Happy 2017, Everyone! I hope you had your black eyed peas and cabbage and are looking forward to a prosperous and healthy new year.
I'm just going to a do a real quickie update here to talk about the holidays a bit and get back in the groove. I have a lot of pics and stories to share, plus some finds, but I'll save those for another day. I've gotten behind on my blog reading again, so I'm trying to carve out some time for that as well.
We're expecting snow tonight and tomorrow, so I plan on staying in if it happens. I have some cartoons ready to watch, plus a couple of documentaries on YouTube. I'll catch up on some reading, laundry, blogs, blogging, and pricing too. Maybe a nap as well. And hot chocolate. And pie. Maybe popcorn too.
Of course, now that I have all that planned, it'll be 76 tomorrow and brightly sunny. Oh well. If that happens, I guess I'll go to the booth. I'm heading there as soon as I finish writing and posting this. I haven't been over there since the Friday before Christmas. I finished the bulk of my work and decided I wanted a holiday break.
I had a very good month in December, booth-wise, which was most welcome after a weak fall. I had more $100+ days in December than I had in the months of September, October and November. It seems to be holding for the first few days of January, but I'm going to work some magic to keep that going. Mazda is packed to the gills with new stuff to go over.
One of the things I have to do today is pack up the Christmas, which will free up about five shelving units for new stuff. I'll leave the vintage Christmas in the booth, but make a new section for it. It will sell throughout the year. I'll probably make a shelf for Christmas books and music too, just to keep from lugging that heavy stuff out.
I also need to make room for some more furniture. I have a load ready to come off the Hillock, but just need a spot for it. I've sold several larger items recently, so I just need to reconfigure things to make the space. Our next junk set out happens in a month, so I need to get ready for that by moving more large items.
Christmas sales always confound me. After two years of low sales on wrapping paper and Christmas cards, I sold all I had this year. Wreaths and small trees usually sell very well for me. I sold one of each this time around. Last year, I sold no ornament sets. This year, I sold 3/4's of my stock. It's always a riddle. The only things I know I can count on are blow molds and vintage flocked deer. I sold every blow mold I had except for one, and all the reindeer. That was almost ten blow molds and about a dozen deer.
Speaking of Christmas, ours was really low key. We decided not to get each other any gifts, in lieu of buying a new mattress, which we really needed. We didn't even cook. We had lunch at Waffle House and dinner at a Chinese restaurant. In an odd way, that was, for us, kind of traditional. Waffle House was a my father's favorite restaurant and the place where he would have his own holiday meals. In the days before we bought the house, Keith and I would take a vacation over Christmas, usually to San Francisco or New York or Chicago. That always meant we ended up eating out at either an Indian or Chinese place on Christmas Day, since they were the places most likely to be open. When we got married in Chicago two years ago, we revived the tradition of the Chinese food Christmas meal.
By the way, we celebrated our anniversary Christmas Eve with Mexican food and then watched the wonderful Christmas concert recorded at Berea College (my alma mater) on CBS. Like I said, it was low key, but wonderful. I had been working at the booth practically every day all month long, so it was a nice to have a simple holiday.
New Years was celebrated with the traditional visit to the Big Flea. More on that later.
And now the holidays are over. Time to get back to work. And blogging.
Here's to a good 2017 for all of us. Big, wonderful, sloppy, happy hugs!
PS Don't forget to go to the thrifts this week! They're still awash with year-end last minute donations! And Christmas clearances should be up to 75% or even 90% off now.
Showing posts with label sales analyses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sales analyses. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
Monday, March 21, 2016
Monday Rambles
Gentle Readers--
(I've always wanted to say that!)
We are aware that last week lacked the usual Monday Rambles that many of you have come to expect at this blog. The truth is, a Ramble was started, butsomeone forgot to finish it there were technical difficulties. We regret the situation and will endeavor to make it up with an extra rambly, Ramble now.
Life is pretty good here in the Ohio River Valley right now. We're still having frequent rainy and cool days, but also lots of sunny, warm ones. And sometimes some sunny and cool ones. Snow showers keep popping up in forecasts, so I know winter may still have one last blast up its sleeve. After all, I can remember a Derby Day with snow in my adult life! (For those who don't know, that would be snow on the first Saturday in May, also known as Free Comic Book Day in nerd-dom. This has been the first official mention of FBCD at this blog in 2016.)
