Mad Maine Vintage Shop

This little blog will chronicle my ventures into selling vintage items in a local antique market.
My booth is called Mad Maine Vintage Shop - it features items inspired by a certain popular TV show,
and I am located in lovely Maine. Viva Vintage!



Thursday, April 11, 2013

Sales - Good or Bad?

Looking dapper for the upcoming sale. 

My antique market where I have my vintage booth is having a spring sale starting this Saturday and which will last a week.  The vendors can decide if they want to participate or not, and every time there has been a sale, I have noticed a pretty big increase in my own sales.  I have always put 25% off on my booth.  Some vendors do 50%, some do 30%, some do 25% and some only do a measly 10% off.  A few don't participate at all.

Last time there was a sale, I overheard another vendor complain about the sales and how he did not want to participate, but felt forced to do so since the rest of the place was full of rebate signs.  It never occurred to me that a sale would be a bad thing - after all it drives in customers, speeds up turnover, and even I enjoy shopping in the other booths a bit more.  Also, I make sure to price my items so that a sale will not void my profits.  Why would sales be bad for business?  Please educate me!

Do you like sales?  Do you notice a big difference in your own sales?

7 comments:

  1. If I'm at an antique mall, I always take notice of the sale booths!!

    Hope you have good sales!

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  2. The antique booth we sell at also has a yearly sale, which is coming up next week. It'll be our first one, since we just started selling in January. It's 20% off the whole store and everyone has to participate, though they warn you in advance in case you want to raise some of your prices. We're just hoping to sell a lot and move some merchandise! Glad to hear that's been your experience with your booth! -Melissa @Scavenger Hunt

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  3. The antique mall in has several sales a year, and I do 25%. Almost all the booths participate, from 15%-50%. The winter sale is the whole month of February, there's another sale the last week of April, then about 10 days in November, and finally the last week of December. I'm new at this as of January, but my sales were great during the February sale. I take the sales into consideration when pricing and don't lose money. When I was a shopper and not a dealer, I always shopped the sales at this mall and never bought from the few dealers who didn't participate. The way I see it... all stores have sales, and a booth is no exception. I see it as a great opportunity to encourage repeat customers. -Helene (HelenesBooth42 on Facebook).

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  4. The antique malls in my area never have sales~ that's why I don't bother checking them out!
    Hope your sale goes well!

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  5. I usually do 20-25%, and always have increased sales. I think of it as a "Thank You" to my customers!

    Love your blog, and those mugs are adorable!

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  6. Yeah, I have found that sales are a good thing. I run a sale all the time for 15% off of any item over $10. People seem to love it and it also keeps the front counter people from having to deal with lots of questions about extra discounts.

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  7. I think it brings people in, which is always good. I've found that I sell more things on sale than with "best offer" on ebay, which is unfortunate, but the status quo.

    It's good to know your audience, I guess.

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