Expenses

Sometimes at a show we will have someone offer us a ridiculously low amount for an item and when we turn it down inform us that we probably get our merchandise out of the garbage anyway. They seem to think we set up at these shows for free. I don't know why they feel they can be that rude to us, maybe they're like that to everyone. Anyway, what I wanted to talk about was the expense involved in selling at shows. First there's the rent itself. At small flea markets rent can be as low as $20.00 a space. For the larger shows though rent can be in the hundreds of dollars. The shows we routinely sell at range from $145.00 a space up to $260.00 a space. If the show is far from home we then have to pay for a motel room, another $65.00 to $95.00 per night. Nowadays the gas for the van is also a factor, another $20.00 - $40.00. Some vendors rent tables, electricity, table covers, etc. from the show promoters (we don't) and this adds even more expense. Then, remember that the items we have for sale were not free to us. We paid for them and when we sell something we have to subtract that cost from our profit. All in all, each shows starts with the vendors in the red, sometimes hundreds of dollars. We have to sell enough to defray all these expenses before we begin to make a profit. Please keep that it mind when you're dickering over the price on an object. It's not fun to us, we have bills to pay. My picture is of a, "Disney Dollar". These are sold at the Disney parks and can be used as money at these places. Disney collectibles are always popular.