't sell at $100. Well.... it sold yesterday for $425!
posted on October 12, 2001 08:55:09 AM new
dixiebee, my only concern would be that they don't intend to be open on Sundays during most of the year. Around here, Sundays are easily the busiest antiquing day of the week.
posted on October 12, 2001 08:59:37 AM new
8x8 is a perfect size. IMO leave one wall open at one end for larger items [pictures, small furniture etc], and line the other walls with 16 inch deep plank shelving. You can either paint the shelving, or for a quick & easy fix run wall paper across the tops & outside edge. Make sure you can screw the shelving brackets into a stud, and make sure that the highest shelf can still be reached by little ol ladies.
With a booth that size you'll be amazed at how many items you can get in. I could easily get 300-400 items into a booth that size, and still have it looking organized.
Also, ask the owners about power sources.
With any luck every booth will have their own power supply. If need be, add an extra flood light or two to make sure your booth is well lit. There's nothing worse that a poorly lit booth.
If you check around you should be able to get your hands on a glass or plexiglass [lockable] upright standing display cabinet [vertical units takes up less floor space] to keep all your small [easy to steal items] safely locked away.
Our mall has a fair amount of small expensive items go missing, so keep that in mind.
posted on October 12, 2001 09:02:11 AM new
FYI - Our mall is open 7 days a week, but the majority of our items sell during the weekdays. You may have different results in your area?
posted on October 12, 2001 09:47:28 AM new
There's the catch...
I don't like the 5% charge for accepting checks. There is no good reason they should do this, unless, perhaps, they are willing to assume all risk for taking a bad check. But I doubt they will assume the risk. I'll bet if a customer writes a bad check for one of your items, you'll be out the money instead of them.
Usually, there will be a caveat in the renter's contract saying that the store is only responsible for making sure the check writer has proper I.D., no further responsibility, or words to that effect.
Most buyers, IMO, will be paying by either check or credit card. They will be making pretty good money on the 5% check charge, and it's just like commission. Heck, they'll be praying that everyone pays by check.
I can understand the credit card 5% charge, but even that seems a little high.
I also don't like that they will be closed on Sundays in the future. There goes one of the best days of the week for sales. If they must close one day a week, it should be Mondays.
[ edited by loosecannon on Oct 12, 2001 09:57 AM ]
[ edited by loosecannon on Oct 12, 2001 10:06 AM ]
posted on October 12, 2001 12:42:56 PM new
IMO $50 & 5% isn't out of line at all, and the majority of $50 and under items will be paid for with cash.
I'm charged $65 per month, and have to pay 15%, and considering the "mall" exposure, and the traffic they generate via advertising etc, I still think it's a great deal.
posted on October 12, 2001 01:08:55 PM new
Yes, considering the alternatives, it IS a great deal. Last month I dumped a load into a B&M auction house, take a guess what percent they took off the top? Plus I had to pay for the rent for the hall, but I still made [net] over 3K.
The rent for the mall I'm in [for the owners] is very expensive, but they're in a great location. location-location-location
They don't make enough off of booth rent to pay the rent lease, the numerous staff, advertising etc, and themselves. They NEED to charge a %, and for me it's well worth it.
My net so far this month is over $800, which on eBay I would have been lucky to get $200 for[if any of it even sold?], and at a yard sale I would have been lucky to get $100.
Had I run these same items via one of the local auction houses I would have been lucky to get $400, and I would have had to pay 25%.
posted on October 12, 2001 02:08:04 PM new
I just returned and I have two questions/comments:
They are using a check clearing company which is what the 5% transaction fee for checks if for. The check clearing company is accepting all the liability on checks, so no returns.
What do you guys do about insurance on your items? Are you covering them under an umbrella of your homeowners policy? My understanding is that any liability is covered under the owner's insurance but that theft, breakage, damage, etc. are my responsibility. Are you going without insurance and taking your chances?
I want to thank all of you who responded here because I was able to ask all the right questions in order to get the answers I was seeking.
posted on October 12, 2001 02:37:05 PM new
A check clearing service? That explains it, but...
That is a service that is not really needed. The owner of the mall I sell out of? He's got only a few bad checks after being in business for several years. A few, maybe 3 or 4, in several years last I heard.
