One thing I overheard in a local store (from owner to new booth tenant) was have small, inexpensive things (soap, hand towels, lotion, candles, etc) because they will pay your rent some months.

allison, thanks--and what you wrote speaks exactly to a thought I had. You know, after I posted I started thinking about the general economy and I'm now thinking (maybe I should have done that before I posted?!) that it would be better to wait until the economy stabilizes before I start putting money out for rent...we may have to live with (beautiful) clutter for a bit more.

Fly, have you thought about Etsy? Seems more rational than eBay somehow.

I am also feeling overrun with things that feel too good to give to Goodwill. Two houses into one = just too much. But it's all good quality and I feel a connection to much of it. Not sure what to do.

I think I am seeing some pent up recession behavior breaking right about now. The RE market is perking along here and a couple of chats with shop owners on our recent trip indicated that maybe people are ready to spend a little again. Like Allison says, small indulgences may be the ticket.

With your eye and your great luck at Goodwill, I can only assume you could have a nice business. I agree that maybe rent is not a good investment right now. But, don't let go of the thought. Think creatively and let the Universe know what you need. I believe you have great potential with this idea.

Back when I lived in the city, there was a woman who stocked up her garage with furniture and accessories equivalent to what you might find in an antique mall and then periodically listed the furniture on Craigslist and had a weekend sale. Folks who came out to buy furniture could shop the small stuff that wasn't listed on CL. So I went there to buy dining room chairs from the CL listing and came home with the chairs, a pair of cute lamps, and a small table. After going the first time, I looked forward to seeing her posts on CL because I knew she would have stuff worth a look. Don't know if that kind of idea would work where you live, but it might be a way to move things out without paying rent. I had great luck selling things on CL before we moved. Always got my price and was happy to see the things go home with people who liked them.

Thanks, amy & leafy. Interesting what you report, amy. Watching the things I like to collect on eBay, I can say that there is a *lot* less going recently, and what does go goes for lower prices. I appreciate your nice words about my little habit :) I'll keep focusing energy on it and see what comes...

leafy, I have now gotten rather leery of having tag sales, after the one I've ever had (in NC) ending up in lots of things just walking away, despite the two of us trying to keep track. In a swarm, you just can't see what happens. What you describe sounds kind of cool, like she was building up a clientele in her own way...maybe for bigger things I'll do that sometime, not the smaller things.

Very interesting ideas, all of them--thanks so much!

I think frequent turnover of merch keeps people coming back. Having stuff hang around, week after week, doesn't entice anyone. Price it to move, head 'em up and move' em out, like the old TV theme song says.

Fly, I'm planning on doing just what leafy described. I'll have the garage doors closed though so all customers will have to enter and exit through the service door making it less likely for them to get away with anything significant. The "register" be in a locked in a built in cabinet with the key in my pocket. I'll probably ask a friend to help allowing them to bring things of their own to sell and have a second pair of eyes keeping track of shoppers.

A former neighbor of mine did the garage sale thing - a smallish group of higher end items on an intermittent basis. She told me that advertising antiques brings people in.

I know a girl that has a "junk" business. :0) She answers FREE CL adds. Says people have storage units where people have not paid the rent or rental homes where people moved out and left everything. She answers these adds, then sells the items out of garage sales, on CL or hauls scrap metal to the scrap yard for money. "no rent fees and nothing invested in the items for sale". Just another approach.

I second taking a look at etsy. Better than ebay, imo. I believe it's free also. Maybe a small listing fee, but no percentage of sells. I thought about looking into it myself for "things to good too give to Goodwill." Also, I've bought a several things from etsy this past week... and my favorite antique store.

From what I've seen in my area, the better antique stores are not hurting. Better does not = higher in price merchandise, btw. I mean the large, good mix, good prices stores. I noticed the store I visited this week has several really good new dealers in spaces that were usually crap. As a whole, I'd say that store is better now than it's been in the past two years.

