Practical Tips from Veteran Antique Booth Sellers

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Have you ever thought about opening a booth inside an antique mall? Maybe you love hitting the garage sale scene and finding vintage treasures, or perhaps you flip furniture and are looking for a good place to sell your pieces.

Renting a space inside a mall (or flea market) can be a great way to dip your toe into the world of reselling. Often there is little risk, and the rewards can be pretty great!

If you already have a booth business, you may be wondering how you can grow your sales or run your business more smoothly. 

When I opened my first booth 12 years ago, I had zero experience running any sort of business and needed all the help I could get!

Sadly though, too often, the best vendors in the antique mall world keep their secrets for success close to their chests. It can be tough for a new vendor to get helpful tips and advice, as they may be treated like competition for sales.

But not today! In this post I’m passing along the best lessons from over 30 seasoned and successful antique booth vendors.

From managing inventory to having the right mindset, these seasoned booth pros are sharing it all.

Tips for Getting Started as a New Antique Booth Vendor

Opening a vintage booth is an exciting step, especially if this is your first ever booth space to rent! I always recommend starting with a small space, so you can get the feel of the business without having to spend too much on inventory to fill your space at the start. 

It’s also important to make sure you pick the right location for the types of items you want to sell. For example, if you have a stockpile of mid-century modern items to sell but you rent a spot in a mall that mostly sells the farmhouse and shabby chic look, you may be disappointed in your sales.

You want to make sure the antique mall where you rent your booth is targeting your ideal customer. 

Here are a few more tips from our seasoned booth owner friends:

“Convenient Location.If a vintage booth is inconvenient, you can quickly lose interest, and it becomes a nuisance. How far away is it from where you live? Are you willing to drive that distance once or twice a week?” Ann with Dabbling & Decorating

“Pick your style now and stick to it or you may have the things your grabbing cheap now for a long time.” Tawnya B.

“Display a little 8×11 sign in your space that says: “Coming Soon”. Then take a deep breath and relax!”  Debbie C.

“I think it’s okay to start small and add to it over time. You don’t want to spend too much just to fill it and hope to make money back.” Lynne M.

“Never rent a booth without checking with other renters on management, been there not good.” Ginny B.

 

Tips for Sourcing and Managing Vintage Booth Inventory

Your inventory is the heart of your business as a vintage reseller! The more your business develops, the better you will get at defining your unique brand and style.

It takes discipline when out hunting for your treasures. I don’t recommend buying everything you can find cheap–instead, purchase the items that are unique, in good condition, and that fit your specific brand and style.

Estate sales can be a great place to source higher quality inventory, but watch out for high prices! My best tip is to wait for the end of the sales where most items are discounted 50%.

Overspending on inventory–both paying too much for specific items and buying too much inventory over all– is one of the biggest reasons why many booth owners don’t make a profit. I recommend setting a monthly inventory budget that fits your needs and sticking to it. 

RELATED POST: What to Sell Every Month In Your Antique Booth

More help on inventory:

“Develop relationships with local estate sale companies, antique dealers, and collectors. By building a network of reliable sources, you increase your chances of finding the hottest collectibles and decor pieces. Stay in touch with these contacts and let them know what you’re looking for. They may be able to notify you when new inventory becomes available or offer insights into upcoming estate sales or auctions”   Time Travel Finds

“Try to keep something unique.”Gray’s Attic Vintage Shop

“You can never predict what people will buy, but you can educate yourself on current design trends and timeless treasures.”  Jody L. 

“Most times when I think it’ll sell right away, it doesn’t. And vice versa.”  Sharon J. 

“What I’ve since found is that it works best to do probably 50% small items (ex. dishes, books, spindles), 30% medium items (ex. accent tables or chairs, signs, printers trays) and 20% big items (ex. chippy doors, larger furniture pieces).” Erin with Cotton Stem

“Get it free.” Kathy L.

“Stay true to yourself. Share things that you personally love!” Jacie C.

