How to our scroll saw items sell at yard, garage, rummage sales????

[TheMelster]

  I have yet to try selling my projects.... any comments?

[Jim Finn]

This past Saturday I went to a small street fair that they hold once a month in a small Texas town.  There were a total of seven vendors and not very many shoppers.  My highest priced item is $25.  I sold $386 worth of crafted items, including toy guns, cedar boxes, crosses , stars and signs with lettering.  I averaged $250 per sale last year and averaged $200 the year before that.  I do much better at, once a year, festivals in the fall.   I sell well at a large indoor flea market they have here, but never tried garage sales.  Remember when at a sale you are competing with every vendor there for the same money no mater what they are selling.

[Danny]

Well I can tell you that its where you live that makes the difference in what people will pay for a Scroll Craft.  Here in Huntsville, Alabama the majority of peoples are down right cheap.  Have experimented with the Flea Market thing and its a waste of time.  Garage sales has to be the same.  People go to these type of places to pay a dollar for a ten dollar item.  I do....do ONE BIG Craft Show each year, but its a Annual thing and thousands of peoples come thru and for this type of sales I have did in my mind very, very well.  All I can really say is you have to get your feet wet to know the difference.  Good Luck....Danny :+}

[Dan26]

I had a couple of small items I had my wife put out on a yard sale for a couple of buck...no takers. I put them out at a craft show and they sold...for a decent price. I think the venue has a lot to do with it. I agree with Danny, yard sales and flea markets are where people want to get something for nothing. I think you have to try what you are comfortable with. If something doesn't sell, don't take it personal, just move on to a different venue. Good luck!

[mrsn]

Around here people go to yard sales looking for bargains. I see lots of craft type things for pennies (although usually not sold by the crafter) I have even bought a couple to use as patterns. My target audience isn't shopping at a yard sale.

[geneVG]

In the last two months I have went to our flea market here in Iowa, and I have averaged over $400.00 each month.  I would have to say stay away from garage sales, unless you want to sell our cuts for .25 or .50 cents. 

gene

[dirts]

You will be transferring from constant positive creative gift craft to a profit based, multi repetitive pattern craft that can open it up to a consumer based criticism which varies from supportive to cold frankness.  People love homemade creative gifts and that will support and not dampen your spirit.  Non sales or ill thought consumer frankness can sometimes weaken enthusiasm.  You have to not confuse non sales with non acceptance. The people that love your work were not present at that peticular time and place. Creative gifts alway find a great audience. Some are able to transfer and some dampen.  But what You should always know is that scrollsawing is a fantastic creative hobby that is very therapuetic.  It always comes down to ying and yang and balance.  Most people use this fantastic hobby to bring positive balance to the reality of life.  You can't be mad and smile at the same time.  Scroll sawing is like a smile.
Food for thought.

Maybe heavy but I gave you my all.
Just do it and enjoy.

[Al W]

We do a LOT of garage sale looking, yep some buying too, during the "season".  I believe there are some folks that try to sell during garage (rummage) sales, but know they are not going to get the value of thier woodworking at this type of sale.

Even something I can print the pattern, cut the wood, sand and finish in an hour is worth way more than what I can feasilby obtain at a garage sale.  Best I would hope for at a rummage would be a buck or so.  I think my time alone is worth more that a dollar an hour.

Rambling thoughts.

[TripleB]

I have a lil different take on the Garage sale thing. I held a garage sale last Sept. and threw my items on a table as an after thought. To make this short, I didn't sell any of my scroll saw projects, garage sale people aren't looking for new and unique, they are looking for old and cheap. With that said, It was the best thing I could have done!

One guy was so impressed with the work I made that he has become a regular customer, I have been making scroll saw crosses for him since then. The easy way to put my advice to you is, the more people that see your abilities, the better your chances are of meeting that unexpected someone that will want your talents. No I didn't make a dime selling my items at the Garage sale, but you never know who you are going to meet.

Also at the same garage sale, someone that I don't even remember, mentioned that there was a lil crafts show going on in November at an Storage company. I went, same result, sold one item, but I met another vendor there, she happens to be the director of the annual airshow, the one where the Thunderbird's or Blue Angels appear every year. The show is 6 days long, after seeing my items she invited me to be a vendor at the show, the Airshow starts on March 27th this year. So the bottom line is, it's not always about selling stuff, it's about the potential to show off what you can do to people you don't know! I would recommend that everyone has a garage sale and shows off their stuff, just don't reduce your cost to make a sale, some times you just get lucky! I got lucky enough to turn a garage sale into a business!

Good Luck to you.

[crupiea]

My area is bargain city when it comes to yard sales so i need to do them a bit different.

I noticed the guy across the street sells these framed pictures of scarface and eagles and all sorts of ugly things that i would never buy but he will put out a few items and people will be lining up to buy them.

So i have a big sheet of plywood that i put some items out on when I work in the garage.  people walk by or stop to get a better look.

I can charge more this way then just lumping them in with all the yard sale jusnk people expect to get for $1.