Tiffin Flea Market Tomorrow

We'll be heading out to the Tiffin Flea Market in the wee hours of the morning. Vendors can start setting up at 7am so we want to make sure to be there early. The market opens at 9am and goes on until 4pm.
I am so excited about this one. We "shopped" there last year and it was great! Hoping that tomorrow will be good for setting up. Check back on Sunday for Pics!

How to Display your Items at the Flea Market...

We have been setting up at flea markets for about 2 years now. I thought I would share some ideas for displaying your wares...

*Make sure you have a Canopy! There is nothing worse than sitting in the hot sun all day. It is also a good idea to have side curtains for it just in case it rains or the wind is blowing. We have used our side curtains quite a bit due to the wind. It helps keep stuff from blowing off the tables and gives the customers a nice respite from the wind and sun too.

*Bring plenty of drinks and snacks. You don't want to be spending all of your profits on "fair foods" They are usually expensive. Do make sure you treat yourself to one of your favorites though!)

*Bring tablecloths to help hide your empty boxes under the tables. This also makes your tables look nice and clean. Make sure your tablecloths match though otherwise it will look cluttered. If you must have a different colored cloth, use it to highlight a certain table. Perhaps the one with your most prized treasures, or your dollar table. That way you can let customers know where the good stuff is or where the bargains are.

*Use small boxes as displays to bring new height to your display. I place them right on top of the tablecloth and then cover them with a small piece of fabric so they are hidden. This helps highlight special items.

*Display some of your items the way you would display them in your home. This helps the customer see what it could look like in theirs. We usually have antique wooden crates for sale and use them to display on. I put things that look nice on them. These are the items that usually sell first. When an item sells from my crate display, I replace it with another item from the tables. Sometimes, just playing around with your items can bring sales. I was at a flea market one time and had a 5 gallon bucket of glass insulators (you know the ones they used on telephone poles way back when. I had a price on the bucket, but nobody had looked at it all day. When I started pulling them out of the bucket to display a few, a couple came up and bought the whole bucket! I didn't even get the chance to put them on display!

*Have you noticed all of the pet owners bringing their dogs with them on a leash? Make sure you cater to the pets. I swear, a dog can sniff out a bowl of water from 3 booths down. Once the dog starts drinking, the customer doesn't have anything to do but check out the tables in front of them. I don't however recommend putting the doggie drinking station right under a table full of glassware.

*Bring a friend with you to help with set up and sales. It's so nice to have the extra set of hands to get things done quickly. It's also great because you can take turns shopping around and of course give each other potty breaks!)

*Make sure all items are clean! Nothing is more disgusting than picking up an item and when you put it down your hands are dirty or worse yet sticky!

*Put a price on all items. Even when you place a sign on a table stating prices, customers will still ask, "How much is this?"

*Greet each and every customer that walks into your booth. You don't need to talk their ears off, just say a friendly, "Hello, How are you? If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

*Don't be pushy.

*If a customer picks up an item, don't rush to tell them you'll take less for it. The thrill of being a shopper is haggling the price.

I hope these tips help you at your upcoming shows. Be sure to follow my blog to see more great sales tips, buying tips, and set up tips.

Mansfield Flea Market Report

We went to the Mansfield Flea Market at the Richland Co. Fairgrounds in Ontario OH this past weekend. It wasn't as big as it used to be. It was actually really disappointing. As vendors, we had to pay $25 per space. The spaces are only 10 feet wide. So, we needed two to fit all of our wares there. So, needless to say, we spent $50 to set up.

I'll tell ya, I have never been so scared that I might not make
back our vendor space fee.


The flea market was extremely slow. Other vendors said they hadn't seen it this slow before. I wouldn't know because I haven't shopped this flea market in several years. It used to be really big! They used to have several building packed full of vendors and the roads around the fairgrounds would be packed as well. It would take several hours to see all of the treasures there. Not any more. We counted vendors outside.... ONLY 25! I couldn't believe it. This is nothing like they told me over the phone when I called. The lady I spoke with said there would be approx. 250 vendors and about 2500-2800 shoppers over the weekend. I would be surprised if we even had 500 shoppers during the weekend!
On the other hand, the shoppers that did come, didn't try to haggle prices. They just kept paying the price we had on our stuff. That's the first time that has happened. Only one customer asked me to come down on a price! Thank goodness those that came were spending a little money there. We were able to make our vendor space money back and bring home about $150.
Anyways, I took some pics to share. I did see some really neat items there.

Flea Market and Antique Show, Richland County Fairgrounds, Mansfield Ohio June 27-28th

Flea Market and Antique Show
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Flea Market and Antique Show. Admission $1.00, kids 11 & under FREE.

We'll be at the Richland County Fairgrounds this weekend selling our wares. We have lots of antique glassware. Be sure to visit us if you are making birdhouses out of tea pots, bottle trees or garden totems!

We also have lots of Vintage TOYS! Girder and Panel Sets, SkyRail, American Skyline, HO Scale Trains, and much more!

I will also have a table featuring my creations from my daffknee.etsy.com shop. Where you can find all sorts of handmade handbags and purses, vintage sewing patterns, weather predicting bugs and Ribbon and Thread Organizers.

Tiffin Flea Market in Tiffin Ohio

We'll be heading to the Tiffin Flea Market this weekend. We went there as shoppers last summer and it was one of the best flea markets we have been to. We made about 4 trips back to our van to load up our goodies that we bought! Held each third weekend of the month during the season, it is a two day flea market with approximately 10,000 visitors in a weekend! You don't want to miss this flea market!

Art + Yard Sale = YART on Etsy!!

Visit my Etsy Shop to View my YART Sale Items....

Lots of Vintage Sewing Patterns, Weather Predicting Bugs and Tupperware Creations!

Lots of Etsy sellers are participating. When you go to Etsy make sure to use the search term: YART

Delaware Flea Market Delaware County Fairgrounds, OH

We'll be setting up our booth again at the Delaware Flea Market at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Delaware Ohio this Sunday. Flea Market starts at 5am and runs until 1pm, but most sellers seem to pack up around 11am. There will be all kinds of "junk" there to find!
Will post pics tomorrow after I get home.