As the weather warms up, so do the yard sales. There still aren't many taking place in actual yards, but the listings get a little longer every week. The church sale scene is hopping right now! Two of the four best church sales in the city have already happened, along with several other favorites.
There was also a Big Flea this past weekend, and I got a chance to go to a special place. I don't want to spoil it, because I am working on a post about it, so let's just say that it rhymes with "Boot Hill Cow Pet." Sort of. Kind of. Maybe.
The booth is humming right along, as tax season continues to unfold. After this past weekend, March could turn into my best month ever, depending on what happens as we get closer to Easter and people start thinking more about buying plastic eggs and chocolate bunnies than junk. For the record, I do have a small stash of plastic eggs that they're welcome to. The chocolate never seems to make it to the booth. (AHEM!) Even if sales end up slowing this week, I'll still have one of my top months, so I'm happy. I'm taking HUGE Mazda loads every week now and working several day stretches to keep up.
So what is selling? Here's a recap.
COMICS Stacks and stacks at a time, it seems. I have priced and taken every one I have in the house, So I need to go get my last two boxes of Mount Sorrow. I have a feeling that I'll be doing some major restocking on Free Comic Book Day (second mention). This last Big Flea trip disappointingly yielded only three (!) comics.
BOOKS I only have maybe six books left from that old book buy I mentioned a few posts ago. My children's books got cleaned out a couple of weekends ago. I've been working the booth on several recent occasions as younger guys walked out with armloads of books. It's always kind of cool to see the Kindle generation buying words on paper.
RELIGIOUS STUFF Like I said in my last post, it's taken a while for my religious section to catch on, but it finally seems to have clicked with customers. The book sales extend to the religious titles, especially hymnals. Everybody loves a good, old hymnal. Yesterday, it seems like I must have sold half my religious stuff, according to my report. Another thing to dig off the Mountain!
SHELVES First it was big shelves. Then it was small shelves. Then it was that cool white cabinet. Every time, the booths had to get a makeover. I think I've ended up with a slightly new look every week this month. I kind of ran out of time last week to finish up, so I'm planning to stay at the mall for the rest of the week and rework it all, again.
CHAIRS Adult-sized. Kid-sized. Dining Room. Side Chairs. Easy Chairs. Stools. Folding Chairs. When the month started, I had a surplus of chairs. All over the place. Now I only have a handful left. Another trip up Sorrow Mountain!
BAMBOO You might remember a bundle of bamboo poles from a recent Mazda shot. They're gone! As well as the ones I found to supplement that stash. I got them because I thought they were cool-looking. I had no idea I was on to something.
METAL BOXES File Boxes. Cash Boxes. Card Boxes. Recipe Boxes. Candy Tins. Tool Boxes. Tackle Boxes. If it's metal, I cannot keep it in right now!
WOOD BOXES Crates, small boxes, card boxes, and such made of wood are also selling well. Not quite as strongly as the metal ones, but they're definitely moving.
I wish I could get baskets to move as well as the boxes. They're just sitting right now. A couple of days ago, it looked like a vintage toy spree was about to begin, but it's a little early to make that call. What's selling for you right now?
In other words, it's a good time to be a junker! Wheeeee! I hope your sales and finds are also going well right now. I need to ride this wave while I can, since Spring Break is coming the first week of April and that usually means a slow-down. After that, the Derby Festival will be starting. Another slow-down. Last April was not as slow as I thought it might be. I think being in Indiana, rather than in Louisville, helped. Things don't get quite as mad on that side of the river, but for some events, the bridges across are blocked, which does have an effect.
My plan this week is to work it, work it, work it. I'd like to get the booths squared away enough that I can spend next week focusing solely on the Mount of Sorrows. That's actually been the idea behind the last couple of weeks, but it's not played out quite that way, due to the strong sales. not a bad problem to have, except that I really, really want (and need) to work in the storage unit. Sometimes, it's hard to prioritize when you're a one man show.
Finally, a query. Does anyone know who these little guys are?
I got them in a baggie of toys from a church sale. They're marked "Saban" on the bottom, but I didn't turn up anything on a Google search for Saban characters. Saban was the production company that unleashed the Power Rangers on this country in the 90's.
