Closing a Booth

One benefit of having a booth is that there is a great deal of flexibility.  You can work on it as much and as often as you like.  You can even take a break from it entirely.  That's exactly what I'm about to do.  At the end of this month, I am closing my booth.  I have no idea how long my break will last.  I may even explore other  selling options.

If you have been following this blog or my Facebook page, you may know that my husband died.  After seeming perfectly strong and healthy, he was suddenly diagnosed with cancer back at the end of October.  He died May 7th.  As you can imagine, I am reeling.  I find myself not even knowing who I am.  We'd been married for 36-1/2 years and even though I considered myself to be a very independent person, it seems I was mistaken.  I feel like half of me is gone.

In addition to the overwhelming emotions, there are tons of details to be taken care of when settling affairs.  There are also tons of things I now take care of that my husband used to be in charge of.  I find myself with absolutely no interest in having a booth, which is unexpected.  I have more things than ever to sell, but just don't want to deal with keeping up a booth.  A break is exactly what I need.

I won't be completely out of the biz.  I will continue doing the Facebook page for Collectors' Corner.  I hope to get back to more posts here, as well.  Working on the computer in the evenings is therapeutic.  It's work that feels more like play nd it keeps my mind from dwelling on sad things.

Closing a Booth  - When you sign up to have a booth, you generally sign a contract and agree to keep your booth for at least a certain amount of time.  Six months seems to be the norm.  If you have a major life event, most store owners will work with you if you need to close a booth before that.  If you want to close before your 6 months is up to move to another store or because you are just tired of it, that's not OK.  You'll lose your deposit and you'll not be able to change your mind and come back in the future.

If you plan to close your booth, I highly recommend that you do everything you can to close on a positive note and on very good terms with the owner.  Give AT LEAST 30 days notice.  That's probably on your contract. No bad mouthing. Leave your booth looking clean and nice.  Make sure it's completely empty before the last day of the month.  Don't burn any bridges.  Leave in a way that if you ever wanted to return, you'd be welcomed.

Most owners are used to vendors coming and going.  It's the nature of the business.  Even so, some owners may take it personally.  Just do your best to stay on friendly terms.  If the owner really likes you and is desperate to keep you around, he/she owner may even try to sweeten your deal.  A popular mall with a vendor waiting list won't need to do that unless they consider your booth to be a major draw.

My exit will be easy.  I had met my contract time.  I have a good reason for leaving - a major life event.  I gave more than 30 days notice.  I will be sure to have everything out of my booth before the end of the month.  Lori, the owner, was super nice about the whole thing.  When I'm ready to come back, I feel certain I'll be welcome.  I left my previous store on very good terms as well and still consider everyone there a friend.

Clearance Sales - You'll probably want to have a clearance sale so you won't have so much to lug home.  You may want to mark some things down or you may want to mark everything down.

If you are having a sale, make BIG signs to put in your booth. Signs printed on standard size paper just aren't that effective, even if you have several of them scattered around your booth.  Don't be lazy when you are having a sale.  GO BIG!   Spend a little time making an attention getting sign.  It will pay off!  A large chalkboard on an easel is my personal favorite, but there are other wonderful options.  After you put out your sign, stand way back from your booth and see if you notice it.

When to take things out of your booth - If you are moving your booth from one store to another, you may want to do it all in one fell swoop, which is exhausting.  Depending on your move in day at the new store, you may be able to do it all in one day.  If there's a few days wait til your new space is available, then your options depend on your vehicles and storage.

If you are closing entirely and have to take things home, I highly recommend getting a head start.  Start by bringing home the things you don't mind keeping.  Leave things you seriously hope will sell til the end and make them look as fabulous as you possibly can!

Even though I won't 

have a booth, 

at some point, 

I will begin exploring 

other selling options 

- Etsy, Ebay, yard sales, markets.  

I have sold on Ebay in the past, but, frankly, it's been a while.  I have things to sell that would be a good fit for each of these venues.  Each venue is a bit different.  I'm not sure when I'll get started on that, but when I do, I plan to post about it.

I have said in the past that in this business, it helps to have other outlets for sales.  For instance, sometimes, when you have a nice collectible item, you can sell it online faster and for more money than you might be able to in a booth.

