Drawing people to your booth...

Pauline has a great point about identifying yourself. If the show doesn't provide tags, it doesn't take much to pull one together. I make sure the help have nametags too, with some kind of official sounding title. And I identify the business and its location. :-) Jody, your experience makes me fume. I would boycott that dealer from now on. And I totally agree about the cell phone thing. Rude rude rude. You all have good points - aggressive sellers - I back away.
 
This situation doesn't happen often, but there are a few dealers who put up religious or political slogans in their booths. If I disagree with the slogan, I probably won't shop there.
 
I've done a few vintage shows, as well as antique shows, antique auto shows, 30 years of Palmer/Wirfs 3x yearly Expos, and -- long ago -- flea markets. I've set up with fresh stock, nearly marked, attractively displayed and well lit, jewelry in lighted and locked rental showcases, and made every effort to make buying a good experience for the customer. BUT I have also been at shows where I was losing my shirt to the tune of thousands of dollars, and the only way to turn a profit was to leave the booth and 'buy my way out'.
 
In fact, I once packed up and left a show on the FIRST of the THREE days. I'd trucked some 200 miles to the Seattle area, set up in tents at a fairgrounds with the entire contents of a rural museum....Victorian clothing that I'd meticulously cleaned, washed, starched, and ironed -- as well as a huge stock of elaborate hats, gloves, beaded bags, lingerie, flapper dresses, parasols, etc. etc.
Before the show opened, the promoters and local Horseless Carriage Club played dress-up with the clothes, having a hilarious time and taking Polaroids of each outfit. When the show at LAST opened, the first arrival was a bus from the local Asylum....I'm not kidding....dropping off patients and sending them into the show with a jumbo Coke in one hand and a cone of cotton candy in the other. I later heard from those who stayed that the show went downhill from there.
 
Maryalice, you win for worst! I set up once in a horse barn, but it was nothing to what you describe. We did set a no photos rule, though after watching similar shenanigans in other booths.

Jen has a point about the phone issue - I think the key to using the phone in a booth is the same as in a store . Acknowledge the customer with a cheery "I'll be right with you" and then get off the phone as fast as possible.

I agree a sign with the business name is a very good idea. And generally including the location is a good. Although that can backfire. If you live in a vacation destination area, you may hear more about people's vacations there than you want. Or can bear. Yes, this is the voice of experience.

Hollis
 
I do have issues with food and drink near the merch. The Gadsden sale has a coffee place in the venue with NO chairs or tables so people have to walk around with coffee or go outside. All it takes is one mishap and something uncleanable gets destroyed... Kenn was with me on Sunday so we could spell each other off for lunch and not eat in front of customers, but I do realize that sometimes there isn't an alternative (however I would try to avoid knockwurst!)
 
On the issue of price tags...just to play devil's advocate a little bit and get your input...

I set up around town at various local events - glorified flea markets, art shows, celebrations, etc. I set up a cute booth and usually have good traffic. I generally make sales but, because these aren't vinage only shows, the sales are very rarely to other dealers rather just to people who like to wear vintage and/or think an item is cute. I am always willing to negotiate pricing but I find that if I have a price marked, people look at the tag and if they think it is too high, they walk away without saying a word. Somehow that price tag gives them the "set in stone" idea and I never get a chance to make a sale. When they ask, I get a chance to open some dialogue with them and can frequently sell the item plus a few more. I also do not like to be pushy or overly chatty (agree with Jonathan...please shut up) so the question of "how much is this" gets the conversation going without me having to be overbearing.

Any thoughts on how to overcome? I guess I see here that dealers want pricing but my experience says the general public doesn't. I dont want to put up a sign that says "I Negotiate" because, although I will, I also don't want it to get out of control. Is the answer price tags for vintage specific shows and no price tags for general events? This is a topic I ponder frequently so any good ideas or thoughts?
 
Even when shopping for myself, if I don't see a price tag, I don't even ask what the price is. Too many dealers 'size me up' and decide what they think I can pay. I do know an antique dealer who prices everything, but if a customer picks it up, after they tell them they'd be happy to help them, they mention if can do better on the price.

Hollis
 
I price everything in my booth at the antique co-op, but if I'm on duty and someone picks up an item and seems to be mulling it over, I'll just walk over and say, "If you would like to try that on, we have a place upstairs. Oh, and I can do better on that price if you're interested."

People will generally NOT ask about a price on something (anything--clothing, collectibles, furniture, etc.) if it's not marked, unless it is something extremely unusual or an example of something they genuinely collect and arespecifically looking for.

Of course, this situation is different from a short-term, one-time show, but I think people are pretty much the same regardless.
 
Just back from a trip to Vienna (no vintage finds this time though...). I read through a part of this forum at my friend's place and talked about this too with her. She likes flea markets and antique fairs too, and we had a strange experience at a vintage shop that played into this too.