Here's another look.
Let me know. Thanks.
Have a good week.
(I've always wanted to say that!)
We are aware that last week lacked the usual Monday Rambles that many of you have come to expect at this blog. The truth is, a Ramble was started, but
Life is pretty good here in the Ohio River Valley right now. We're still having frequent rainy and cool days, but also lots of sunny, warm ones. And sometimes some sunny and cool ones. Snow showers keep popping up in forecasts, so I know winter may still have one last blast up its sleeve. After all, I can remember a Derby Day with snow in my adult life! (For those who don't know, that would be snow on the first Saturday in May, also known as Free Comic Book Day in nerd-dom. This has been the first official mention of FBCD at this blog in 2016.)
As the weather warms up, so do the yard sales. There still aren't many taking place in actual yards, but the listings get a little longer every week. The church sale scene is hopping right now! Two of the four best church sales in the city have already happened, along with several other favorites.
There was also a Big Flea this past weekend, and I got a chance to go to a special place. I don't want to spoil it, because I am working on a post about it, so let's just say that it rhymes with "Boot Hill Cow Pet." Sort of. Kind of. Maybe.
The booth is humming right along, as tax season continues to unfold. After this past weekend, March could turn into my best month ever, depending on what happens as we get closer to Easter and people start thinking more about buying plastic eggs and chocolate bunnies than junk. For the record, I do have a small stash of plastic eggs that they're welcome to. The chocolate never seems to make it to the booth. (AHEM!) Even if sales end up slowing this week, I'll still have one of my top months, so I'm happy. I'm taking HUGE Mazda loads every week now and working several day stretches to keep up.
So what is selling? Here's a recap.
COMICS Stacks and stacks at a time, it seems. I have priced and taken every one I have in the house, So I need to go get my last two boxes of Mount Sorrow. I have a feeling that I'll be doing some major restocking on Free Comic Book Day (second mention). This last Big Flea trip disappointingly yielded only three (!) comics.
BOOKS I only have maybe six books left from that old book buy I mentioned a few posts ago. My children's books got cleaned out a couple of weekends ago. I've been working the booth on several recent occasions as younger guys walked out with armloads of books. It's always kind of cool to see the Kindle generation buying words on paper.
RELIGIOUS STUFF Like I said in my last post, it's taken a while for my religious section to catch on, but it finally seems to have clicked with customers. The book sales extend to the religious titles, especially hymnals. Everybody loves a good, old hymnal. Yesterday, it seems like I must have sold half my religious stuff, according to my report. Another thing to dig off the Mountain!
SHELVES First it was big shelves. Then it was small shelves. Then it was that cool white cabinet. Every time, the booths had to get a makeover. I think I've ended up with a slightly new look every week this month. I kind of ran out of time last week to finish up, so I'm planning to stay at the mall for the rest of the week and rework it all, again.
CHAIRS Adult-sized. Kid-sized. Dining Room. Side Chairs. Easy Chairs. Stools. Folding Chairs. When the month started, I had a surplus of chairs. All over the place. Now I only have a handful left. Another trip up Sorrow Mountain!
BAMBOO You might remember a bundle of bamboo poles from a recent Mazda shot. They're gone! As well as the ones I found to supplement that stash. I got them because I thought they were cool-looking. I had no idea I was on to something.
METAL BOXES File Boxes. Cash Boxes. Card Boxes. Recipe Boxes. Candy Tins. Tool Boxes. Tackle Boxes. If it's metal, I cannot keep it in right now!
WOOD BOXES Crates, small boxes, card boxes, and such made of wood are also selling well. Not quite as strongly as the metal ones, but they're definitely moving.
I wish I could get baskets to move as well as the boxes. They're just sitting right now. A couple of days ago, it looked like a vintage toy spree was about to begin, but it's a little early to make that call. What's selling for you right now?
In other words, it's a good time to be a junker! Wheeeee! I hope your sales and finds are also going well right now. I need to ride this wave while I can, since Spring Break is coming the first week of April and that usually means a slow-down. After that, the Derby Festival will be starting. Another slow-down. Last April was not as slow as I thought it might be. I think being in Indiana, rather than in Louisville, helped. Things don't get quite as mad on that side of the river, but for some events, the bridges across are blocked, which does have an effect.
