The long awaited pics of our booth at the DC Big Flea!

[Jay2TheRescue]

Saturday was a decent day at the show, but Sunday totally sucked.  Oh well, that's a summer show for you...  Anyway I felt for sure the 2 dinette sets were going to sell, but they didn't.  A friend of ours at the show had a pink dinette set for $100 and it didn't sell.  At that price a dealer should have jumped on it.  I certainly would have bought it if I had sold at least one of my sets.

-Jay

[Good Buddy]

Awesome booth!
You'd have pryed some money out of our pockets for sure!

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Really nicely displayed, all of it. Very organized and the way you have it set up just makes even individual items more interesting.

[Tammy]

OMG - Look at all that Pyrex!  My passion is Pyrex!  Can I ask what you were asking for the multicolored nesting bowls on the table?  Did anyone buy the vivid green telephone? 

[Jay2TheRescue]

OMG - Look at all that Pyrex!  My passion is Pyrex!  Can I ask what you were asking for the multicolored nesting bowls on the table?  Did anyone buy the vivid green telephone? 

The nesting bowl set was $35.  We had some sets that were less than perfect so we put them on sale.  We sold many sets.  I think the only one left at the sale price is one with diswasher faded bowls.  The lime green phone almost sold, but I don't take credit cards.  The guy said he'd come back after visting the ATM.  I saw him come down our aisle 30 minutes later, but he didn't stop by our booth.  I had another lime green phone that sold on Saturday.  It was a lime green wall phone.

We were trying to clear out some of our excess so we didn't even put out some of our most expensive sets like the Pyrex Dots, the solid pink set, or our Fire King Delphite bowls or the Fire King Tulip bowls.  Those are saved for the next show.

-Jay

[Scott]

Yours is exactly the type of booth that I seek out at flea markets -- nicely done! I wish there were more dealers of your caliber in my area.

[tiamatgreen]

wow, Jay, you had so much great stuff! i agree with GB, you definitely would have gotten some $ from me lol. i'm surprised the dinette sets didn't go, they are beautiful.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Not many people do what we do.  In a show of over 1,100 booths there are only 2 or 3 other dealers that sell the same type of stuff we do.  Most dealers scoff at what we sell, saying "That's not antiques!"  We do not sell these as antiques.  We call them "Retro-tiques".  Most of our customers are 20 - 40 y/o and buying stuff they remember seeing in their Grandma's house when they were younger.

-Jay

Yours is exactly the type of booth that I seek out at flea markets -- nicely done! I wish there were more dealers of your caliber in my area.

[Jay2TheRescue]

yeah, I was shocked too.  I even slightly underpriced the yellow set in hopes of selling it fast.  The yellow set is in near perfect condition.  I could have priced it at $375, and I know I would get it sold by the end of the summer, but I priced it at $275 in hopes of selling it quickly.  I've sold sets that were not as nice as that for more.  I think I'll list the dinette sets on Craig's List and see if they go.  I had $325 on the set with the fiberglass chairs.  The exact same chairs are listed on Vintage Swank (a local internet vendor) for $125 each.  I had considered putting $500 on it and it would be like buying the chairs and getting the table for free. 

-Jay

wow, Jay, you had so much great stuff! i agree with GB, you definitely would have gotten some $ from me lol. i'm surprised the dinette sets didn't go, they are beautiful.

[Big Daddy Audio]

Jay -

I'm sure you don't, but why worry what other dealers say or think?  So what if the stuff you sell aren't bona fide antiques in their eyes - the stuff is still way cooler than Great Granny's faded and stained table cloth.

Just my two cents.

That is all.

PS - Phone display is awesome.

[Jay2TheRescue]

They're shocked we have people buying from us.  You're right though, I don't care much.  I buy & sell what I like.  We became dealers for kinda the same reasons crack addicts become dealers.  To fund our habits.  Its fun to buy something, enjoy it for a period of time, and then sell it and get something else.  Almost every phone in that display has been in use in my home, and certainly all of the appliances are tested in our kitchens.  We guarantee all phones & appliances we sell for 1 year, so we make sure they work right.

-Jay

Jay -

I'm sure you don't, but why worry what other dealers say or think?  So what if the stuff you sell aren't bona fide antiques in their eyes - the stuff is still way cooler than Great Granny's faded and stained table cloth.

Just my two cents.

That is all.

PS - Phone display is awesome.

[ChrisMiss]

Nice pictures, great job on the booth, very attractive and lots of great merchandise.  I probably would have bought something too.

You probably already mentioned it in another posting...how much was the booth price, period of time, etc.  We sold some of our overstock at a flea market before we sold our house.  We had an outdoor site, if I remember it was $3.00 per day on the weekend.  Big pain to get there before 7:00, unload everything, set up tables, unwrap merchandise, etc.  Then reverse procedure when done for the day.  Indoor booths were of course more expensive and rented for month instead of day.  These would be install your own shelves or display, did you have to do your own display shelves too?

How long do you think you'll be selling at this particular flea market?

Phooey on what those other people call what you sell.  Truth be known they're probably just trying to get you to lower your prices so that they can buy it to resell.

Good luck and I hope you make enough to fund your addiction.

[Jay2TheRescue]

That show costs $150 for an  8 x 10 booth.  We use 2 booths so we pay $300.  It is a 2 day show, and happens about once every 2 months.  Setup is on Thursday night and all day Friday.  Sales are Saturday and Sunday.  Breakdown is immediately after the show Sunday night.  It took us 3 hours to pack up and leave.  The shelves and tables are ours.  You can rent tables and other display items, but we use our own to save money.  It is a hard show to get into.  We busted our buts to get into there a few years ago, and about 2 years ago we were bumped up to the better building (This show is in 2 buildings).  They call it the "Big Flea", but really it is an antiques & collectables show.  The booths are too expensive to sell stuff cheap, and if anyone was trying to sell junk they probably won't get in.  If they did they would not be invited back.  This show really caters to snob appeal, but on average we make 4 to 5 times what we do at any other show.

-Jay

Nice pictures, great job on the booth, very attractive and lots of great merchandise.  I probably would have bought something too.

You probably already mentioned it in another posting...how much was the booth price, period of time, etc.  We sold some of our overstock at a flea market before we sold our house.  We had an outdoor site, if I remember it was $3.00 per day on the weekend.  Big pain to get there before 7:00, unload everything, set up tables, unwrap merchandise, etc.  Then reverse procedure when done for the day.  Indoor booths were of course more expensive and rented for month instead of day.  These would be install your own shelves or display, did you have to do your own display shelves too?

How long do you think you'll be selling at this particular flea market?

Phooey on what those other people call what you sell.  Truth be known they're probably just trying to get you to lower your prices so that they can buy it to resell.

Good luck and I hope you make enough to fund your addiction.

[ChrisMiss]

Wow!  That is an upper end flea market.  I hope you made a great profit from it.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Wow!  That is an upper end flea market.  I hope you made a great profit from it.

Unfortunately we didn't do that well.  We only sold about $800 in our booth, which is far below what we were expecting.  Its better than other dealers though, I hear some dealers didn't sell anything. 

-Jay