We have a 10K sf tenant antique store. He told me he has a waiting list of dealers wanting in his location. It's farther from where I live, and I don't get over there as often as DH would like. It's also not as large as "my favorite," so I don't go too far out of my way to visit.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Another vote to check into Etsy -- might suit your needs a bit better! Many antique malls have closed around DFW -- with folks doing EBay and Etsy. And of course the monthly larger shows like the First Monday show at Canton, TX.

And of course folks are selling smaller items right on their blogs too. A great way to get started -- and generate blog buzz on your taste and decor ideas.

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Just as buying a house, it's location, location, location, as well as stability of the particular mall. The mall i'm in has been around for 11 years, is *right* off the highway, and in a center where there is other shopping~fabric store, thrift store, appliance store, video store, hair/nail salon, dollar store, and drug store. It would be even better if the majority of stores were the type to cater to women. A mall with all antique/consignnmet/thrift stores would be an ideal location as they're all basically selling the same things, so people tend to go from store-to-store.

As for the 10%, it isn't given automatically at our store as a first time shopper wouldn't be familiar with this 'rule'. If you don't inquire, you won't get it. The mall also takes it's cut, a flat 9% rig off the top, which seems too much to me. I also mark ND(no discount)on tickets of items under $50, that way if someone knows about the 10% rule, they automatically will *not* get it~I also use it on items that have only been in the space 3-4 months. I have sales every so ofter, sometime on everything, other times on specific items, such as furniture~the sales are usually week-end/holiday/one-week sales, and are 15% or 20% off.

If you have very 'taste specific' items, you might generate a clientele after awhile. All my furniture is painted blue/glazed, and on the ticket referenced as 'Romantic French'. I use a blue ribbon to tie on hand-made tags~smaller items have sticky tags. The space is set up 'vignette' style, rather than things spread our sporadically, or keep like colors together as *I* find it more appealing, as well as more likely to catch the eye.

As far as pricing, the manager, as well as other vendors, say to price higher, since most people will make an offer if they feel the price is too high anyway. It's sort of a starting point~in most cases, a person will want 20% off, but i'll only give 10% or 15%, again because of the 9%. The mall takes care of the taxes, so when my tax statement comes in the mail(twice a year),I reference the mall as paying~a lot less hassel for me!

All in all, it's been a neat experience. Meeting people who share the same interests and have been 'been in the biz' for awhile can be quite helpful. I had never been to an auction, now I go at least once a month! It will be a year for me in April, and all I can tell you is it's a month-to-month business, some good, some better, some bad. It *ain't* about the money! For myself, as well as many people I talk to, it's about the *passion* of either collecting certain things, the 'hunt', or the creative aspect. I love painting the furniture cause that's my creative outlet, and re-arranging the space is my decorating outlet. It's a fun 'job', with no pay. ;o)

Wow, thanks so much for all the input! I'm really sick today or I'd reply to each one individually...but I'll look at etsy more than I have (I find it a bit unwieldy to work with, so I have avoided it in the past) because of their low fees.

I'll chime in...I have 3 booths now, 2 in one mall and one in another mall about 10 miles away. The one in my town is much more "family" like and the owners are very hands on with their dealers and with the business as a whole and have been really great to work with and more than helpful to me in many ways (pricing, advice on items etc). this was my first location and that booth (10 x 10) has done pretty well and seems to get better every month. I just added a 6 x 10 space in the same mall that will be primarily furniture. I just got it up and running yesterday.

So far I have always made my rent and had profit in both spaces/malls. My second (and newest space in the other nearby mall) is much smaller (6.5 x 6.5) surpirsingly you can pack a lot of goodies in even such a small space. I have in there now 4 pieces of normal sized furniture, I'm using a bakers rack and shelves and a media rack for displaying items. I built a wall using doors and on this surface area, I have hung many items, so I have well use of this small space and of course the tops of the dresser and the end tables are fair game for displaying. This mall is much more "business" and the demeanor of those working the mall and the owners is not really too warm and fuzzy. So I"m much more on my own there.

