Monday Rambles

Let's start out with the Chiquito of the Month for August.

Look at that face!  Awwwwwww............

Last week, I was working at the booth when this young hipster couple was browsing the Endcap Booth.  I was tidying the Book Booth at the time.  She was randomly picking up things and carrying on about them.  "Look at this.  It's perfect Granny Chic!"  "OOOOO!  I love this!"  "I just love this corroded metal."  When the guy with her asked if she was going to by something, she looked at him and said:  "Oh No.  I wouldn't buy anything here."

I had to wait two hours for Keith to get off work and get the bail money together.  I'm convinced I can get the assault charges dropped once the judge hears the whole story.

Okay, so I made that last part up, but there has got to be a parallel world where Parallel Eddie gets away with it.  Sigh.  She really did say that.  I swear.

Also, "Granny Chic"?

The next day, we were dropping off a load of larger smalls right before closing time.  Keith takes Mazda to work during the week, so midweek loads go over in the evening at closing time.  I park the carts by the booth and then go in the next day to put everything out.  Timing is always tight when we do this.  Peddlers Mall don't play when it comes to closing time.

So I'm rushing in with a cart that has two large framed pictures of Elvis, a picture of John Paul II, a picture of Paul VI, and an awesome reproduction of a papal proclamation for the early 1800's.  All of the sudden another vendor gets in front of my cart, actually sticks her head in, and starts rifling through the pictures.  The proclamation catches her eye.  She points at it and the following dialogue ensues.

HER:  What is that?  What does it say?
ME:  It's a papal proclamation.
HER: What?
ME:  A papal proclamation.
HER: What?
ME:  The Catholic guy.  The Pope.
HER: Oh.  What's it about?
ME: A religious order.
HER: What?
ME: A religious order.
HER: What?
ME:  NUNS!
HER: Oh!

Her head is still in the cart and she's still going through the pictures.  I am trying to hurry, but am at a total loss how to deal with her besides running her over with the cart.  She finds the picture of Paul VI.

HER:  Who's that?
ME:  It's a Pope.
HER: Oh.  Look!  Elvis!

With that, I finally wrest the cart away from her and stash it in my booth.  By this time they are turning the lights out.

The next day, I'm back to put everything out.  A guy comes in and starts going through the comics.  He asks me if I have any comics that have "iconical movies in them."  That's his word. Iconical.  He finds a Predator comic, but is really confused because Ah-nold isn't on the cover.  I try to explain to him that there have been several Predator comics series that weren't based on the movies. (Also Alien.)  He doesn't quite get it.  I also tell him that it's hard for me to keep track of what sells, so if he checks the boxes, he might find what he's looking for.

A little later, he's got two comics, costing three bucks total.  He asks me if he could just pay two for them.  I don't negotiate prices that low, so I turn him down.  He says:  "Oh, so they're as marked."  Um, yeah.  Right then, I notice his phone.  He's been looking them up on the internet!  I honestly don't care if someone does crap like that, but for goodness' sake, put the dang phone up before you start bartering on prices.  Sheesh!

One of these days, Keith may really have to bring the bail money.  I can understand why so many dealers you run into are nasty cranks.  If it weren't for drinking, I would be too.  And by drinking, I mean coffee and Diet Dr Pepper.

I have a confession to make.  I fell off the moratorium wagon last week.  It was just a little stumble.  I swear.  A sign went up Thursday night announcing a yard sale right down the street from me on Friday.  I like to support the neighbors, even though the sales in our area aren't always that great.

I bought some shot glasses and an interesting religious statue.  I'll hold off on sharing the statue until I look a couple of things up first.  I want to make sure that I am remembering some details correctly.  I've got a few little religious articles I am holding on my desk for a post, so I'll throw them all together one day this week. Or next.  It's cool stuff, I swear.

The glasses with the various liquor names/logos on them will be sold individually.  I figure that there are fans of each kind of booze that will only want that brand.  The glasses with the pool theme will stay together.  I think they'll sell pretty fast.  Pool and poker motifs seem to be good sellers for me.

I also went to an estate sale that was in the neighborhood.  It was too close to ignore and run by one of my favorite companies.  They're courteous, professional, well-organized and always have great prices.  I didn't spend much there.

This tool box was for a Benzo-matic torch.  It's empty, but still has the label on it.  I also got a couple of small things, but I cannot seem to find them right now.  Maybe later.

The big one came a little later.  A few times a year, Barnes and Noble has a clearance sale.  They slap red stickers on a bunch of stuff and put up signs saying that all red sticker stuff is 50% off.  After a few weeks, it goes to 75%.  That really thins the table down.  A few more weeks, and everything is two dollars.

My strategy is always the same.  Case the tables when it's 50%.  Make mental notes and bide my time.  Strike when it gets to 75% off, but stick to items that would be under ten bucks regular retail.  Those are cheaper at 75% off than at 2 bucks.  When it hits two bucks, clear the table.  I know I'm going to miss out on some items, but there's always a nice selection of coffee table books, doo-dads, puzzles, games, and gift sets that are usually pretty pricey.  These will become my stock of new gift ideas for the holidays.

Lots of people don't want to give secondhand for the holidays, so to avoid the sales dip, I have lots of nice shiny NIP stuff for sale.  It works well for me.  I get the right amount of stuff at basically wholesale prices.  I can offer it much less than full retail, but still make a good profit.  It's easier than working with a wholesaler.  There's no minimums to order for maximum discounts. And the quality of the goods is much better.