My top pet peeves for any kind of vintage shop, fair, flea markets etc. definitely are: no marked prices, un-sorted racks (my best experience yet: a vintage shop that sorted it's stuff by kind - dresses, skirts, underwear, suits etc., and among that, the racks had dividers that marked the decades) - and sellers' private items left in the "public" space, and of course that's one thing I pick up (because it's usually the best in the whole place!) and then the seller comes running, apologising, saying "I only left it there to iron it" (or whatever other reason). Honestly! If you have your own finds at your shop/stall, put them away, put them in your private place or wherever shoppers can't see them...

Karin
 
When I sold vintage jewelry at shows, I NEVER wore stuff I was keeping. OR, in fact, 'collected' jewelry. My immediate thought (were the shoe on the other foot), would be 1 'She's keeping all the good stuff', and 2. 'I'm financing her collection by buying the sloppy seconds'. And my ultimate pet peeve is dealers who don't price their stuff. I've left more than one shop never to return for that reason. Especially at shows, I don't want to spend time dickering, dithering, and playing games....I have other booths to visit.
 
Most of my stock comes from the original owners and I have a few sources at the flea market but I've no experience in the way of shows having only been to one. The prices knocked me over, nice stuff for sure but little profit to be had. I do think that at a show you should expect the professionalism you've all mentioned considering the heavy price tags.

However, at a flea market I'm not bothered so much by the lack of it. If there's no price, I ask. If it's too high, I bargain. I find it's a good way to strike up a rapport too, you never know if you've found a new good source. Some vendors have all kinds of stuff stashed away in their homes - they're borderline hoarders. I'm a chatty Kathy but that's exactly why they set aside items for me only and give be better deals. Sheesh, everyone's in such a rush all the time or on their phones, we've forgotten how to interact with each other.

As far as displays go, my biggest peeve is clutter. I don't want to dig, I like to wear white. I especially hate it when there's a box containing a tangled jewelry mess or linens, postcards etc. marked $2 each which you spend an hour going through only to be told, "Now how did those get in there?". Basically, I just did their work for them. I understand space costs but seeing boxes full of stuff under tables just turns me off. I think it was Barbara who said something about jamming fragile pieces into bags, ugh! They do that at the auction too so I bring my own bags now. My other turn-offs are poor lighting and dirty booths. I know it's only a flea market but still, how about a dusting once in a while?
 
It does occur to me that the shows I used to frequent were MAMMOTH.....Portland Expo is the size of many football fields and has 1200 booths with multiple dealers. And the auto show here used to stretch several miles...filling the Expo buildings, and PIR Race track and the space in between which is many city blocks.
 
Msgrossmyer, I see where you're coming from on the ticket issue but I'm another one that finds that customers will rarely ask for a price - and I find it personally frustrating when I have to enquire about the price of every little thing, especially if the sales person is busy and I have to wait - I'm likely to go to the next stall/shop. It's also hard to avoid that niggling feeling that the seller is making up the prices depending on what they think you will pay or the venue or some such. I used to know a trader who did that and although it's twenty years since I bought her wares I still recall how it made me feel: exploited!

I agree with Hollis and Anne that if you want to offer a customer a different price, it's nice to say that you can do better. It's a good opportunity to chat with customers too.
 
Though I only shop for myself, and am not a dealer when it comes to vintage clothes (the stuff in my etsy shop is just what I once bought for myself but for one reason or another don't want to keep any longer), I too prefer if things are marked with a price - for exactly the reasons that Nicole states. If it's a fair or a flea market, one can always ask if they can do something about the price, especially when buying more than one piece. It's funny, but no marked prices usually also gives me the feeling that prices will be high and possibly above my budget.
My parents and I have a stall at a flea market once a year - just your general, local flea market with a good mix of professional dealers and private sellers like us, where we sell stuff we don't need anymore - household appliances, tableware, non-vintage clothes, books, DVDs, whatever there is. We meticulously price everything the day before. It just makes life so much easier I find. Even though we're usually three or four people at the stand, it sometimes gets so bizzy, with lots of people at the stand (that also means watching out for potential thieves - sadly, every time we hear of something somewhere being stolen, though it has never happened to us) that one wouldn't even have time to think about a price... People ask anyway if something can be done about the price.

Karin
 
I think it is just different in a flea market atmosphere - here anyway (not speaking for anywhere else - only Cleveland, Ohio :). I def. see both sides of the coin - I am doing a more formal show in a few weeks and have nice price tags ready to go but for the stuff I haul to the flea market will probably leave alone as I know how those buyers respond to price tags (like they are hot lava). Weird isn't it? One thing I have found out in last two years of setting up at the local flea markets - it is a entire subculture that I dont think I really truly understand.
 
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