What I have learned (and trust me there is NO formula for the perfect success in this type of business) but what I believe is vital is VARIETY or a very specialized line of products that no one else has. Imagine if you only had one theme or one type of item in your booth, IF the people coming in are NOT looking for that particular type of item, they most likely will pass your booth by. IF however you have a variety of different things for sale, you are more likely to draw them in and once they stop at your booth and start looking they will see all the things you have in your space, so variety will give you a broader market base. I have also always heard that the more experienced (and more successful booth owners) attribute their success to regularly working your booth (new inventory, new types of items, sales, changing things up, moving stuff around regulary etc to create a more visually pleasing booth)

Acutal numbers of people coming in is important too. The traffic is VERY different in these 2 malls, for example the one (in my town) is more dependant on repeat local buyers where as the other is right off a major interstate and get's 75% of it's business from travelors. So how to cater to both? That's what I'm still learning to do, but what I am seeing is that it requires attention to the small details and my booths have already evolved several times in just a few short months I have been at this. (Dec 15th for the first and Feb 1st for the second)

Outside advertising has tremendously helped me in both locations as well. I post individual items on both CL and about 4 other local online sites with pictures of the items as well as the overall booth. I have sold more than 60% of everything sold so far by the folks coming in specifically for an item they saw online etc. HUGE!!!

Pricing is important as well. Something you hear alot (or I do when I ask for advice on pricing) "do you want to move it or keep it" clearly pricing is key. I do not want a great looking, well stocked museum.

This is food for thought too on a booth where you are paying rent. Every square foot of space costs you something every month. So if you have an end table that is 24 inches x 24 inches and your rent (for example) is $2.00 a square foot per month. EVERY MONTH YOU HAVE THAT TABLE COSTS YOU $4!!! So again, lets say you have $7 in it ($5 for the piece and $2 for paint) and you have it marked $40 ($33 profit) If it's there for 3 months your profit just dropped from $33 to $21) In contrast you list it for $30 ($23 profit) and it sells in the first month ($4) you have made $19 profit and now have space for another item to sell there. It's very important to see this business in mathematical terms, it will help you price things LOW so that they will move quickly and you get the chance to make profit ON LOTS OF THINGS, not just a big payday on ONE OR TWO.

I would invite you to PM me and I'll talk to you about a smaller group of ladies who are very much in the same boat that you are, they want to repurpose/refinish/redo furniture etc and sell it as a business (either in a mall or from their homes) to make a decent profit. And this might be a great group for you to consider (by invitation only :) to get feedback and help with your plans and your projects.

I know these are not the only considerations in making a successful venture in a mall, but I've gone ON AND ON...and need to shut up now ;) I would add that if you have a set up that would be conducive to selling from your home, that I would explore that option FIRST, get your name out there, get your stuff out there, get some following online etc and do it all with no overhead (or at least no rent) and then branch out to a mall.

Hope that helps you some anyway!!

It definitely helps, rjinga--so much good info in there. I'm going to save this thread to review and refer to for a long time.

A question to allison: would you share what kinds of things you buy from etsy? I have been poking around there today and I see so many felted bunnies etc...that can't be what you're buying, can it? :) I know they have "vintage" categories but I must be missing something--I'm not seeing what I would expect there.

And teacats: I missed your idea about selling from a blog--I saw also that people sell from their flickr accounts! (or photobucket, picasa, etc.) Interesting idea there too...

I enjoyed reading your post, Rhonda. There's always food for thought or something to learn from this forum! as for the sq. ft. thing, I like to stack things to make the most out of that 12"x12" space. On a vanity bench i've stacked a small bookshelf, 2 trays, metal planter w/greenery, books, and underneath a large picture, tray, soup tureen, cooking utencils, bowl, and a vase. What you stack needs to be secure and non-breakables. There's always gonna be accidents, but too much stuff stacked up doesn't need to be the cause. ;o)

rjinga, I meant to add that I appreciate the invitation to PM you -- I'm not repainting furniture--I have a too-fast-growing habit of collecting 20th c. pottery/glass/art and that's what I want to sell. Would it still apply?

RJ - I've only read the first 2 paragraphs, thanks in advance!

Bumping so allison will see this, with any luck...

If Allison replies, hope she reads this too.

