Check out my 10 tips for your antique booth! There are definitely way more than 10 tips for creating a good antique booth, but this is a good start! While I was out hitting up the flea market shops and antique malls I wanted to share some of my thoughts. As a business coach for antique dealers I tend to look at an antique booth, both for merchandise to resell, but also my mind is making a mental checklist of what the booth owner did or didn’t do well.
Want to learn more about my coaching group? Check it out!
Whether you are also an antique dealer or just a frequent customer because you love antiques, we all gravitate towards certain booths. And when you know why that is, then you can take those reasons and use them on your own booth or even in your home!
Tips for your home or antique booth
Lighting is key! I lived in an old ranch when I first got married and there wasn’t any overhead lighting in the very large living room. So, what do you do? You use lamps if electrical work and hard wiring is not in the budget. What should you do in your antique booth? Exactly the same thing. Add lighting. If the lighting is also for sale = bonus! You don’t want to take up your valuable real estate with things that aren’t for sale! And people want to know that the lights they purchase work, so having them plugged in helps with selling them too! That serves double duty! Lighting for your booth and more things for customers to buy!
Another tip you can use in your home is the placement or grouping of items. Odd numbers at varying heights tend to be very eye pleasing. Look around your home. How have you arranged items? Look at your booth. Have you grouped things together in odd numbers? Are the items of varying heights? If not, but 3 things together in a triangular shape and add books under something if you need to get more height. Leave some space and do it again. I often refer to these groupings as huddles in my Staging Your Antique Shop group. You want to huddle things together, leave some space and then do another huddle.
Tips for your antique booth
Do not have things on the floor or have your booth so crowded that a normal bodied person can’t fit inside. I consider myself average build and if I have to suck in or stand on my tip toes to get something, then your booth is too crowded. If an item wouldn’t be found on the floor in someone’s home, than it probably shouldn’t be on the floor in your booth. Try to get things up to waist and eye level.
And my absolute biggest pet peeve, ok, maybe just one of my biggest, is when antique dealers put tape on paper items!! Why would you ruin the antique that you are trying to sell? If I take that tape off and all of the paper comes off the piece, than that piece is ruined! Come up with price tag alternatives for delicate items. String, post it notes, place it in a clear bag, come up with something other than putting tape on it and ruining your antique!
In Summary
There are always going to be booths that are attractive and draw you in and there will always be booths that look like a dumpster and then there will be some that fall somewhere in between…BUT anyone with an antique booth can learn ways to create a better booth. And a better booth means that it attracts buyers and you make more sales! If you are interested in learning more tips, you can join my group for antique dealers HERE.
Now tell me, what are your tips for those struggling booths?
Flea Market Tips
Headed to a flea market? Checkout my tips for a great day at the flea market!
1 thought on “10 Tips for Your Antique Booth”
I found it interesting when you suggested adding lighting to both when selling antiques. This is a good tip for my sister who wants to sell vintage costume jewelry pieces that she has been keeping for almost a decade now. I will ask her to consider your tips so she can sell her pieces at a good rate.