De Anza Flea Market July 1st
I’ve signed up as a vendor for the De Anza Flea Market on Saturday, July 1st. Hopefully I’ll get a space under the solar panels. Once I know my booth number, I’ll let you know. If you’re in the area, I’d love it if you come by and say hi. Entry and parking are free!
As for inventory, my plan is to bring pretty much all my cards, boxes and card holders. Out-of-season cards and older cards will be $5. Other cards will be $10. There will be a quantity discount of Buy Two, Get One Free on all cards. I’ll accept cash, Venmo and Zelle.
This is the very first time I do anything like this, so I’m treating the event as a learning opportunity. Attendance will likely be sparse because it’s the weekend before Independence Day. A lot of people will take Monday off and make it a four-day weekend to spend somewhere else. My goal is to recoup the $50 fee. If I make enough to cover the supplies I’ll buy for the event, I’ll be ecstatic! 💃🏼
Recognizance tour
On my recognizance tour earlier this month there was only one cardmaker. She had a fantastic place for her booth. It was basically the first booth you saw when you entered from the parking direction. I can’t select a booth in that row because it’s not covered by solar panels and I don’t have a shade canopy. Those cost around $100 new, plus at least $50 for weights. So that’s an investment I’ll make later if I decide to do more in-person events. There will likely be plenty of canopies on Facebook Marketplace later in the year.
I leafed through some of the other cardmaker’s cards. They were not terrible but also not my cup of tea. She charged varying amounts for her cards, depending on how complex they were and the highest price I saw was $8.30. As far as I could tell she only accepted cash. I think I can charge more and I definitely want simpler prices and a simpler pricing scheme.
The next two weeks will mainly be about preparing for the event. 💸💸💸
Shopping list
Transparent bins for all my cards
Business cards
Business stamp
To do list
Laminated signs:
Shop logo with product list
Payment types accepted with QR codes
Prices and B2G1 offer
Bin dividers
Clipboard with newsletter sign-up sheets
Cards
Put all cards in card sleeves
Put cards in new bins
Box up envelopes and add them to bins
Ohlone College Flea Market
While poking around on Marketspread, I found out that Ohlone College in Fremont has a monthly flea market on the second Saturday of every month.
The cost is about the same as De Anza. A standard booth is $40. Add $5 for a one-day Fremont sales permit and $4 parking and it’s $1 cheaper than De Anza. The prioritize vendors from their catchment area, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to get a booth there. I’ll do a recognizance tour in July to suss out the audience.
Second Saturday in Campbell
I went to Second Saturday in Campbell last week. There were a lot of people and musicians, but I only saw two vendors. That’s probably why it’s free.
I’m not going to sign up for July because I’m going to Fremont instead. If Fremont doesn’t work out, I may sign up for August, though. That’s assuming that I enjoy selling IRL. Time will tell.