Part Time Booths - I am taking a break because of life circumstances, but there are other business reasons where some people may benefit from having a short term booth - 6 months on (enough to fulfill the contract), followed by a break.  The key is to figure out what you expect from this business and how to get it.  Rent comes out every month regardless of whether you are selling or not.  Some months are typically slow and may be a perfect time to take a break.  April, May and June seem to be the slowest for me.  Depending on what you sell and where you sell, you may have other months that are your worst.  I have talked more about the part time booth concept in this post - A Short Term Booth.


Now, I need to take my own advice - I still don't have a large fabulous sale sign in my booth.  I guess I'd better get off the computer and get busy, right?

A Short Term Booth

Not every vendor wants to work at a crazy pace all year long keeping up a booth.  Some would prefer to take it a little slower.  A part time booth could be the answer for many vendors.

One option is to only keep a booth open part of the year and use the rest of the year to gather and prepare and relax.  Most malls want a contract for 6 months, so that's what I'll discuss here.   I'm going to work up a little pretend example.  Meet Doris.  She has a booth for 6 months of every year.

Doris has a booth every year from October til the end of March.  That seems to work best for her.  During the months Doris has no booth she is able to devote her extra time to treasure hunting and fixing up.  She spends many Fridays and Saturdays going to yard sales looking for bargains.  She uses her other days to paint, clean, price and sort.

Doris likes to have nice vignettes in her booth, so as she begins to accumulate a nice pile of treasures, she begins looking for themes.   She has storage space in her basement, so she can easily sort things into display groups.  She looks for good color combinations and what items are used for.  Kitchen things are put together.  Desk items together.  Bedroom items together.  You get the idea, right?

As it gets closer to time to open, Doris has a pretty good idea of the order of her vignettes.  She doesn't put everything in at once.  Her booth needs to look pretty darned good for 5 of her 6 months.  The last month (March)  is her clearance sale month and people are more forgiving then.

Doris rents her booth for $200 a month.  That's $1200 for 6 months.  If she had a booth for 12 months, she'd spend $2400, so that's a pretty good savings.  She'd also have to work a whole lot harder.  Doris is a vendor who does it for fun and a little pocket money.  The part time booth gives her more time to enjoy life while keeping her profits a tiny bit better.  It gives her more time to relax and enjoy her family.  Doris is not on the high-speed-buy-sell treadmill the whole year.

The "Doris Example" is a 6 months on, 6 months off plan.  That's just one option. Some might want to have a booth from August to June - when their kids are in school.

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If you think this plan might work for you, 

there are some downsides to consider. 

The riskiest part is finding a booth exactly when you need it.  You should begin talking to mall owners a couple of months before you hope to start up.  If a coveted booth opens sooner, it might be good to jump on it.  Some years, you may not get a booth til a month or two after you planned to open.  It's a risk.

The booth you get will likely not be in a prime location.  It's more likely to be in an out-of-the way spot with bad lighting.  Don't let that stop you.  A good vendor can make lemonade out of lemons.  If your booth has good stuff, it will sell.  If it's displayed well, it will sell even better.

Some mall owners may not like that moving in and out.  You might seem less serious.  However, if you show them that you are bringing in great items that sell and are a wonderful booth vendor all around, they may be happy to have you on the terms you want.  If all goes well, they will look forward to you returning each year.

Moving in and out of booths can be a hassle.

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Another option is to partner with a vendor friend.  You could find a booth you both like and instead of giving it up, the friend could take over.  Some malls might want you to use the same vendor number.  If so, you'd have to work together pretty well to split profits on payday.

During transition times, it might be nice for the leaving vendor to be able to remove things slowly and the incoming vendor could bring things in slowly.  Or it may be that some things can be left in.  Maybe just the large items are removed when the next person takes over.

Some malls might not like this plan.  The owner may not realize that it's actually to their advantage.  Every so many months, they'd have a fresh vendor with fresh merchandise.  I usually recommend being very honest, but if you are going to use this plan, it might be best to let people assume the two of you are partners year round.  No one needs to know your plan really except the two booth partners.  There are all sorts of options for making this scenario work.

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This whole idea of part time boothing highlights one key benefit to the life of a booth vendor.  It's flexible!  You make of it what you want.  I love that.