How to maximise your profit selling at market

Are you new to the business and ever wondered how to make the most profit when you’re reselling at an antique fair or market? Join me in this week’s blog as I reveal five expert tips I’ve researched to maximise your profits when you’re reselling at an antique fair or market!

The common perception amongst the public, in other words your customers, is that reselling at markets is a lucrative business, but many dealers I know personally struggle to make what I’d call a ‘decent’ profit in the context of the time and effort they actually put into selling at the market.

Think about it?

When I’m out buying, I have many conversations with dealers and when I ask how they’ve got on, they often tell me they’ve had a good day and turned over 120 pounds worth of stock - or thereabouts! So, I nod, congratulate them and move on to the next stall with a friendly smile and a wave. Now, I’m not being disingenuous when I congratulate them. I’m genuinely pleased they are happy with their day’s takings. However, while 120 pounds or so may sound like a good return for a couple of hours work, it doesn’t reflect the full financial picture, does it? And while I think this may be a controversial statement, sometimes I do think these dealers are blinding themselves to a harsh financial truth!

And what do I mean by that?

Well, assuming they’ve had to purchase the stock they’re selling and they didn’t get it for free, once you take into account the purchase price for the items they’ve sold, their overheads, the general expenses they’ve incurred on the day, the actual amount of time they’ve spent preparing for the market and their tax responsibilities, it reduces their hourly labour rate to, I don’t know, a pound or two an hour at most? Now, once you get to that level of financial return, you’re working for way less than the minimum wage, which is unsustainable if you’re trying to develop a viable full-time business.

The bottom line is, you’re effectively running a ‘hobby business’ and for some dealers I know, to be fair, that’s the object of the exercise.

For them, the priority is to cover their costs, generate a turnover with a small profit so they can keep replacing stock they sell and enjoy the social element of what is effectively an enjoyable day out amongst a like-minded community. And I applaud them for that approach, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that if that’s your goal and you’re happy with that outcome.

But that approach isn’t going to deliver the kind of profits you need to run a successful full-time reseller business.

At the very least you not only need to cover the full costs of running your business but you also need to finance your personal financial commitments and outgoings, including paying your bills and feeding yourself and your family if you’ve got one. And trust me, there’s only one way to do that, by maximising the profit you make on your sales.

So why do I need to maximise my profit I hear you asking yourself?

Well, because there’s a significant difference between ‘just making a profit’ and making a healthy working profit that has to cover …

• Your costs

• Your overheads

• And ultimately leave you with that all important wage in your pocket to cover your personal expenses, bills and financial responsibilities!

 But having said all that, the big question is, ‘how do I set about maximising my profit when I sell my antiques?

 Well, there is no doubt that selling antiques and vintage is a complex niche market that requires a specific set of skills and knowledge to succeed.  And fundamental to this, are the five expert tips I’ve been able to research.  But before we start and to simplify it all for the purpose of this blog, I’ll refer to all dealers and anyone who sells at the market as a ‘reseller’ and all the venues, including antique fairs, as the market.  Now, I know there’s a difference between resellers and dealers and that in itself is a hot topic of debate but that’s a whole other blog we could cover later if you want me to? So let me know in the comments below if you want a blog focused on that aspect of the trade.  

So before we look at the five expert tips I’ve researched, there is a fundamental rule 101 that all resellers have to adhere to … or you’ll lose money every time and go home from the fair or market, wondering if it’s all worth it!

Rule 101 is a no brainer, and I make no apologies for emphasising this however obvious it seems.

The biggest challenges all resellers face, regardless of how experienced you are, is pricing your items correctly when you go to market. If you price your stock too high, you'll scare off potential buyers, but if you price too low, you'll lose out on those all-important profits. It’s ‘the’ classic catch 22, it’s getting caught between a rock and a hard place, it’s shooting yourself in the foot! Make no mistake, however you want to describe it, how you price your stock will make or break your day … and your business regardless of anything else you do!

So right from the get go, you need to get your pricing right.

In the heat of the battle, when you’re faced with a potential customer demanding to know the price of an item they’re considering buying, you need to appear confident, knowledgeable and know the price you’re asking and why you’re asking that price. Too often, I’ve been out buying at markets and been confronted with a seller who appears hesitant and unsure of themselves. They don’t know the history of the item, its provenance, cultural significance or intrinsic value beyond its scrap value if it’s a precious metal, watch or piece of jewellery. In short, they don’t know the resale value of their item.

As a dealer out sourcing stock, this provides me with the opportunity to shoot a low offer at them to see if they take the bait, especially if I’m waving cash in front of them.

And you might think that’s harsh.

But always remember, as the ‘buyer’, I’m not there to prop up their business or guarantee them a profit. As a ‘dealer’ they should know the value of the stock they’re selling. And for the record, I don’t apply this rule to the public selling personal possessions at a car boot or garage sale. I find as a rule, prices are rock bottom at these types of sales, so as long as they’re not asking silly money, I always pay the asking price, no questions asked. Therefore, in the context of this video, I’m exclusively talking about buying off professional resellers at the market. So don’t be too harsh on me in the comments!

