I have been promoting online (mostly on Facebook, but also on Craigslist and a blog) for a fun vintage mall in GA for almost the entire time I had a booth there. I'll continue doing that after my booth closes.
I mention the promoting because that gave me the opportunity to study and learn from other vendors in a way few people get to do. I have tracked what sells and what doesn't and spent lots of time trying to figure out the psychology behind booth sales. I am constantly trying to figure out why things sell from some booths and similar items are ignored in others. I have studied which booths customers are drawn in to and which booths they usually walk past. When vendors ask me for advice, I usually have plenty to say. No one ever accused me of being too quiet.
I have wanted to figure out a way to help vendors for ages - not just the ones at the store I promote - vendors all over.
Hopefully, this blog (and the accompanying Facebook page) will become the VENDOR resource I envision. Being a booth vendor is hard work. Many customers assume that vendors are laughing all the way to the bank. Nothing could be further from the truth. Very few vendors earn a decent wage. (I have several posts planned on that topic!)
Most vendors are in the business because they love it. I was in the biz, knowing full well I could make more money elsewhere, as a way to make a little money while I decorated my house from vintage finds AND simply to have fun. I shopped for my home while I shopped for my booth! :-D Whatever the reason YOU are doing it (or thinking about doing it), you might as well be successful! I hope I can help.
I don't claim to know it all. I don't claim to be able to make anyone rich. I DO CLAIM that I will do my darned best to share plenty of tips and inspiration for running a successful booth. As this page (and its companion Facebook page) builds, I am hoping that other vendors will post tips as well. I have a funny feeling that this could turn out to be, as Martha would say, "a very good thing"! If you're a vendor, I sure hope you'll come along for the ride!
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Update: After a number of inquiries about my use of the words "screeching halt" and why I wanted to close my booth, I wrote THIS POST.