A, to have the toiletries, you would need to buy wholesale, and it's usually in large increments where you get the best deals. Some brands won't allow their merchandise to be sold just anywhere as they prefer a high end mall/store. I worked at a small gallery in San Diego where we carried the Thymes Collection and that's what I was told by the rep. In the same vein, I had a few boxes of unopened soap petals that I put in my booth, but even with a price of $5 they haven't sold. If there's one think I know about antique malls, it's the customers are usually looking for anything of a certain vintage/age, and new stuff doesn't sell, but I still like the idea. ;o)

Patty, I didnt know you lived in SD...I moved from there to GA in 04. Lived in SD for 15 years.

And thanks for commenting on my short novel, I'm glad that I can contribute. I'm sure that as time goes on (and I become a real seasoned dealer ha! ;) I may have more to share :)

I had another thought for you FLY...what about doing home "parties" not sure that's what you would want to call them. But I'm thinking of a select, invitation only preview/sale of your items. Or do small group viewings by reservation. This would allow you to control the crowd if you did it at your home. Make it kinda upscale, so as to discourage the "yardsale" price mentality. Serve beverages and finger foods etc. That may be way off from what you are thinking. But I think if you can target a group to sell to, you might be able to do something unique like that. You are more than welcome to still PM me. Maybe you can visit the site and decide if it fits for you.

Another thought is to see if there are ladies social groups in your community and see if there is ever an opportunity to have a show for them, (kind of like the idea of a fashion show, but with your art/etc). Of course they would have the opportunity to buy the items afterwards.

Hi, Allison. Do you mind telling me which store you are talking about that's better than it's been in 2 years? I no longer live in Birmingham, but still get over to shop occasionally. Every so often, I'll take a day and just come over and antique shop. My favorite is Hanna. Thanks for your help!

Bumping so allison will see this, with any luck...

Sorry, been gone all day. I shop the vintage or handmade section on etsy. I've bought new pottery (jars with lids) for pets I've had cremated. Bet you weren't expecting that one! lol I thought they deserved something nicer than shiny urns that don't "go" with my decor and would be banished to a closet somewhere. Several of antique etchings (architectural and one of a horse), a pair of antelope horns, vintage salt & pepper shakers (don't laugh, only 1 pair after searching locally for something to leave on table), an antique horse harness with brass, a small handcrafted/faux deer head with metal antlers (mounted on wood - I know that one sounds weird, but it is in DS guest room and really cute 12" tall.) Okay, here's the photo from etsy...I cleaned off all the dust after it arrived. Why they hadn't before they took picture, I do not know:

Also a ceramic plate (new), an old inlaid box with an dog on the top (embossed), and some old pieces of horse tack/bridle brass to group together/frame. Will go with horse etching from etsy and one I bought locally, and the harness in the laundry room. We live in a horse community and I grew up owning horses, so it's fitting.

I have other things in my favorites - like transferware (old) and some pillows (new, handmade).

Patty cakes, the antique store I'm referring to has mostly bars of French soaps, small candles, etc. Most of these dealers go to Atlanta market and buy this type of thing from what I overheard. fwiw, I don't buy the soap, candles either but in a pinch, I may be tempted if I needed a gift.

jackie, yes. I'm talking about Hanna's. My children are 22/DD2, 24/DS and 26/DD1. When I wasn't having a #4, we got a Miniature Schnauzer and I named her Hanna. If DS had been a girl, DD2 would have been Hanna.

Awwww Allison, that's my *only* GD's name, and with no 'h' on the end, either. Youngest DD will be having a baby girl at the end of July, so i'll be getting a second little 'princess'. She might be Lillie, but we haven't officially voted yet.

I love the dear head! I have a friend who has several pairs of antlers, as well as an antler chandelier. She would love the head~will have to check out etsy. ;o)

Hi Allison--Thanks! NOW I'm seeing where to go! I have to search vintage, not just the terms I'm interested in, because it defaults to handmade. I can find folks who have items like mine now. (Although I read in the community part that the artists really don't like that there are so many resellers there now...the handmade are feuding with the vintage, as it were. But I don't need to get into that.)

The way is clear :)

Thanks, Allison! Obviously, I need to get over there VERY soon!