My plan this week is to work it, work it, work it. I'd like to get the booths squared away enough that I can spend next week focusing solely on the Mount of Sorrows. That's actually been the idea behind the last couple of weeks, but it's not played out quite that way, due to the strong sales. not a bad problem to have, except that I really, really want (and need) to work in the storage unit. Sometimes, it's hard to prioritize when you're a one man show.
Finally, a query. Does anyone know who these little guys are?
Here's another look.
Let me know. Thanks.
Have a good week.
Monday, July 06, 2015
Monday Rambles
First off, I'd like to give a welcome to new reader Tammy, who made her first comments over the weekend. I'm trying to get better at recognizing readers and such, so bear with me as I learn how to be a good blogger. She's one of those "no comment reply" readers, so I'm welcoming her this way. I hope you enjoy your stay,Tammy. I'm a little stranger than some other bloggers, but I think you'll find something to enjoy, even if you don't like everything.
I hope everyone had a good Fourth. I did not venture out. Instead, I spent the day resting, napping (are those the same things), tidying, cleaning (ditto), pricing, and sorting buttons. More on that last one in a few days. I also worked on some blog posts. I know I've got you all hanging on, waiting for some topics to wrap up. I'm hoping to be all caught up by the end of the month.
Keith went camping over the weekend, but I stayed at home. Some folks think it's odd that he'll go and I'll stay, but I simply don't like camping the way that he does. With the way I feel these days, it does me better to be at home to recharge. Going to the woods is good for him to do that, so I have no issue with that. His job is stressful. My health situation is stressful for him. I have to make him go sometimes, but I want him to be able to take care of himself. He usually goes somewhere in the county, so if I do need him he can be home pretty quickly.
Can you believe it's July all ready? Yeesh! That means I need to plan a cemetery visit soon. There's a booth in the Peddlers Mall that sells lovely (and very affordable) floral arrangements.
Today is a day of rest for me too. I am still not done with the booths, but I'm taking the day off. I want to finish some cleaning work. I'm also needing to recover from going to the Big Flea yesterday.
I can hear you all from here: "I knew he'd never keep that moratorium." But there's another side to this story.
First off, we're not talking about a bunch of yard sales here. The Big Flea and I have a long history. It's a special event for me. I feel like by supporting them with my attendance, I'm giving them more reasons to expand their schedule again. Peddlers support other peddlers, you know? Finally, today is my mother's birthday. (More on that tomorrow.) One of the ways we would celebrate every year was by going to the July 4th Big Flea. Going yesterday was something I had to do. Moratorium be damned. I honestly don't feel like I'm justifying here.
I did try to keep true to the spirit of the moratorium by doing a lot of people watching, buying things mainly for the house or for me personally. I failed a bit at that intent, but that was to be expected, I guess. That reminds me that I really need to do a post about my comic book finds lately. It's long overdue, even though I know it will bore a lot of you.
A few of the purchases of the day.
I thought this was a Fisher-Price military transport until I saw the Forestry logo, making it a Forestry Service all terrain transport. This relieved me greatly. The thought of Little People going to war was disturbing.
One dealer had an amazing stash of older religious medals. Now I have an amazing stash of old religious medals. They're going right into the collection. (Note to self: Do post about religious collection some time.)
Let's look at a couple of these a little more closely.
This one was a new one for me. I'm used to seeing all the common, popular ones like St. Anthony, but this is the first item dedicated to St. Stanislaus in my collection.
This one totally tickled and thrilled me. I hope you all can read the inscription to Nuestra Senora de la Leche! Woo hoo! My second nursing Madonna item, found in the same year yet!
I also found this old brass crucifix. I haven't decided whether it's a keeper or not. It might stay with me a bit, then get passed on to someone else via the booth.
Vintage dime store toys still in package. I am particularly in love with that play razor.
A couple of oddball vintage elves, because oddball vintage elves rule, of course.
Two pairs of tiny eyeglasses for dolls, I guess. Are any of those American Girls near-sighted? I just thought they were cute. The glasses, not the AG dolls. Those are ghastly. Also a vintage Tootsie Toy vehicle. That's not ghastly in the least.
