What to sell at the flea market? (judgement, stock, pay)
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I would make home baked bread, or some jam. Speciality food items always do well at the local organic market near my house. Stuff you can't get at the traditional store. Maybe you can give away free coffee to draw them in or at least have a smell that says you know what this table has it going on. Play some background music at your table. Create a vibe that your table is the happening one here at the market. Have a flag with what your selling on it. Have samples already laid out that they can try! Wishing you the best of luck!
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Originally Posted by charcoal91
Sell popcorn. Kernels are cheap and you can jack up the prices. Have several different flavors too, like cheddar cheese. I would buy some.
Curious about these two suggestions.
Are there any particular licenses required to sell food items at a flea market? I am gifted in the baking department. Really. You wouldn't believe it. I wish I'd thought of those IMO silly "cupcake boutiques" before someone else did, I'd be a rich woman. Or the cookie ones.. one near me selling teeny tiny shortbread cookies for $2.25 a piece! Nuts!
I already sell on ebay and Craigslist. Craigslist is a pain for me though and I was thinking I might be better off doing a big flea market sale a couple times a month instead for the things that won't sell well on ebay, and if I could add some baked goods then why not? I don't' want to get into any kind of trouble though.
On this topic in general, my brother supported his girlfriend and her three kids for a couple years primarily by flea market dealing. He got stuff anywhere he could. He would go to garage and yard sales if they were cheap enough, then re-sell. He dumpster dived, curb shopped, you name it. He also offered to haul off yard sale leftovers, so with a pickup truck and time he did ok. He wasn't able to make a killing but he made enough to support himself andhis girlfriend and her children anyway.
I would imagine that you'd have to get a food seller's license issued to you from the particular county you'd be selling from. I know at our county fair, I've noticed that the food trailer's have permits/licenses tacked up onto their walls basically saying they had passed county health inspections and are allowed to serve food.
In regards to the cupcake boutiques craze, it's amazing how somebody can slightly alter something so basic as a cupcake and make a killing off of it. It's the biggest marketing gimmick in the world. It's a basic cupcake for crying out loud. It's just that it's been "prettied up" and because of that, it sells for probably triple the price of a regular cupcake.
Are there any particular licenses required to sell food items at a flea market? I am gifted in the baking department. Really. You wouldn't believe it. I wish I'd thought of those IMO silly "cupcake boutiques" before someone else did, I'd be a rich woman. Or the cookie ones.. one near me selling teeny tiny shortbread cookies for $2.25 a piece! Nuts!
Many states have passed cottage industry laws, which allow people to use their home kitchens for non-potentially hazardous food businesses.
Here's the link to your state's cottage industry laws.
You can bake and sell at your home. But you can ONLY sell from your home. You can't sell outside your home in Texas. That means no flea market selling under the cottage laws.
From the Q&A, here's how to sell at a flea market or farmers market in Texas:
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Can I sell food produced at my cottage food production operation at a farmers market or temporary event?
No. Food produced by a cottage food production operation can only be sold from the individual’s home. In order for an individual to sell food (i.e. baked goods, jams or jellies) at a Farmer’s market or similar location, the appropriate retail food establishment or manufactured food license must be obtained and compliance with the Texas Food Establishment Rules is required.
In some ways your laws are better. Texas doesn't inspect home kitchens and there is nothing said about pets. Pennsylvania inspects home kitchens and homeowners can't have pets if they are running a cottage industry. However, we're allowed to sell wholesale and retail here. Your state only allows you to sell out of your home. It's worth looking into though.
Hello - My husband & I have sold at a local flea market for a few years. It started out as a "let's give it a go" idea and quickly evolved into a regular business. Many people (actually most people) don't realize how profitable selling at a flea market can be. I've written several books - 2 on USA based wholesale sources and one on what to sell as so many people would ask about both topics.
New items can sell well - such as socks - if you are in the right flea market with the right merchandise - and it's displayed well.
We mainly sell larger ticket items - lawn mowers, bikes and snow blowers are our best sellers. We also do well with golf items and fishing items. Tools do okay. The demographic at our flea market is older men. Most shop early in the morning. So we cater to our demo and it's paid off. There are people selling lower priced items and they do decent. One guy sells used movies and he always has a steady crowd. There's also a few antique dealers there who do well too. I see people selling used clothing and some do "okay" at best. I prefer selling one large ticket item versus 100 little ones.
Last edited by vter; 04-12-2013 at 05:55 PM..
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I'm thinking about getting a booth at a big flea market just south of me in Missouri this summer. I like to go to auctions and buy the boxes of stuff they throw together and let go for a buck because nobody wants to drag home all the crap to get one or two items in there. I usually pick through them and find a few things that I can use and a few I can sell on eBay, and quite a bit of honest-to-goodness trash that gets thrown out; but I always end up with a few decent items that I have no use for and won't sell well on eBay such as tools, home decor items, jars of fasteners, etc, etc. By the time I figure in my eBay returns and value of the things I use, I really have no cost in what's left and whatever I sell it for would be 100% profit. So I think I'll try the flea market out just once to see if I can get rid of a bunch of it. If I do well I may hit the auctions a little more aggressively and make a regular thing of it.
there is a lot of info on this on the internet, just google it. The basic idea is to sell something cheap (e.g. $1), something what people need everyday. Examples are batteries, sun glasses, etc
My personal opnion - try to sell children cloths or children toys.. I saw these types of products are very popular.
Another idea to try - buy something on ebay, like some cheap electronics. You can find some cheap no name tablets that people are afraid of buying online because they can't try them and see how they look/work.
Get a large grill and go down to Costco and get one of those big ice chests then buy a lot of hot dogs and not the cheap ones either the good ones and also the polish sausages. Also buy a selection of soft drinks in cans and water bottles put all this in the big ice chest on ice. Start grilling your dogs and wait for the people to come. Sell your dogs for about 2 to 3 dollars and drinks for 1 dollar trust me you will make money especially if you are the only one selling food. Now occasionally you will need to deal withe the health dept. and they may send out an inspector but since you are not making anything it's not as big of a deal. Just keep everything clean and sanitary. You could even get the permit first from the health dept.
I think the best thing hands down is the farmers market fresh produce. The amish do very well with their food to. Food is the best because people want it even if they buy nothing else. We have an icecream truck but the fee and compitition doesn't look good for us.
they bring it in from the ports - where i live philadelphia. i would reccomend things that don't go bad... like hair straighteneres, kitchen stuff etc
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