“As a general rule, I like to decorate seasonally and for holidays about a month prior to the start of that “event.”  Diana with Adirondack Girl at Heart

“Never buy the same item twice unless it is a pink tea cup.”  Lisa R. 

 

How to Stage & Setup Your Antique Booth for Better Sales

When it comes to staging your booth, creating vignettes of your finds is a great way to help boost sales. Don’t just drop your items on a shelf, rather stage them in a thoughtful display.

Showing your customers how to use your finds in their own homes will help your sales be stronger.

I also recommend not overloading your booth with so many items that customers can’t easily access all the spaces to look. Too many items piled on the floor or stacked on high shelves will make your booth feel crowded and overwhelming.

Instead, make sure every item has a home. If something doesn’t fit with the current decor scheme you have going, take it home and bring it back when you change up your display.

RELATED POST: How to Tags Items in Your Antique Booth

Here are more great tips on staging your booth from successful vintage sellers:

“Lighting is such an important consideration with considering how to set up antique mall booths.  Antique malls are notoriously dark….mainly because many are housed inside buildings with very high ceilings.  I recommend ALWAYS adding lighting to your booth!  The more the better!  If you don’t have electricity, then cordless touch lamps are a game-changer!”  Mary with The Curious Cowgirl

“The more you move your things around, and make pretty new vignettes.. the more you sell. Give people ideas of how they can style your things they buy from you. Some people can’t visualize it themselves.” Kyra M.

“Don’t just put everything in your booth because you have it, make it make sense and flow together, eye appeal is everything and move stuff around.”  Mulberry Meadow Farmhouse

“More is not more. Move and touch puts your positive vibes on your treasures.” Michelle B.

 

“When I had a big booth I kept furniture with very little display on it, people don’t want to wait around for half hour while someone cleans it off so they can buy.” Ginny B. 

“I do minor shuffling at least every two weeks. Major resets about every two to three months.”  Michelle P. 

“Move thing around, change displays, visible price plus info on item if it’s rare, hard to find, where it’s made helps– that gets people interested.  Also I’ve sold display shelves by marking “For Display Only” but I’ll let it go for $—— and sold for higher prices!” Ginny B. 

 

Tips For Boosting Sluggish Sales in Your Vintage Booth

Like any retail business, your antique booth sales will likely ebb and flow throughout the year.

But if you’re not seeing the sales you need to see in your booth to keep it profitable, try changing up your display.  Like our veteran booth owners share below, often just moving an item from one side of your booth to another can help it sell!

You can also make sure to fully utilize your social media marketing. Let your audience and customers know about all the great treasures you have in your space!

RELATED POST: 5 Reasons You Aren’t Making Money in Your Booth or Vendor Business

Sales slow? Here’s some help from booth sellers:

“The “J” months of the year are usually slow! Be patient and ride them out.” Marcy J.

“I use my mystery boxes to help reduce the amount of inventory I have. Over time I acquired quite a few items from my aunt’s estate and it was building up. I chose to take several of the more unique items and put them in mystery boxes.” Crystal with Vintage Booth Pro

“Instead of posting a ___% off entire booth sale, try marking down individual items that have sat for too long  Write “Sale!” and the new price with a big sharpie on a brightly colored sticky note and attach it to the original tag. People will notice and get excited for the marked down price.”  Melanie A.

“Move things around” Paulina B.

“Move it and you will sell it!” Dawn D.

“Move move move!”  Gerry Y.

 

Tips For Pricing Antique Booth Inventory

Finding the right price for your treasures is something many booth owners struggle with.  I encourage the vintage sellers I coach to price their items for the home decor shoppers, rather than for other booth owners and flea market pickers. 

If your booth is “cheap,” you will wind up attracting more fellow dealers (who are always looking for a steal!) than better high-end customers.

Looking up your items online (using a tool like Google Image search) can be a helpful way to determine a starting point for your prices. But remember–online prices are often higher than what your local market will pay, especially if you live in a smaller town. 

