Zen and the Art of Flea Markets and Garage Sales

Depending on where you live, a flea market might also be called a swap meet or a car boot sale, but the concept is the same. A bunch of people get together in one place and sell their stuff. If you don't feel like going some place to sell your stuff, you can do it from your yard or garage. Or go to someone else's. :)

McCormick Woods, the neighborhood where I live, has an annual neighborhood garage sale. It used to be supported by the Homeowners Association, but some stuff happened that caused the Homeowners Association to not want to be involved and no longer wants anything to do with it. However, the homeowners themselves still organize the yearly "purging of the houses" every first Saturday in June. There are plenty of individual garage sales throughout the year, but this is the one weekend where everyone who can, does it.

As a buyer at a flea market or garage sale, you're never quite sure what you're going to get. However, everyone likes to find a bargain. My favorite bargain I found growing up was the $1 Intellivision, which lasted several years.

As a seller, there's two basic goals: getting rid of stuff and making money. These goals are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but if you try and make too much money (i.e. charge too much for your stuff), you won't get rid of as much stuff. A good garage sale or flea market experience is really a confluence of the right people showing up at the place where you're selling stuff at the right price.

There's a large chunk of the selling process you can't control, namely people showing up. Oh sure you can put up signs and advertise in the paper, which increases your odds of people showing up, but you can't make them show up. However, you can control what you charge for things, which increases the likelihood of someone actually buying stuff when they do show up. Maximumizing the profit for any given item while making it cheap enough that someone will choose to buy it is an artform.

My wife has a hard time accepting the fact that people aren't going to give you what she thinks something is worth. Our stuff is in generally good condition compared to the junk I've seen over the years--and trust me, I grew up going to garage sales and flea markets nearly every weekend with my mon--but the fact is people that shop at flea market and garage sales are always looking for a deal. The fact that an item is in good condition is certainly a selling point, but it doesn't mean you can charge a premium for it.

As a buyer, it's like a treasure hunt except you're not exactly sure what you're looking for. The emergence of Antiques Roadshow in the US has probably done a lot to foster the idea that you might find a treasure at your local flea market or garage sale. As a seller, I enjoy giving people stuff they need at a good price, and it just seems like it's the right thing to do. I can remember many items I acquired as a kid at a garage sale or flea market eventually making their way back out to a garage sale or flea market to be sold to someone else. It's recycling at its finest.

I miss going to garage sales and flea markets. It's a pity my wife doesn't share my feelings about it,

tags: flea market, garage sale