Is the Huge Indoor Flea Market Worth the Investment?

[monica_sweetconsultant]

Hey everyone,

I have thought about this before and just found out more info on sunday. every month we have a HUGE indoor 2 building flea market that lasts all weekend. we go every month and thousands of people come. when my husband was doing direct tv installations we would go there and set up a table and sell them and make lots of money. the difference is it was only 30 dollars to set up a table. when i got the information saturday, the booths have went up to 65 and 70 dollars. that is alot of money to not be selling anything!!! I told the lady what i would be doing and she loves Pc herself and said maybe I would get enough leads and bookings to never have to do it again. But like i said, that is alot of money to put out and I am not the richest person (yet, lol). anyways, any thoughts from you guys? would you go for it? with it being a monthly deal is what is grabbing my attention so much.

 

[D_Patel]

HmmmmI did one a month ago , it was a weekly weekend Flea market , I had a awful time ! LOL ! A lot of people go there looking for bargins , somepeople thought i was selling the tools like a yard sale ! Some guy offered me $3.00 for the food chopper ! I got no bookings , no leads and no sales. I also lost my $30.00 for renting a table! Never again for me !!
Maybe your flea market is better , or maybe you could find anther consultant to do it with , that way if you want to leave the booth to go to the bathroom or whatever , someone is there to watch your stuff.
I would give it a shot ya never know , all it takes is one booking to make back what you spent !

 

[monica_sweetconsultant]

this is like a huge craft fair. and i was pretty mad at myself for not doing it this month because there was tons of people there doing samples of food like salsa's and stuff like that. there was always lots of people there wanting samples and of course if you sample something you are going to be polite and listen to them for a minute or two right? My husband is my partner in this business. I couldnt do it with out him so he would be there to help me out. he is trying to get us into the hispanic market now. he works with alot of hispanics and one of his friends wife loves to cook. spent like 70 dollars just in cookbooks one week!!!. the flea market is inside, air conditioned, and the booths all have electric outlets if needed. i am just so iffy about spending that much money and not get any bookings or leads or recruits.

 

[bbauman07]

I have never done a flea market before. I would recomend trying to get a booth in your local fair if it's not to late or look for craft fairs coming up in your comunity and try to get a table there. My cluster got a booth at our fair I had my 1st shift on Saturday got 4 good leads, 1 possible recruit and 2 bookings but NO SALES! I still have 2 more fair booths, 1 Tuesday and 1 Friday. I paid $18 a piece for a 4 hour time slot, plus my vendor pass. (My total was $59) For me just Saturday alone was worth the money since I'm still a "unseasoned consultant". Oh, and instead of a door prize drawing I'm offering a free kitchen show to everyone who books at the fair.

I also did an open house for an apartment complex (my 1st show) which was a total bomb. No bookings, no good leads (I had people give me fake #'s just because they wanted my prize which was to be left with the complex manager)

One thing you could do to evaluate if it is worth it think about the prior times you have gone, and how may other types of consultants have you seen, maybe go and ask them if the have had a good turn out there.

 

[nicolbw]

Monthly fairIf it were me, I would do it. You're not going to know how you would do unless you try it. It may turn out to be great for you. Then again it may not. I am doing a Taste of Home cooking show in November and I'm spending way more money to set up there than $70. But it's worth it to me to get my name out to about 1000 people since I'm new in town.

If money is tight then do an extra show before hand to pay for it.

Brandi W.

 

[monica_sweetconsultant]

thanks for all the advice. like i said in the earler post this isnt a normal flea market. its more of a craft fair. you find EVERYTHING there from brand new toys to candles to clothes and pocket books all of it new. i have never done a fair and i have only been doing PC since may. This town is much larger than mine and I really want my name put out in this town. lets just say the money flows alot more freely in this town than in mine and I feel like if I could get my name out there I would break my chain of people. so far i havent earned any bonuses or incentives or met any of the goals i have set for myself. i have to do something!! I think i am going to do it next month. If it goes somewhat good i will do it again during the slower months of sales. this flea-market is an every month thing. thanks again for all the advice!!

 

[pamperedchef_vivian]

Hi Monica,

If $70 is not in your budget right now, how about doing a garage sale or selling stuff like old clothes to resale shops? Believe me, I am the " Queen of Budgeting "....LOL, so I know exactly what it's like to come up with extra money you don't have! You never know, you may make more $ than just the $70 and get to keep some change in your pocket! CHA-CHING !


Vivian Woodward
Independent Kitchen Consultant
San Antonio, Texas
[email protected]

 

[Jennie4PC]

i would say go for it myself, i am also doing the taste of home cooking show i havent been making much money since i moved and im really hoping to get my name out there good luck if you decide to do it. (my selling point in doing the booth was 3 monthly payments)