Are You A Flea Market Negotiator?

I negotiate. Living in Asia, I got pretty good at it. A $4 item, though, just hand over the money.

peano
How about 78 RPM? 😊

No I don't. It's annoying to have people try it with me when I'm selling my stuff at an event, which is NOT a flea market.
"Would you take--" NO. You don't need to save $5 on my handmade items you cheap bastard. Go home. (Says me on the inside, on the outside I smile politely)

Well I should admit I did it once at an antique store when they were asking more than I truly wanted to pay, and they did agree. It was difficult for me to do! And I'd never try that with something made by the artist.

I never do it on vacation, either, although I know it's expected in some cultures and even enjoyed. I hate haggling. I just want to know the price.

Absolutely! I enjoy the back and forth banter of it and always give reasonable counter offers.  Definitely not trying to get something for nothing.  We spent years in countries where that was the norm, so it was sink or swim. DH is NOT a negotiator. I'm the one who takes care of it in our family. DD took after me (and my father) and does a lot of contract negotiations as part of her job. A few years ago DD was buying her first car completely on her own and asked me to go as a second set of eyes on the car (used). She specified that her father was not allowed to come because she planned to bargain and his method of shopping is to ask the price then write a check! .

My 12 year old dd had a booth at the local flea market this weekend to sell her tumblers, pens, keychains, etc. She also did a half booth last month. Between both weekends she only had 1 person negotiate with her and it was a fellow vendor. She asked if she would do a boy one, get one half off on her tumblers.

I was expecting it to happen more so had told her beforehand to know how she wanted to handle any offers.

My husband is the negotiator! Me - not so much. My kids - yes. They learned from the best. Oldest DD has bought 2 homes, and it quite savvy in those negotiations. My middle child bought her first new car on her own after college. The salesman told her dad he had never been impressed as much by someone that age. So polite, but firm in the deal. My son has the motto "if it's not free - it's not me" ... he got so many free shirts at conferences, etc. in High School and college. LOL He has negotiated higher salaries at his job too.

I am not at all a haggler ... but I also loathe going to flea markets and garage sales ... so if you've managed to get me somewhere like that, I'll just pay whatever the asking price is and try to get myself out of there asap

At a flea market, yes. At a store, no. I've made a couple of purchases a local antique stores recently and I probably could have gotten a little off by asking but I did not. They have their overhead and I didn't think either place was really thriving.

Absolutely, I will wrangle the best dang deal I can, my oldest daughter loves when I go with her to flea markets. She ha a list and gives me a set amount of money and a dare to get as much as I can for that amount. And I will. I rarely buy from craft vendors because they want to sell high, won’t make deal even if I want to more than two or three, etc so I avoid them like the plague. I might sli in a photo and go home Ang copy the idea—though, a little dealing and they could have some profit! I usually can beat or match her list which always surprises my daughter! Most sellers recognize that often quantity does mean more money in the long run. That does not mean I take advantage. I know what most items go for and refused to pay any more than an items worth and at a flea market, I expect to pay 50-60 % of open market value.

They only price on item I pay full value on is Girl Scout cookies and Boy Scout popcorn and there is always booths for them during there selling seasons and sometimes they get a little extra😉

If it's something inexpensive I never negotiate, higher prices I may try and get a couple dollars off. I think the reason I rarely ask is that the ones I do ask always say no. I have tag/garage sales about 3 times a year. I don't mind people asking for a deal but don't ask if I'll take 50% off.

There is a huge difference between an artisan selling handmade wares and someone with stuff made in a factory in China selling (possibly used) items at a flea market. The person selling their handmade things very likely wouldn’t be making much of anything selling 2-3 items with a “volume” discount because they’re most likely not getting their raw goods that they make their things out of at true wholesale prices. They’re also making each item one by one, by hand and with some level of skill which takes more time than a factory mass producing a similar thing. It’s not an apples to apples comparison.

What you think something is worth and what it’s actually worth could be two very different things. Many times people making and selling handmade items don’t adequately value their time and skill set so they price things lower than they should be to begin with, so to tell them their items should be worth even less than that is actually an insult, IMO. I see this all the time with cottage food bakers selling their hand decorated sugar cookies for $20-25 a dozen, and at that price after taking out COGS they’re not even making anything close to minimum wage and might as well go get a job at McDonald’s.

It’s one thing to see something at a craft or art fair and think, “hey I like that and have the skill set, tools and materials to make it myself for less,” and another thing entirely to then go on to do so. Go for it! Spend YOUR time making the thing. (But then please don’t take photos of MY product in MY booth that I’ve spent my time and money on so you can go home and copy it, that’s also just not cool.) A lot of the people who think that don’t actually go home and make the thing. I’ve realized that I’m one of them, so a few years back I decided that if I see something handmade and I really, REALLY like it, I’m just going to buy it from the artisan because the odds are very good that even if I have the skill set, ALL the equipment and ALL the materials, I don’t have the time or the patience to actually DO it. I love a good deal too, but having been on the crafter side of the register I know how crappy it feels to have someone devalue my time and skills in that way. Just some food for thought.

I don't go to flea markets or garage sales because I don't like to haggle for prices. I really hate it. And I will not throw a garage sale for the same reason. I threw one and it didn't matter what price I set. I could have said 1 penny and the person would say how about free? No thanks. I'd rather just donate it. The trouble of setting up for a garage sale isn't worth it.

I'm not unless I know that the event I am at thinks it is okay. My dad tries to haggle for everything that is homeowner repair related. I keep telling him these people need to make a living and he can afford to pay their prices.

That said, I make seriously detailed handmade jewelry. I never charge for all of my time because then my prices would be in the hundreds or thousands for most of my pieces. I have had many come up to me at high end art shows and try to haggle. I politely tell them that the price is firm and they can buy it or walk away. The only people I give a discount to are repeat customers who have bought from me at previous shows. I once had a show that was a fundraiser for Brandeis University. One woman brought me in for the show and she must have told all her friends that I would give a discount because she brought me into the show. They all came up and asked for a discount. I told all of them (including the original woman no). I reminded them that I had to pay a percentage of my sales. They got really nasty with me. When the coordinator contacted me to get my percentage, I gave her a percentage of my net sales, not gross. She got nasty with me and I told her that the all the shows I have done, asked for net NOT gross sales. Gross means I lose out on my materials cost and my time and my markup is so slim as it is. She didn't like it and I stood my ground. She then told me that they wouldn't be asking me back. I said that is fine and I explained that all her friends tried to get a deal from me and that would have eaten away at what the organization got. If she wanted more money, she needed to tell her friends to fork over what the items were worth and to try and stop getting a deal from the vendors. She was dumbfounded. I never went back.