Whatever you think. If you're happy paying 5% for checks then there's nothing wrong with it.
I've never had insurance on items in an antique mall. I took my chances and had very little happen to my inventory. One cheap item was stripped of a couple of parts, rendering it worthless, and a wooden item dried out too much during the winter and cracked (dry heat, not enough humidity). That's about it. I would bet that no homeowner's policy would cover merchandise out of the home.
posted on October 12, 2001 03:08:29 PM new
As a buyer, eBay's presence and eBay's annoying direct marketing junk and other rules have prompted me to start a lot of antique mall hunting in the last two years.
I'm not a seller, but as a buyer, I'll add a few more pet peeves and suggestions to what others here have already made about displaying in a mall (I don't know what you sell, so some might not apply). I hope no one minds.
1) Don't overstuff the space: if it is hard to get around in the cube (especially for bigger or older people), looks like it would take 20 minutes to digest what's in there when there are lots of other cubes, or looks like everything threatens to fall over at the slightest touch....
2) Display books on shelves if possible. Digging through boxes is not fun for some. Either way, if there are a lot of books, categorize them, even if only roughly. Forcing a person to look through all books may prompt them not to bother at all.
3) If you do have lots of books, boxes of magazines, or large quantity of items near the floor, consider supplying a small seat or stool, or reasonably comfortable carpeting to kneel on -- if you have control of such things and they would not become potential safety hazards.
4) Don't leave things in heaps. You may think "lesser" stuff is not deserving much respect, but you're giving buyers the same impression (besides preventing them from seeing said items), and having people poke around in "heaps" will create more wear on the items as well. If space for "lesser" stuff is limited, consider rotating them.
5) If you have a lot of one type of thing and a little bit of something else, put the something else within easy sight. The one type can't be missed in its quantity, nor the other in its good placement.
6) Don't price ridiculously high in the expectation of major dickering bringing it to a price reasonable to both. You're not there for "easy" bargaining, and some buyers won't bother with the call-the-seller stuff if the difference is too great. I've seen things with prices three times higher than I think they're worth, and don't even bother with such extremes (and often promptly skip the rest of the cube).
7) Put bigger items nearer to the floor, and larger quantities of smaller ones closer to eye level or some other favorable angle. It's easier to look briefly down at fewer large items than craning one's neck for longer looking at lots of small items.
8) Items that might fetch better profit are often best at eye level as well.
9) If a lot of items are of darker color (or the cube walls, bookcases, or things like that are tall enough to cast shadows), additional lighting helps.
10) While small or expensive items are best kept in a locked display, draw such lines carefully, because the browser does have to take more bother to get a closer look, and is less likely to pick it up (to buy, of course ) on "urge" (especially near the beginning of walking through the mall).
Just some of my opinions, your mileage or others' opinions may vary.
[ edited by dc9a320 on Oct 12, 2001 03:10 PM ]
posted on October 12, 2001 03:41:31 PM new
Wow, I am going to print that advise out, Dc9.
I am going to try a different "venue" other than E-Bay soon as well. I rented a booth space in my area in an antique mall. I am getting a bit burnt out by E-Bay Buyers. Everything has to be priced so low for them to even bid. Then they seem to expect museum quality items on a beer budget. Also, for the larger furniture items, there is the shipping problem. Shipping a small package these days is expensive and shipping larger items freight is even more expensive.
I think I will reserve my lower end items for E-Bay. It will be fun decorating the booth for both of us. Let's both give it a try, we don't stand to lose much. Your rent is much more inexpensive than mine.
posted on October 12, 2001 05:39:05 PM new
Yes, lets do that! I am excited about getting this space. Setting up and decorating will be the most fun. My husband said we should get the exact dimensions so we can plan exactly what items we will be putting in the booth. Much of it can be done in preplanning before we even move in.
I have had a feeling in the past month that it isn't really wise to count on E-Bay solely. You never know what new idea E-Bay will try to enforce which may not benefit the smaller sellers. So, we are open to new "venues." Some stores were doing well when E-Bay was doing poorly.
I love the thrill of the deal.