Flea Market Suckage

[Apathy]

People tend to have no idea what goes into making things like that. They think it's cheap and easy for the artist, and are utterly befuddled when it's more than $3.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

To the untrained eye, handmade items like that don't look much different from $3 Chinese made knockoffs you can find at Wal-Mart. It seems like not many can understand the worksmanship difference and just assmume that since it looks like something they've seen for cheap, they must be cheap.

[phoenix_rising]

Oh, my first few posts were about this. Flea markets are the worst places at which to sell things. We dealt in wholesale and so frequently, our items (stupid little toys or figurines that people just loved around that area) were 25 cents, 50 cents, or a dollar. People would bring their children, and when they would come through, I would see that the mom had bags of stuff and the children had nothing, but when the kid requested a 25 cent stupid toy, they got denied. I always just rolled my eyes and considered giving it to them anyway. Parents are selfish.
Not to mention once there was a vitamin bottle of something that on shelves at WM is probably $3... it was a dollar with us, and so some lady didn't want it because she thought it was only 50 cents. What's another 50 cents? This flea market was huge, so why wouldn't you plan to come once in a while and just look? But no... some of the same people were there every week.

[phoenix_rising]

Oh, yeah, and the place of purely handmade items, which is getting great publicity! is called Etsy.

Just type in etsy.com. It's easy and there's amazing items on there.

[RetailWorkhorse]

I make jewelry. Bracelets and necklaces (I need to get some findings and more hematite beads for a necklace for my brother). But I give those as gifts because I don't make them often. Not many people know I actually can make them.

A girl came into the Fine Chinese Goods Store and was talking to me about how she wanted to break into the business. I suggested the town at the bottom of the mountain (my hometown) because there are artisan jewelers there that would be happy to get a new artist in. She said she'd bring in some necklaces for me to preview before closing but I haven't seen her since.

It's like my artwork. I wouldn't dream of selling any of it for a million years. Yet I've already been invited into Artist's Communes for it (isn't that weird?).

Not all Flea Markets are bad. There's some that are good and some that are pure crud. There is a permanent Flea Market in my town that I wouldn't pay to set up at in a million years. It's a good location and all, but it the environment there is bad for selling.

[tropicsgoddess]

As far as the online thing, my MIL has her son working on a website for her to sell her things. I will post the link of her site once it's complete.

[Shangri-laschild]

Yay! Please do. They sound pretty.

[Sliceanddice]

swap meets not flea markets are good fo inhome (these place expect higher prced wookmanship stuff) and contventions, fairs, and simular places and there is a website called ETSY friends keep telling me to use it.

[Andara Bledin]

1) few understand the value of hand-made. Too many confuse it with home-made.
2) She'd do better at the Farmer's Market if you have one.

Look into crafts fairs, too. My mother and aunt do beadwork, leatherwork, and similar. They sell at crafts fairs, renaissance faires, and powwows, for the most part. Oh, and biker shows are good, too. They appreciate good craftsmanship.

Also, if you're planning to sell your hand-crafted items, it is a seriously good idea to at least have a business name of some sort. It will give you an air of legitimacy and help to discourage haggling. You'll still get hagglers, but not quite so many.

I'll have to share this post with her, since the internet is just an on-line flea market.

Not really. The internet has just about every single type of buying experience you could find somewhere.

^-.-^