Monday Morning Flea Market Re-cap

Well, Saturday was an interesting day, full of learning experiences at the flea market.

We pulled up, unloaded, set up, and waited for customers.  We had only been seated a few minutes when a car drove up and a couple said we were in their "reserved" spot.  Oy.  We had misunderstood the system.  We thought reserved spots had to be filled by 7, or they were available.  Turns out it was 9.  (We had arrived just a few minutes after 7.)

So, we reloaded, and moved to a new spot.  After confirming that it was not a reserved area, we unloaded and set up again.  We met one neighbor, who said that her husband was coming with all of his OLD clocks, and that they would draw attention down our aisle, and hopefully to our tables as well.  Nice.

An unfriendly neighbor came on the other side of us, and set up all of his car model kits, old cars, trains, and train paraphernalia.  He made $300+ in a short time, and with heart-attack-inducing speed he packed up everything before the gentleman came around to collect the $12 rent payments.  The guy even spoke his intention aloud.  Nice huh?  Way to make an honest day's wage.  NOT.

My hubby and daughter walked around for a bit.  I made a sale.

When they came back, I walked around for a bit, and my hubby made a sale.

They took another walk a while later, and I made another sale.

An interesting pattern, right?

After rent, we came away with $41.  And that's great.  Okay... it's alright.  I'm glad we got rid of some big items. But, I'm sad about the fact that not one homeschool book was even TOUCHED... well, except by a mom who said, "Oh, I used to use some of these."  But, she had already raised her kids and wasn't buying school books.  I think I'm going to have to head to ebay to sell these!

My observations:

** Both of our "neighbors" had people that had been looking for them... hoping they'd show up with beloved favorites -- in this case, clocks and trains.  Shoppers come looking for very specific items.  Of course, I know this to be true, since I am usually the girl looking for blue Ball jars!

** When I SHOP at the flea market, I walk down the center of the aisle between rows of tables.  I know what I'm looking for.  I don't need to swing into every table area to look closely most of the time.  I often wonder if the sellers think, "how can she even see what I'm selling?"  Well, today, I was a seller, and YES, that's exactly what seller's think!  LOL.  I was wishing people would come a little closer instead of surveying from afar.  On the other hand, I totally got it.  Exasperating nonetheless!

** On this particular day, I noticed several women wearing heals of various heights -- which surprised me.  Just not the type of footwear I would choose for walking around on blacktop all day.  Whatever.

** And the men?  They were wearing every manner of cross-body style bag -- like old newspaper delivery bags, for example.  We also noticed a man in a fishing vest -- pockets all around and belted to his person.  That guy was ready for some bargain-hunting!

Will we do it again?

Sure.  Probably not next week, but perhaps on a cooler fall day.  We had a gorgeous day, but by 2:00, stick a fork in us.  We were DONE!

Sad fact:
I got my first sunburn of the season.  In AUGUST.  How sad is that?

Another sad fact:
I took not one picture.  [Wish I had a picture of our faces when that couple showed up & said we were in their reserved spot!  LOL]