And then there are the comics. One of the things I love most about the Big Flea is the selection of comics that are always there. We're kind of thing, me and comics.
I got these from a dealer I buy from at pretty much every Big Flea. Sadly, his prices have gone up some over the past couple of shows, but I can still find some stuff. He and I seem to always have a conversation about buying lesser grade older comics, like these.
I was excited to get the one on the far right. I only had Space Ranger stories in reprints, but no original comics. Next to it is an issue of Hawkman from the 60's series--there have been several other Hawkman series since--which is only my second issue for this series. Happy!
I've never been a freak about comic condition, unlike most other collectors. The older titles that I like can be expensive in higher grades, so I am always happy to have a battered but complete copy that I got on the cheap. All I want to do is read the damn things, which is what they were made for.
Whenever I approach a box of comics and I am shopping primarily for me, I scan the tops of the comics in the box and go right for the sections that are the most yellowed with age. I only bother to flip through an entire box when I'm shopping for the booth.
So I'm at this one booth, see a telltale yellowed section in one box, and zero on it. As I start pulling out one (to me) treasure after another (for a buck each!), the dealer comes over and starts watching me. He kind of starts whining about everything I'm selecting.
"Oh man. I can't believe you found that!"
"Oh geez. You're killing me!"
"Dang!"
Then he says, "I just bought this collection and haven't even looked through it yet." I didn't say anything, actually I've been tuning him, but I'm thinking: "Why would you do that?" I would never put anything out for sale without checking it out first. If I put some kind of rare collector's item out for a song, and someone snags a super treasure bargain for it, well, all I can do is be happy for them and learn from the experience.
Let's take one last look at that comic on the far right in the second photo.
Yes, that is Lois Lane turned into a snow person. A snow person. Who is melting. This is why I enjoy the hell out of older comics. Also, Snow Satan.
Fun printers blocks of cartoon-ish line art. Can someone tell me what is going on in the second one?
Finally, Kool-Aid cups totally rock. Am I right or am I right? I bought a set of five. Is it just me, or does his slightly enigmatic smile remind you of someone else? Someone page Dan Brown, stat!
Overall, it was your typical Big Flea--lots of salvage groceries and health and beauty stuff, Avon reps, sock sellers, etc. Plus, a healthy sprinkling of secondhand and antique dealers. Some of my regular stops weren't there, which was disappointing. There were even about a dozen or so empty stalls, which was so unusual that I noticed it. The Big Flea is usually fully rented out. Still, it was a fun way to spend an afternoon, just like always.
I think being a flea market vendor must be a hard life with all that packing and unpacking and moving from show to show. (And then someone comes along and finds great bargains in your comic boxes!) I very much prefer renting out my booths and leaving my stuff there and letting someone else handle my sales. I am glad there are flea market vendors, since there would not be a Big Flea without them!
Do you know that there are people who goes to the Big Flea and don't buy anything? I do not understand this.
The next Big Flea will be Labor Day weekend. It will have the extra wing of antique dealers. I'm counting the days.
As long as we are looking at pictures, here's the one I owe you all of the new book booth.
I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Getting all the stuff out on its own was a good thing. Thursday, almost all of my sales came out of this booth, and a good hunk of Friday's did too. It's nothing fancy, I know, but it's books, you know? They don't need fancy to attract buyers. I am planning on adding small shelves on the back wall for action figures and nerd toys that fit the theme.
Book and comic sales have picked up considerably since the establishment of this area. I have sold several of each every day after setting it up. The books were so hard to get to before that I didn't sell as many. I always sell a lot of comics, but nerds are resilient about what they'll endure to get their fix. Suspend a box of comics over a vat of acid in a cage, and they'll swing over on a jungle vine with a blow torch to break in and get to them.
I was not able to get to where I wanted with the other booths on Friday when I went to the mall. I hit a point where I realized that I needed to pull 3/4 of what was in one spot out and deliberately put it back, one piece at a time. I had hoped to avoid doing that, but it turned out to be unavoidable. I knew that I didn't have the time or the energy to do all that at that point in time. I'll start tomorrow with that task. I'm thinking I'll be done on Thursday. Work tomorrow. Rest Wednesday. Finish Thursday. Spend Friday in a coffee shop quaffing lattes and reading graphic novels. That's the plan. We'll see how it goes.
