Selling Costume Jewelry in a Flea Market

Selling your costume jewelry in a flea market is a great way of getting your stock moving.  The key to success is making sure that your pieces are in good condition, of wide variety and priced according to your market.  

Listed below are a few steps that you should consider if you are contemplating selling your costume jewelry at a flea market. 

Know Your Market

It helps to know which flea market seems to have the most number of customers.  While this is important, you also need to know the number of stalls selling costume jewelry in those same flea markets.  On a good day, it helps to estimate the number of customers that go to a particular flea market and divide that by the number of costume jewelry stalls in the same area. This helps you decide which flea market to set up your stall.  

If this is your first time to set up a stall, this gives you the opportunity to determine what each jewelry stall does right, and what it does wrong.  Make a mental list of the type of jewelries they sell and how that stacks up to your own merchandise. Steer clear of flea markets that are over populated with costume jewelry stalls.  

Take the time to speak to the stall owners and probe on sales volumes and discounting habits. If you have similar items, take note of the sticker price to give you a clue of the possible income that you can generate.

Determine the exact dimensions of the stall you intend to lease. This will help you design and allocate tables, chairs and other display equipment you will need. Make sure that you arrive early to set-up the stall including all the jewelry you intend to sell.

Make sure you have enough tables and chairs, a presentable table cloth, your price tags, a cash box, the jewelry and other supplies that you will need to set up a display. It always helps to have a sign. This immediately tells the consumer what merchandise you provide.

Mirrors are great tools. Set them up on your table. People love to inspect jewelry on themselves before they make any purchases. Many hesitate to buy without the benefit of looking at how it would fit them. Some display companies sell mannequins and if you can get your hands on a couple, this would certainly help when selling your items. Even cheap costume jewelry will catch a higher price with displayed correctly.

Set your margins and your prices for each item. If possible, make a recording of each piece’s price and the quantity that you are selling. This will help you determine how much you actually made at the end of each day. Carefully indicate your price on a tag and attach it to each piece. When pricing, be aware of how much you are willing to discount each piece as many customers in flea markets tend to haggle for a lower price.

Your costume jewelry on display can be arranged by groupings such that all rings are in one tray, all necklaces together and all bracelets in the same display. Alternatively, you can always group by style. A ring that goes with a necklace and bracelet packaged together puts a whole style together. What’s more is by grouping you can actually sell more pieces by packaging a whole set together.