I think the best way to do this would be renting a booth at street fairs or craft shows where there are a lot of shoppers. If you had it at your house, it'd feel more like a yard sale - for some reason I never buy craft type things at yard sales, but will at a craft show or street fair. Not sure why it makes a difference to me. Booths in the flea market/craft stores are really expensive - I've tried that myself and found that any profits were eaten up by the high rent.

Good luck! Sounds like a fun endeavor.

You may be right, Lydia. That might be a lot of ther peoples' mind set, too. I pay $65.00 monthly for a booth at the flea market/antique mall in a nearby small town. Have sold a few trash to treasure type things there.

Anybody else?

Now THERE'S a business to get into. Buy an old parking lot and turn it into a flea market to sell stall space. No maintenance, just some taxes, no upkeep. Just cash the checks.

I would love to go someplace like that, but too many people just don't have the ability to look at junk and think of something else. I tried to sell my planted ladder at my garage sale a couple of weeks ago. Only one person looked at it and I think she was only looking at it for the idea.

I wouldn't go with a garage sale. People want dirt cheap there. I think flea market atmosphere is the way to go. I don't like crafts at garage sales either. It cheapens the workmanship. I made an exception for my kids and their windspinners, but I also made a sign that it was their fundraiser. I think if you had a more formal sign like Trash To Treasure, you could command a little more money. If you are actually fixing the stuff up yourself, you could also try a craft show.

I think if you did it once or twice a year, you could call it a Back Yard Bazaar, or some such, and do it when people are getting into the shopping for gifts mode, you might be able to sell quite a bit of stuff. People are more prone to buy the different when it's at a bazaar or craft sale.

Sounds like it would be a fun endeavour.

Yep, Marg, I think that's the way the two women who wrote the "Junkmarket" book do it. They say it's a fulltime job and I figure as "big" as they've gotten - it probably is! LOL

A business here does what you are talking about. They take furniture and paint it/fix it up and sell it at a big ol' profit. I think their SECRET is in the snazzy set up, they use a big white tent, put down a thick layer of HAY on the floor and all the furniture looks new since it was just painted (usually white primer) and they put out high-end accessories on the tops of them, like those big expensive french country iron roosters, and gorgeous floral displays (they contract with a local florist). That is all they sell is this painted (primed) furniture and these high end accessories.

You would not believe the type of people they draw in every month, very wealthy people with million dollar homes that FIGHT over this trash furniture.

Also make sure the name of your 'business' reflects a feeling that would attract some people that maybe wouldn't make it to this type of thing like: shabbiness, french country, romantic, etc.

This 'business' works one weekend a month, has over time sent out flyers to its best customers to remind them, and from what I can see does very well. Hope this helps.

Now, that's the type of setup that I figured would work, E & E's Mom! Thanks for all the ideas.

I'm going to have to investigate the "Junkmarket" book. And, good luck on your endeavour. All the pictures you've posted here are things I'd certainly buy, OR go home and reproduce, if I could find the right "fixins".

Let us see pictures of your stock.

If only I had a basement or a garage, or a workspace of some sort, I'd be in this as a profitable hobby.

The amount of good stuff people throw away here is astonishing. You know the stuff; good bones, sturdy, but ugly finish, or incomplete. I love picking stuff up, refinishing or painting or otherwise fixing it up, then giving it to friends. Sometimes it's simply touching something up, like the wrought iron patio set that had some rust spots, sometimes it's a little more complex, like the faux leopard finish and fancy hardware I put on an otherwise boring dresser. And sometimes it's wild, like the fringed shade and lamp kit I used on a mannequin leg.

My neighborhood has a yearly neighborhood-wide sale where I've sold some stuff like that, for fairly decent prices. It's a fairly upscale neighborhood, and lots of people come to spend the morning -- and a lot of money - walking up and down the streets. There are a pair of guys up the street from me who accumulate stuff in their garage all year, and those who know make a beeline for their place even before the sale starts. (This year they had a "pre-sale" the night before!)

There is also a store in the neighborhood that specializes in sort of funky re-dos of furniture; last time I was there they had a lot of stuff they were selling on consignment -- could that be an option you might look into?

I'd love to do more of this stuff, but my apartment is so tiny I have very little room to work. And I have no storage, so I have no place to accumulate it once I'm done. But good luck -- it's a fun way to make a little money from a lot of fun!

E and E's mom...do you live in VA? It sounds like you were describing a real popular business in Leesburg where the owners are open one weekend a month and have tons of sales? It's called "Four Shabby Chicks."

There are some women in my community who have combined forces/expenses to rent an old barn a few times a year to hold seasonal sales. Their stuff is lovely and varied, and their sales are very popular.

Last fall I sold at a small craft show for the fist time in years, I did OK, but it was not a large turnout, I sell some of what I make at a local Sunday flea market that's outside and only $10.00 for two parking spaces, (one for your truck and one for your stuff), if you put stuff in two spaces and move your truck he will charge you for both spaces. Go figure. My friend always comes and we either split a spot or I take 1 -1/2 spots because her truck is small. I've sold several of my mosaics made from broken dishes (and coffee mugs!), christmas wreaths I made with grapevine wreaths I got dirt cheep last year at TS, I glued vintage and new ornaments all over them and also the picture frames decorated with broken jewelry sold. I just started to take some of the totems I've made, and have sold two. I will sell again next week and have lots of stuff I've made in the last three weeks to try. Main problem is I like a lot of what I've made, but I can't keep it all, our house is small! This is my favorite "patio table" I've made, it's just a large heavey glass plater, large candle stick, and a vintage pressed glass plate for base. PJ