Weekend Market Report

Welcome to the Weekend Market Report.

This regular feature is a joint venture between myself and Diann from The Thrifty Groove.

I share my adventures at the Farmers Market, and Diann shares her adventures at the Flea Market.

Here's my part:



What a disappointing day at the market. It started bad and got worse.
When I got there they put me next to a guy selling barbecued ribs, turkey legs and homemade zucchini bread. He had a big warming cabinet, and he fired up a generator to keep it all hot. So, here is this generator, 15 feet from me, pouring gasoline fumes and exhaust fumes right through my stand, and I couldn't hear anything anyone said to me.



I finally went and asked the Marketmaster if she could do something, and she had him move it back about 25 feet. Swell! The smell wasn't as bad, but the noise was still annoying. I could hear people, and they could hear me, but only if I stood right next to them and we both yelled.

There were two other people selling bottled water today. I guess I should have been more secretive about it, because now I either have to cut my price by a quarter or lose sales.

The crowd was small today, with lots of lookers, and few buyers. And Bingo was tired and cranky, so between her and the generator, I just wanted to scream.
I sold just enough to break even on ice. I had to buy a roll of paper towels and another case of water, so I actually showed a loss for the day.
Next week Generator Man won't be there, But he will be back the following week. I need to tell the Marketmaster that either he, or I need to be someplace different. That was just unacceptable.

Here is a few random pictures of the vendors and very few people visiting.





On the bright side, I had 12 geraniums left over, They wont really be salable next week, we will end up planting them at home, so I gave one to the beekeepers wife.
A few minutes later, he appeared at my stand with a bottle of honey. If I had been out to make a swap, I would never have taken that much honey in exchange for one little plant, but he said we weren't swapping product, we were swapping kindness, and that doesn't have dollar signs, so I came home with a bottle of fresh honey. Yum!



Lots of people liked the Hens and Chicks, but nobody bought one. Diann sold one Tea Kit. I think that we can sell more of those if we can start sampling it. Michigan just passed the cottage kitchen law, so I need to investigate what that entails.

So, it was a Bear Market Day for me this week. But I believe it was a Bull Market Day for Diann.

I'll let her tell you all about it.



Here's Diann's report:



Well, today, as Troy mentioned, was not a good day at the Farmer's Market. Between Generator Boy, the heat, the wind and the lack of customers, nobody at the market had very many sales.

I was pretty bummed because it was the first time I set up my little table.

Friday night we did a little thrift shopping and found the little shelf and the candle holder. Each were a $1.00. I didn't have time to spray paint them but, they didn't look to bad as is. And they worked perfectly for what I needed.




Instead of using a tray for the iced tea kits, next week they will go into a basket. The wind was so high, they kept flying everywhere.



After a while, I headed over to the Flea Market for a couple of hours of browsing. Now, unlike the Farmer's Market, the Flea Market was packed with people. However, as I was looking around, I noticed very few customers carrying packages. As I was looking at one vendors items I overheard him talking to about 4 other vendors. They were all complaining that there was a ton of customers but, nobody was buying anything. Of course, I wanted to scream, "Maybe you should price your items! And price them to fit a Flea market!!" But, I didn't. Instead I looked at a little rusted vanity chair and had to ask how much. The guy said $5.00. I said okay thanks and walked on. I heard the guy tell the other guys, "See, nobody is buying". I probably would have bought it for $3.00 but, the guy just blew me off after he told me the price. Hum, I wonder if that has anything to do with the lack of sales guys?

I came across a lady who had a couple of tables and everything was marked! Holy Cow! I found a pretty little china tray and bought it without even attempting to haggle.





I also found a vendor that had a bunch of odds and ends. However, he also had this set of 10 milk glass cups, a tea pot and matching sugar. Now, he didn't have anything individually marked but, he did have signs on the tables stating, "Everything on this table is...". I can live with that. After a little bit of negotiating, we came to a price we both felt comfortable with and I bought all the cups, teapot and sugar.







I had been there almost two hours and the heat and humidity was so bad, my shirt was totally drenched in sweat, oh I suppose it is proper to saw "perspiration" but, who would I be kidding? I was sweating like crazy!! At that point I was just totally drained so, I headed back towards the truck.

I spotted this mirror as I was walking and stopped to look at it. No price. Arghhhh! They guy from the booth came around and asked if I was interested. Now, I could tell immediately that this guy was not a "regular". He was a guy here for the day or weekend to unload some stuff. I told him I was interested but, since there is no price on it, I am going to pass. He immediately said, "How about $4.00?" That was a pretty decent price. As I was looking at it, I noticed an old frame behind it. I asked how much for the frame. He said, "ummm, well, if you want both of them how about $4.00 for the pair?" I guess since I didn't say any more about the frame, he assumed that I wasn't interested in it. So, I agreed to $4.00 for both items.







This ripped and torn off partly vintage picture was in the frame.




So, that was my adventures at the flea market for today.

I hope you will stop by next week and see what happens!



Now don't forget, I have a fun giveaway going on and tonight is the last day for a chance to win!! Win 50 Custom Greeting cards!



Go and enter HERE!



Be sure and join me each Tuesday for Tuesday Trivia Tie-in, where readers are invited to share trivia and show off their treasures. Read all about it here