Tips from Kevin Bruneau
Here's eight quick tips for buying and selling at flea markets or at auction.
1. Don’t blink – you might miss something!
2. Keep an eye out for the unusual. If you’ve seen it before, so have many others and it’s probably not that collectible.
3. Time is money. Focus on the areas where the best concentration of items that you are looking for are.
4. Quality, quality, quality – good stuff is easier to sell.
5. It’s all about margins – know them and study them. The price that an item has sold for in the past is a fair assumption as to what you can get for it today.
6. With that said, trends come and go, so pay close attention to them and adjust accordingly.
7. When looking to make a profit on your finds, remember that you are only as strong as your customer when it comes to what you can pay. Know your customers’ needs and spending habits – it will help you adjust your prices when buying.
8. It's OK to make mistakes. (Even Babe Ruth struck out now and then!) In the long run it will make you much more knowledgeable the next time...you always seem to lean more when you make a mistake.