RELATED POST: How to Pick the Right Price for Your Antique Booth Items

More vintage booth pricing tips:

“Always check comps! I recently sold a cookie jar for $35 that was worth like $150” Brandy M.

“Whatever you think the price should be, tack on 10% to cover rent and fees.” Monica B.

“I’m focusing on the themes of my booths, finding quality items people just have to have, and since I have plenty of inventory, I’m upping my profit margin. So, in the past, I thought I’d asked myself if I could sell an item for at least 3 times what I’m paying. Now that I feel comfortable with my inventory,  I’m raising that to at least 5 times or it has to be a very quick selling item to go as low as 3.” Rachael P.

“The longer something sits in your booth not selling, the more money you are losing….so I say price to sell! I always say things are worth what someone is willing to pay. You could wait years for that one person who will pay big bucks!”  Terri B.

 

Help With Managing the Finances of Your Antique Booth Business

It’s also super important to keep the rest of your numbers in mind: your rent, expenses, and the cost of your inventory.  And oh yeah–your paycheck!

If your prices aren’t high enough to cover all of this money going out, your booth won’t make it long-term. 

This is another area where I consistently see antique booth owners struggle. Knowing your business numbers may not be the “fun” part of your business, but it’s really the key to understanding if you are succeeding as a seller or not.

How other vintage booth owners manage their business numbers:

“In my old mall I was offered the opportunity to work the register one day a month for $100 off my rent, and that also got me a key to come and go anytime I wanted to work on my booth. Having a service-minded attitude is so appreciated by mall owners and can open up lots of doors of opportunities!” Melanie A.

“Break it (your monthly check) up in thirds. 1/3 rent, 1/3 new merchandise, 1/3 profit.” Carin M.

“Storage is the worst money that you can spend.” Kristen A.

“If you aren’t keeping track of how much you spend on inventory and expenses each month, you have no idea how much profit you actually make. Knowing your basic numbers is the key gauging your success.”  Melanie A. 

“I get a check every 2 weeks, and I pay myself about 25-30% of what my net sales are for that 2 week period.” Michelle P.

Helpful Tips for Your Mindset and Working With Mall Owners

The way you think about your booth business matters! If you treat it like a hobby, you will probably get hobby-level results. If you treat it like a business though, then you are set up to really start seeing some regular profit.

Be professional in your booth business! Treat other vendors and the mall owners with respect. Don’t engage in the gossip and backbiting that can sometimes go on in these places, but instead be a positive part of the mall team. 

More great tips on how to think like a business owner and have the right mindset:

“Sales will ebb and flow and you have to learn to roll with the slowdown and take advantage of the good times!” Carla with Recreate Vintage Home

“Try to understand what you can control and what you can’t control. Focus on improving those things within your control.” Anna with SkyLark House

“Buy low or find free, rearrange and restock often, be consistent on social platforms, and have fun don’t stress. Oh and don’t fall in love with everything, you can’t keep it all.” Rock City UPcycled Interiors

“Not everyone is happy for your milestones. (I was able to expand my booth space and some other vendors didn’t like that it wasn’t them) On the other side, I have met the best people doing this! The ones that are rooting for you because we are all doing the same thing. These people are my kind of people.” Tami B.

“You get out of it what you put into it! In other words, if you constantly work it, move things around, add new items constantly, you are going to make money. If you go in once a month and stack things in there any old way and don’t stage it, you’re not going to make much money.” Peggy A.

“Read all correspondence from management. If they are taking the time to communicate with you, the very least you can do is make sure you are informed. If they are offering opportunities for you to get involved and increase sales, then step in when you can and be a part of it! No one wants to see their hard work go to waste. When owners/managers see you working hard, they want to help you.” Danielle with The Turquoise Iris Journal

I hope at least one of these tips from veteran antique booth sellers has resonated with you and your business! There is so much opportunity in vintage reselling, and with the right plan you can succeed in your antique booth business.

Please pass this along to all your booth-selling friends, and share any other tips you have down in the comments 🙂