I was able to leave on of the remaining spaces orderly enough that people can get into it. The other one is still derelict, but I have it blocked off enough that no one can get into it. It's probably better that way.
Happily, despite the chaos, sales have remained steady and strong. I think the holiday weekend helped somewhat. I have high hopes for this month. I can't wait to see how it pays off.
Speaking of high hopes, here's some life insight from a public bathroom stall.
And someone just popped in to say "hi" and see what the big deal is at the computer today.
And, with that, he scurried off. I think maybe I should, too. It might be bedtime. He's always right about bedtime. Much rambling today has worn us both out.
Nitey Nite!
I hope everyone had a good Fourth. I did not venture out. Instead, I spent the day resting, napping (are those the same things), tidying, cleaning (ditto), pricing, and sorting buttons. More on that last one in a few days. I also worked on some blog posts. I know I've got you all hanging on, waiting for some topics to wrap up. I'm hoping to be all caught up by the end of the month.
Keith went camping over the weekend, but I stayed at home. Some folks think it's odd that he'll go and I'll stay, but I simply don't like camping the way that he does. With the way I feel these days, it does me better to be at home to recharge. Going to the woods is good for him to do that, so I have no issue with that. His job is stressful. My health situation is stressful for him. I have to make him go sometimes, but I want him to be able to take care of himself. He usually goes somewhere in the county, so if I do need him he can be home pretty quickly.
Can you believe it's July all ready? Yeesh! That means I need to plan a cemetery visit soon. There's a booth in the Peddlers Mall that sells lovely (and very affordable) floral arrangements.
Today is a day of rest for me too. I am still not done with the booths, but I'm taking the day off. I want to finish some cleaning work. I'm also needing to recover from going to the Big Flea yesterday.
I can hear you all from here: "I knew he'd never keep that moratorium." But there's another side to this story.
First off, we're not talking about a bunch of yard sales here. The Big Flea and I have a long history. It's a special event for me. I feel like by supporting them with my attendance, I'm giving them more reasons to expand their schedule again. Peddlers support other peddlers, you know? Finally, today is my mother's birthday. (More on that tomorrow.) One of the ways we would celebrate every year was by going to the July 4th Big Flea. Going yesterday was something I had to do. Moratorium be damned. I honestly don't feel like I'm justifying here.
I did try to keep true to the spirit of the moratorium by doing a lot of people watching, buying things mainly for the house or for me personally. I failed a bit at that intent, but that was to be expected, I guess. That reminds me that I really need to do a post about my comic book finds lately. It's long overdue, even though I know it will bore a lot of you.
A few of the purchases of the day.
 |
| My FP streak continues! |
I thought this was a Fisher-Price military transport until I saw the Forestry logo, making it a Forestry Service all terrain transport. This relieved me greatly. The thought of Little People going to war was disturbing.
 |
| Nothing but awesomeness! |
Let's look at a couple of these a little more closely.
 |
| People used to pin medals and badges to their clothing. It's common to find them with the pins. |
This one totally tickled and thrilled me. I hope you all can read the inscription to Nuestra Senora de la Leche! Woo hoo! My second nursing Madonna item, found in the same year yet!
I also found this old brass crucifix. I haven't decided whether it's a keeper or not. It might stay with me a bit, then get passed on to someone else via the booth.
 |
| Anyone up for a game of Squarbles? |
 |
| What a pair! |
 |
| Now Chiquito can cosplay as Harry Potter! |
And then there are the comics. One of the things I love most about the Big Flea is the selection of comics that are always there. We're kind of thing, me and comics.
I got these from a dealer I buy from at pretty much every Big Flea. Sadly, his prices have gone up some over the past couple of shows, but I can still find some stuff. He and I seem to always have a conversation about buying lesser grade older comics, like these.
I was excited to get the one on the far right. I only had Space Ranger stories in reprints, but no original comics. Next to it is an issue of Hawkman from the 60's series--there have been several other Hawkman series since--which is only my second issue for this series. Happy!