It might have been a slip, but it's also one of the keys to my having a good holiday season.  They have a couple of these clearances through the year, and I keep an eye out for them.  There's one at the first of the year that's largely Christmas, but also has other stuff in it.  One in the spring or summer, and sometimes one in the fall, but not always.

This time the selection was very nerd friendly.

Are you a chick who fell in from outer space?

A bevy of Batgirls.  This is the original Batgirl in her original outfit with her 1970's logo on the box.  I like classic versions of the characters like this, since that is what I grew up reading.  Batgirl has been through a lot of changes over the years.  I'm not really interested in much of them.  The box even has a version of one of the classic DC Comics logos on it.  Oh yeah!  These are keychains made out of yarn.  How cool is that?

A few other characters in the same style.  If there had been a Wonder Woman or Batman version of there, I'd be keeping one of them for me!  You can never go wrong with classic Wonder Woman or Batman.  For real.

I am vengeance!

The only Marvel character at either of the BN's in town was Ghost Rider.  Interesting. A Hulk in this style would have been too cute!

Up, up, and away!

A squad of Supermen.  These are cool.  They're magnetic, so if you have other figures, you can mix and match them to make your own Franken-heroes.  Fighting the urge to keep one.

Cow-a-bunga!

TMNT keychains.  Can't go wrong with TMNT.

Ahoy!

Matees!  I'd never heard of them, but they're some kind of odd looking pirates.  And cute.  Very cute.

Unfortunately, the Pulp Fiction figure doesn't dance.

Nostalgia action figures from 80's/90's movies, plus classic movie monsters.  Cool.  These were actually at the upper end of my ten dollar cut off point, but I knew they would not last at 75% off.  The extra 10% off for Barnes and Noble members helps bring the price down to my level for this go around.

I actually got the whole Goonies crew and most of the Alien figures. Sadly, no Alien.  :-(

Some other assorted stuff: pricey candles, fancy pick up sticks, etc.  I made myself resist the notecard selection, as I have lots of notecards right now.  They're slow sellers, so I'm not picking up any more until what I have is closer to gone.

I also got a couple of books for me.  The comic covers book was not 75% off, but it was cheap, so I splurged.  I'd love to scan some of these images and then try my hand at computer coloring.  This is classic, cornball, cheesy stuff that I totally love!  I need to do a post some day about what I go for in terms of comics.

Now all I have to do is wait a couple of weeks for the two dollar leftovers and clean up again.

There might have been a slight indiscretion on Saturday, which resulted in someone attending a few events where goods were sold in front of private dwellings.  Currency might have been exchanged for a very select few of these goods. However, there is no recorded image of said goods in the back of a certain motorized conveyance, so there is no evidence of said indiscretion.  Rumor has it that there might be more information and a few of those recorded images to come on a certain beloved blog in the very near future.  That's the conjecture anyway.  Make of it what you will.

Also, there might have been a half-price day at that estate sale on Sunday where there might have been a table of rusty tools that might have cost 50 cents each or maybe even fill a bag for five dollars.  Just saying.  You know how rumors get around.  Don't believe a thing until you see the blog post.  That's my motto.

Speculated lapses notwithstanding, I am still at least trying to lay low on the junking front.  I've got some big opportunities coming up and I want to have some extra cash for them.

In September, I am going to see my brother, and he's going to take me junking, Chattanooga style.  Also in September is the next Big Flea, and it's one of the shows with the awesome antique wing.  In October, we're planning to do the Highway 60 sale, which goes down through western Kentucky.  I had an awesome time last year and hope to do so again.  Finally, November brings my birthday junking extravaganza.  I'm already making my list of places I want to go. 

It's going to be a kind of quiet week.  I have some booth projects in mind that I want to get started on.  I have figured out how to work another shelf into the Aisle Booth and I want to start getting the Endcap Booth ready for fall decor items by the end of the month.  I'm starting to ponder Halloween and Christmas as well.  One of the reasons I'm not doing heavy duty smalls restocking right now is to make some space for the seasonal stuff that's upcoming.  That will also mean lots of new booth pics for you all.  Goody!

 I also want to rework the books in the religion section.  There spread out over three different book shelves, just a shelf here and a shelf there.  I want to get them all together.

The heat broke a little at the end of last week, and it looks like that might carry over to this week.  Yay!  If that does happen, I'm going to try to squeeze a day of shed work in, if I'm not too tired.  I moved my yard sale back to the end of August, so I would have more time to get stuff ready.

Saturday, we'll be taking our annual trip to the cemetery.  I had put that off for a couple of weeks too.  Someone might end up stopping at a flea market down there in my old home town, but this is purely conjecture and rumor.

July ended up being a very good booth month for me.  I think it was my best month since moving into this store.  Plus, it was well over the previous two months.  I'm working it a lot more, but I seem to be moving in the right direction.  August is a worrying month, so I'm a little trepidatious as we go forward.  We've got back to school, plus the Kentucky State Fair, both of which take a lot of attention away from those of us with booths. I did start off with a very good weekend, so I'm happy.  There are five Saturdays in August, which is nice.

And with that, I'm going to take a nap.  After all, you all keep telling me to rest.  I'm listening  I'm listening!