Today, Sunday, is the first day of the outdoor flea market for 2016 and I am on my way there. It's dark and cold but that won't stop a die hard fleamarketeer like me. I'll bundle up and carry my flashlight and hope that my coins (literally) meet my expectations to find that perfect deal. Yea!!!! Well, an hour later I'm back and disappointed because it was not yet open. Next weekend. But I'm glad for the dry run because there was construction going and that will present delays for all the drivers in that directions. I'm not looking forward to that. @Terry Page @Sheldon Scott an update for you.
Well shame you had a wasted trip Von, but at least now you've done the recce you know now to leave much earlier next week to avoid the delays... I remember the days when I used to get up at 5am to sell on the Boot sales just to make a few bob...and equally spending a lovely sunny afternoon as a buyer just going around looking for bargains...haven't done that in years. Boot sales and flea-markets just aren't what they once were here now, due to freecycle, Ebay et al...so it's rare to get any decent bargains..
The farmer's market in Fort Smith was open yesterday. I wish it was closer so I could go. An old friend makes and sells pottery and baked goods. She posts on facebook, that's how I find out what's going on.
@Holly Saunders, I really enjoy just walking around. I learn so much especially when I see a gathering of men around tools and talking about stuff. They just don't care who is listening when they are not talking about tools. My plan is to set up a booth this year since I'm not working. Last year the set up fee was $5.00 from the year before it was $15.00. A lot of complaints about it and there were less of the smaller vendors like me. I have so many things that I have from my mother and two aunts that I just need to do something. My basement is full and my carriage house is full. I did set up a couple of times last year and barely made my set up fee back. People just want a steal these days and I think they will get it from me this year. I just want to clear out everything that I'm not using.
@Sheldon Scott. There is one farmer that sets up every year and hasn't missed a day that I've been going to the flea market. He not only sells fruits and vegetables but plants and flowers and occasionally a young tree or two. He is very people oriented and shouts out his specials and tells these crazy jokes which I seem to be the only one who gets the punchlines. He doesn't work alone though. I've seen his son and daughter but his son mostly. Very nice young man. There is something about buying fresh from the farm produce. Hmmm.
We have a Farmer's Market here in Huntsville as well, and it should be opening up soon; but it really gets going once the summer crops like squash and tomatoes start coming in. I think there should be a flea market; but the only one that I know of is north of us and just across into Tennessee. I went there once, several years ago; but it is a long drive, and since there is not much that we really need to accumulate, it is not worth us driving up there. However, if there were a closer one, I would probably go anyway, just to see what bargains I could find. At the Farmer's market, they have fresh raw honey, sorghum, and canned goods from the Amish. We don't have Amish here; but when I lived in Missouri, we would see them a lot , driving down the road with their horse and buggy. They were good people. In Idaho, we had Mennonites, which are similar in their faith, although they use modern efficiency, like cars and electricity. They were all hard-working, honest people, and well-respected in the area. They would also sometimes sell home-made baked goods at their businesses. One Mennonite-owned gas station had the very best cinnamon rolls in the whole world, and you had to get there early , or they would be sold out.
We have farmers markets here all the time in the local market towns...local and foreign..French, German etc,,,I don't go to them because they are usually way overpriced here...and tbh we can get almost everything they sell locally anyway... However I live in a rural community with farms all around and many of them have their own farm shops, and that's where I buy most of my fresh organic ingredients, meat, eggs, veggies etc, straight from the farm.
@Von Jones I don't know if you're aware, but you can sell vintage and antique items on Etsy, as well as handcrafted goods. I see some fellow Etsy sellers/Tweeters with high prices on their goods, and they seem to be making a living at it. It might be worth looking into, especially if you don't want to have to trek your stuff out to a site like that one. I enjoy looking around in antique shops and flea markets, but I don't have much money to buy things these days, and I need to get rid of a lot of what I have here, so I don't need to be buying more.
@Diane Lane I have thought so much about selling online it's pathetic. I'm sure Johnny is probably thinking, "Is she or isn't she?". I think that I have had my bit with selling online when I did Ebay. I really enjoyed last year at the flea market. There was a senior lady who had been selling at the flea market for years. She stopped me one day and asked, "Are you a Kelly?" Kelly is my mother's maiden. She had lots of people visit her booth myself included. I would walk away feeling "I'd like to do this some day too." Though not to the extent that she did. She had a big enclosed trailer that her husband would pull in and help her set up. I haven't seen her though in two years. People come and go, don't they?
What a day you had! Well like our flea market locally called Swap Meet and Marketplace. It's at our stadium. http://alohastadiumswapmeet.net/content/home.aspx is their url. from http://www.2016carreleasedate.com/tag/oahu-swap-meets-aloha-hawaii from http://www.tripomatic.com/United-States/Hawaii/Honolulu/Aloha-Stadium-Swap-Meet/ from http://2016carreleasedate.com/tag/oahu-swap-meets-aloha-hawaii Physical address of the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet & Marketplace : 99-500 Salt Lake Blvd. Aiea, HI 96818. Happy hunting for bargains!
@Krissttina Isobe. The set up in these photos is much more appealing to the eye than the flea market I go to. I would be bent broke or crying because I couldn't buy everything I wanted.
@Von Jones ...oooh you'd be heartbroken if you came to our markets in Spain...they are absolutely full of stuff....just to give you an idea of the amount of stalls there are...the car parking is enough for 10,000 cars... and it gets full every weekend....if I can find some photos I will show you...if not I'll take some when I go out again in June...
Yes they do, @Von Jones, hopefully she's o.k., just taking a break. I'm too broke right now to go shopping, because like Von, I'd be crying about what I couldn't buy. I need to get rid of things before I buy anything else anyway. When I do have money, I enjoy perusing places like those pictures, they can be fun and interesting, and I love finding great deals.