I've never been a freak about comic condition, unlike most other collectors. The older titles that I like can be expensive in higher grades, so I am always happy to have a battered but complete copy that I got on the cheap. All I want to do is read the damn things, which is what they were made for.
 |
| I'm not sure, but I seem to be developing a thing for old DC horror titles. |
So I'm at this one booth, see a telltale yellowed section in one box, and zero on it. As I start pulling out one (to me) treasure after another (for a buck each!), the dealer comes over and starts watching me. He kind of starts whining about everything I'm selecting.
"Oh man. I can't believe you found that!"
"Oh geez. You're killing me!"
"Dang!"
Then he says, "I just bought this collection and haven't even looked through it yet." I didn't say anything, actually I've been tuning him, but I'm thinking: "Why would you do that?" I would never put anything out for sale without checking it out first. If I put some kind of rare collector's item out for a song, and someone snags a super treasure bargain for it, well, all I can do is be happy for them and learn from the experience.
Let's take one last look at that comic on the far right in the second photo.
 |
| Yes, Lois Lane had her own comic for years. |
Fun printers blocks of cartoon-ish line art. Can someone tell me what is going on in the second one?
 |
| Oh Yeah! |
Finally, Kool-Aid cups totally rock. Am I right or am I right? I bought a set of five. Is it just me, or does his slightly enigmatic smile remind you of someone else? Someone page Dan Brown, stat!
Overall, it was your typical Big Flea--lots of salvage groceries and health and beauty stuff, Avon reps, sock sellers, etc. Plus, a healthy sprinkling of secondhand and antique dealers. Some of my regular stops weren't there, which was disappointing. There were even about a dozen or so empty stalls, which was so unusual that I noticed it. The Big Flea is usually fully rented out. Still, it was a fun way to spend an afternoon, just like always.
I think being a flea market vendor must be a hard life with all that packing and unpacking and moving from show to show. (And then someone comes along and finds great bargains in your comic boxes!) I very much prefer renting out my booths and leaving my stuff there and letting someone else handle my sales. I am glad there are flea market vendors, since there would not be a Big Flea without them!
Do you know that there are people who goes to the Big Flea and don't buy anything? I do not understand this.
The next Big Flea will be Labor Day weekend. It will have the extra wing of antique dealers. I'm counting the days.
As long as we are looking at pictures, here's the one I owe you all of the new book booth.
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| The Eddie's Attic/Booth 62 Literary and Media Annex! |
I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Getting all the stuff out on its own was a good thing. Thursday, almost all of my sales came out of this booth, and a good hunk of Friday's did too. It's nothing fancy, I know, but it's books, you know? They don't need fancy to attract buyers. I am planning on adding small shelves on the back wall for action figures and nerd toys that fit the theme.
Book and comic sales have picked up considerably since the establishment of this area. I have sold several of each every day after setting it up. The books were so hard to get to before that I didn't sell as many. I always sell a lot of comics, but nerds are resilient about what they'll endure to get their fix. Suspend a box of comics over a vat of acid in a cage, and they'll swing over on a jungle vine with a blow torch to break in and get to them.
I was not able to get to where I wanted with the other booths on Friday when I went to the mall. I hit a point where I realized that I needed to pull 3/4 of what was in one spot out and deliberately put it back, one piece at a time. I had hoped to avoid doing that, but it turned out to be unavoidable. I knew that I didn't have the time or the energy to do all that at that point in time. I'll start tomorrow with that task. I'm thinking I'll be done on Thursday. Work tomorrow. Rest Wednesday. Finish Thursday. Spend Friday in a coffee shop quaffing lattes and reading graphic novels. That's the plan. We'll see how it goes.
I was able to leave on of the remaining spaces orderly enough that people can get into it. The other one is still derelict, but I have it blocked off enough that no one can get into it. It's probably better that way.
Happily, despite the chaos, sales have remained steady and strong. I think the holiday weekend helped somewhat. I have high hopes for this month. I can't wait to see how it pays off.
Speaking of high hopes, here's some life insight from a public bathroom stall.
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| Can I get an "Amen!" |
And someone just popped in to say "hi" and see what the big deal is at the computer today.
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| It's Chiquito! He loves all his blog fans! |
And, with that, he scurried off. I think maybe I should, too. It might be bedtime. He's always right about bedtime. Much rambling today has worn us both out.
Nitey Nite!
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