In my experience, when dealing with a reseller who is unsure of the value of their stock, the cash strategy works well and they often accept my offer just to make a sale or even worse in my opinion, accept my offer out of fear of simply losing a sale! And we’ll come on to exactly that point later in the video! Either way, as a reseller, you really don’t want to find yourself in this situation and you need to understand this is a classic example of the golden rule, ‘knowledge is power’!

So, metaphorically speaking, if you’re that seller on the other side of the table when I turn up, make sure you know the asking price of all your stock and most importantly, your ‘bottom line’ when entering into the cut and thrust of a negotiation. And by ‘bottom line’, I mean the discount you can offer in a negotiation that ensures you still make a gross profit on the sale that covers your initial expenditure, overheads, expenses and a wage. Make no mistake, you need to know your bottom line on every item on your table but for many people, including myself when I first started out, that’s easier said than done.

If you are a new reseller and find it difficult to remember the prices you are asking then there is an easy solution and it’s one that I used to great success. When I first started selling, I used to ticket all my items with a code that told me what I paid for the item and the lowest offer I would accept. Now, the key to this system is to work out a ticket code that you understand but the customer won’t. You don’t want to give them the upper hand right from the start of the ‘haggle’, so be creative in designing your code and make it as abstract as you can, but not so indecipherable that you can’t understand it! That way, you’re armed with all the pricing information you need to make that all important decision as to whether you accept an offer or even make that sale or walk away!

Another challenge we’ll discuss later in the video is your ‘competition’ on the day.

And by that, I mean, markets will be crowded with other resellers all trying to make that elusive profit, which makes it difficult for you to stand out from the crowd. In that respect, there's always the constant worry that compared to your competitors, you have lower-value and less desirable items that simply won't sell. It’s a kind of imposter system, particularly if you’re new to the trade and your confidence is, let’s say, ‘shaky’ in respect of the stock you have for sale. To be honest however, sourcing the right stock is a whole other question - and if you want me to write that blog, let me know in the comments below.

In addition to having confidence in your knowledge, prices and your actual stock, building a customer base can also be tough and present a challenge, especially if you're new to the business, so we’ll cover this in our five expert tips coming up. So, I started this blog by saying that there are solutions to the question, how do I maximise my profit at the market, but what are they? Based on my research, there are five expert tips I’ve found to help you eliminate your doubts, overcome the challenges and maximise the profit you need to run a successful reselling business! So, having outlined the absolute selling basics you need to have in place, what are those top five expert tips I’ve found for maximising profits when reselling at market.

First on my list of expert tips is how to overcome the challenges you face through advanced research.

And by advanced research, I mean the research you need to carry out before you even turn up at the market with your stock! You already need to know before you lay out your stock, what items are in demand, what prices they're selling for, and of course, where to find them. Research helps you identify valuable items and it also helps you create a strategy for your business.

In its most basic form, advance research includes checking out sold prices on auction sites and online platforms, including for example, Etsy, eBay and well-known established auction houses. You can also visit local antique emporiums and pop-up auctions to compare what is being offered for sale, what is actually being sold and for how much. The auctions in particular are the sharp end of the market as they are where many of your competitors source their stock, so it’s vital you are familiar with them and attend whenever you can.

Text books of course are by definition already out of date by the time they’re published and trends nowadays come and go at the speed of light, so I’d advise reading current blogs by well known resellers to familiarise yourself with what is currently hot and trending.

So, there’s no shortcut to research and I’ve only scratched the surface to give you a head start but with the right approach, you can educate yourself and create a business plan that sets you apart from the competition and maximises your profits. If you would like me to write a blog about how to carry out advanced research and writing your business plan, let me know in the comments below.

Second on my list of expert tips I’ve found is all about building relationships with other vendors and customers.

To do this, as we’ve already mentioned, rule 101 is you absolutely have to know the price and bottom line of every item you are selling. There’s no excuse for not knowing your asking price and the intrinsic value of an item but it’s also vital that you build a relationship with the customer to seal the deal!

Why, I hear you asking?

Well, when you build relationships, you can get better prices on items and you can create a loyal customer base that will come back to you time and time again. Make sure your table is well laid out so buyers can make sense of it and just as important, that it looks enticing and draws customers in.

This can be done many ways.

By dressing your table with display stands and props, by laying your tables out in such a way that your stall retains the customers once they have been drawn in and in part by using bright colours for your table cloths specifically to attract attention. All of these methods will catch the customers eye compared to the dull, boring stalls that you’re competing with and add a perceived element of credibility and professionalism to your business.

You should also try to look friendly and approachable.

To be fair, for most resellers I know that’s easier said than done, but do your best anyway! Be polite, regardless of how dumb the questions are and always engage in small talk if it will help make a sale. You’ll know through experience when it’s time to cut the conversation short if it’s going nowhere and you have other potential customers to deal with.

Establishing relationships also extends to fellow resellers.

