Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Antique Store Wisdom: Finding the Best Antique Store

[All photos are of my booth at the Southern Crossing Antique Mall. It's a single tall bookshelf near the exit.]

It's not always easy to find the right Antique Store to sell your valuable antiques. How do you know which antique store is the best for selling your wares? How do I find the best Antique Store? Here are some key factors you need to look at:

1. Great Location and Ample Traffic

Buy a booth at a store that receives plenty of foot traffic. The right store is in an excellent location and people come in droves to shop there every weekend. The store should be incredibly busy with eager customers on peak shopping days. Check out the store you're considering on the weekend and busy days, you want to see long lines at the cash register!


2. Rent You Can Justify 

You have to make sure you have more than enough to sell to make up for the rent. Don't pay too much for rent. If there are no stores with reasonable rent in your area, you can always sell antiques online or at fairs.


3. Friendly and Communicative Store Owners

The best Antique Store owners are passionate about what they do. They compliment your merchandise and give you advice on how to stage and sell it. They're real antique lovers that want to see you be successful. I knew I picked the right place when the owner said, "Welcome to the family," after I first set up my booth. (Aw!)


4. A Store that Stays Fresh  

You want a store where vendors change frequently and merchandise in each booth is frequently rearranged. This keeps customers coming back for more (and scoping out your booth for new goodies, too).


5. Great Location: Choose a Place You can Visit  

You'll need to stop by your antique store booth at least once a week to fluff your merchandise, check on sales, and add more to your shelves. Choose a shop that's conveniently located near your home or work. If it's too far out of way, it'll be hard to force yourself to get the store and get to work on making sales!

 

It's tricky to find the perfect antique store. Take your time and find the one where you'll be successful, it's worth waiting to find the right spot for you and your precious wares.

Past Antique Store Wisdom Posts:

[2/02/2011] Don't Underprice Your Items
[2/10/2011] Should You Rent a Booth at the Antique Store?
[2/16/2011] Stage Your Booth Like a Pro and Increase Sales 
[3/03/2011] The Answers to Your Antique Store Booth Questions
[5/03/2011] The Four Month Update


Got Questions? Advice? Please share them in the comments.

Edit: I'm sorry if some of your comments are deleted. Some comments were lost as a result of  a Blogger glitch!
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15 comments:

  1. Thanks for the info, Van! Your photos are excellent, as always and do a great job of helping to tell your story.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely stuff, Van - you inspire me in so many ways - mainly of how to do all of this with such heart and style. Makes me want to open a booth (in all my spare time)!

    ReplyDelete
  3. this is super awesome info sweetie! thanks for sharing!!!

    xo,
    cb

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fantastic posting and advice! Love your photos too!

    Before I found just the "right" antique mall, I did check out other places...and am still so pleased with the place I am at - it is everything on your list too.

    I just created a separate blog for my booth if you want to peak:
    http://www.mybooth96.blogspot.com/

    My booth is actually CHEAPER than my ebay store fees...so much so, that I pulled most of my merchandise offline and took it into my booth, where it has been selling well.

    Thanks again for the fab, informative posting! :)

    -pamela

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the new pictures on your booth, so many cute stuff!!

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  6. What's a reasonable price for a booth?

    I know no places around here that rent out booths, but would love to start a store of my own - do not know where to begin, wish I did.

    :(

    Really wish I did. It's something I'd love to do. It's already something I sleep, eat & breath. I'm passionate about it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey Van - I have a question -

    Do you still have the ET & Me bag in your shop? How much are you charging? I imagine it's gone by now, but it doesn't hurt to ask!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sir Thrift a Lot: I do still have the bag, last time I checked. I believe I have it priced for $15 :)

    I pay $37 to rent my space, I think a "fair" price for rent is very subjective. Anything more than $40 or so for a very small space would be too much for me...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nicole/CB/Brian: Thank for the kind words!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Pamela: Thank you for continuing to share your booth and experiences with us!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Before Google went all ballistic, I had asked a couple questions...

    How much rent do you pay?
    How much commission do they take?

    I would love to open a shop, but I don't have enough items to keep up, so I would love to open a consignment/antique shop where you rent out booths. There is one place I shop at in Windsor, Ontario they charge $80 for the smallest booth (which is pretty big) & 20% if I remember correctly.

    Do shops like this normally do well? If I were to open it, I'd open it in Kensington Market - an area well known in the city for vintage items.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey Van...just read this and I have one more thing to add...does the shop/mall advertise? When and where? Some don't do much promotion of their establishments, so you want someone who is putting ads in the local newspapers as well as the regional antique & auction newspapers/guides and other publications that may be in the area.

    For some of us...without year round nice weather, spring, summer & fall are prime antique-hunting times for folks and local/regional publications as well as those local street fairs and such bring in people.

    ReplyDelete
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I love reading your comments. Thank you for adding to the discussion! I always reply to any and all questions.

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