Rogers Flea Market

Once in a while I actually have to get out and work for a living. The overwhelming amount of time that I spend "buying" stuff to sale has to be tempered with the need to obtain new cash so that I can continue to get "fixes". Yeah, I'm a hopeless "JUNKIE". I have spent time in the gutters going through trash, I have spent time sneaking into garages in the hopes of finding unknown treasures and yes, I would even sale the family pet "Gus" so that I could get more stuff.

No, I really wouldn't sell Gus, but I do have it pretty bad. So it was off to the flea market. Rogers, can be described using many adjectives: dusty, hot, huge, fun, great, crowded, tiring, impossible, fantastic, too early, too late, cheap and unusual. It is all of these and many more. My day at Rogers actually started two days before when I reserved a grassy spot along a gravel road. When I called I actually got one of the few remaining selling spots available for the day, number 2032. Well over 2,000 vendors were set up on a beautiful sunny Good Friday and the number of buyers, phenomenal. I estimated the crowd at around 60,000.

So, how did I do? Fair. The dealers that usually comprise around 70% of my sales were as always, very good. The general public sales seemed to be weak. It wasn't so much that they were cheap or that they were not finding that special item to add to their collection, it was that they weren't looking at all. I spent a large portion of the afternoon watching people just walk by. It happens like this sometimes. Too hot, too bored and just not ready to buy. When this happens I just sit back relax and watch.

If you have never tried selling at a flea market you should. You will be amazed at not only the people, but what sales and for how much. I was lucky on this day it was sunny, warm and not too hot. Overall, a plain great experience.

So give it a try. The recipe:

Throw a few tables into the back of the mini-van

Take a little bit of change

Toss some junk (I mean antiques) into the van

Get there early

Sell it as fast as you can.

Good luck!