They can be a wealth of knowledge and experience and I’ve always found the majority of resellers to be approachable and up to a point, willing to shore their knowledge if you speak to them with respect and actually listen to what they are telling you. You should also reciprocate this when they come to you asking for a bit of help or advice. In my experience, people don’t generally take the mick when it comes to asking for help, so the way I look at it is, to share and share alike. At the end of the day, if you walk round any market, there’s plenty to go around and I’ve always believed that friendly competition is healthy competition! Feel free to disagree with me in the comments below but keep it constructive!

The third expert tip I’ve found is to leverage social media for both advance and live promotion.

There is no doubt, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last ten years, that social media is the most powerful tool you can use to help reach a wider audience and attract more buyers to your market stall. And by advance promotion, I mean posting on your personal and business social media to advertise the fact you will be selling at a specific market on a specific date. To enhance your advance promotion, super charge your posts with photos of your stock and if you’re feeling confident or brave enough, you can even advertise the prices you are asking. Just make sure you stick to them when the customers turn up or you might have some explaining to do!

Consider using.

• YouTube

• Facebook

• Instagram

• and Tik Tok

And I‘m sure there will be other platforms I haven’t even heard of or are being developed as we speak. By utilising these methods to advertising ahead, you will help reinforce your existing community and build relationships with potential buyers. So don’t underestimate the power of this type of social media marketing! Yes, it takes some time and creative effort but it should be part of your routine sales strategy before you go to any market. 

And what do I mean by live promotion?

Well, on the day of the market, during your down time between customers, you can post pictures or even videos of your stall, your items laid out on the table, share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your activity including an update on your sales and how the day is generally going. It’s fair to say that behind-the-scenes videos are popular with viewers and your community and if nothing else, they’re good for your content creator analytics! However, one word of caution for the live promotion. Some markets don’t allow filming or may insist that you seek permission in advance. So always check with the organisers first. Also, and I have to admit I’ve been guilty of this, I would advise you not to show customer faces, as they may not want to be on camera for various reasons, some of them quite serious. You can get around this by using creative camera angles or by having the camera pointing at yourself rather than the customers. Just try to keep the shots interesting, relevant and engaging. It’s not easy, I have to admit, but you’ll get better with practice – well that’s the theory anyway 

Either way, take the time and make the effort to positively exploit your social media presence to improve your sales and maximise your profit!

It’s a no brainer!

We touched on this earlier so as promised, fourth on my list of five expert tips to maximise profit at the market is knowing when to walk away from a deal.

This is crucial if it looks like you're not anywhere near getting the price you want after a reasonable amount of time spent negotiating. In other words, walk away if the buyer is low balling you, making a cheeky offer or just wasting your time and draining your energy. And trust me, there are plenty of ‘customers’ at a market that fall into that category - and there are no exceptions to this rule. Be polite but firm when letting the customer know your best price and don’t wilt under pressure if they keep pushing. Simply state the lowest price you are prepared to accept and leave them to think it over. At the end of the day, you are free to deal with whoever you choose to and walking away from a rude, disrespectful or downright obnoxious customer is entirely your prerogative. Just keep your manner polite and your behaviour and language professional. 

So, to maximise your profit at market, the expert advice is to walk away rather than settle for a loss. Because don’t forget, you’ve got other sales outlets such as auctions and online platforms where you may be able to maximise the return on your item compared to selling face to face at a market when the pressures on.

And finally, the fifth expert tip I have found is to have a clear understanding of the market you are selling at and what the typical customer is looking for.

When you know your market, you can tailor your inventory and your pricing to meet their needs. You can do this by researching the market online or by visiting it before you turn up to sell. By doing this you can get the vibe.

• Is it a traditional antique market?

• Does it focus on mid-century?

• Or Architectural salvage?

• Or even bric-a-brac?

Of course, it could be a general market where everything is sold but it’s always worth sussing it out beforehand if you can. I for one, never turn up cold at a market without having either recced it beforehand or done my research. A quick and easy piece of research is to look out for comments, reviews and feedback from both buyers and sellers left on social media platforms. Speak to friends and fellow resellers who have bought or sold at the market already. At the end of the day, it’s no good taking high end antiques to a flea market and equally, it’s no good taking job lots of bric-a-brac to an antiques market. So, understanding the type of market you are selling at is vital for choosing the stock you take and avoiding standing behind your table watching hundreds of customers passing your stall by without a second glance. It’s demoralising and demotivating but it can be easily avoided by advanced research and having a clear understanding of the type of market you are selling at! That way, you maximise the chances you have to make a profit on your sales.

But making a profit is not all about problem solving, complex issues and apparently unsurmountable challenges.

Making a profit should be your driving motivation if you’re looking to run a full-time reseller business - and as we’ve identified, there are solutions to the challenges we’ve identified. By implementing the five expert tips I’ve found, you will increase your profits and take your reselling business to the next level.

Remember, it's all about

• Doing your research

• Building relationships

• Leveraging social media

• Knowing when to walk away

• And understanding your market

So, in this blog, we've covered the top five tips for maximising profits when reselling at markets.

Fully implement these five tips and you will increase your profits and take your business to the next level!

If you have any additional tips for reselling at markets, be sure to share them with our community in the comments below.

See you next time!