Thinkin of sellin some knives at flea market, want a bit of advice.

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GodKingVivec

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I know that Cutlery Corner has an awful reputation here, but hear me out. I saw a deal they have of 200. knives, tantos and a machete or two i believe, for 99 cents each, it seems like a decent investment to order them and sell them at my local flea market and make a bit of cash. Theyre supposed to be tremor knives, i was wondering if you guys think this is a good idea. Its just 198 bucks for the knives excluding SnH and 7 a day for market spaces. Any advice would be appreciated
 
It depends on your area. Knife Thursday last week had on a guy who owned a knife store that started off by selling Christ corner knives on the street. There have been people here who tried to do it and wound up wasting a lot of time and buy making very much money.
 
Here are questions you need to ask yourself:

How many other people are selling cheap junk knives?

Do I live in an area where knives are accepted?

Do I think the people who frequent the flea market are the kind of people who would buy a cheap junk knife?

My guess is if the answer to the last two questions is yes then the answer to the first question will be 'a lot'.
 
These knives are junk. However, at .99 each I suppose they actually intend that you will sell them. There is no love here for junky flea market knives. You've picked the wrong forum to get support for your idea. Please be aware that nobody here would ever purchase such a knife from them or from you at your flea market. There are probably a lot of people who know nothing of cutlery that would buy them from you. But you'd still be selling junk.
 
You never know until you try! It could be an easy way to double your money. Some people might like a very inexpensive knife, and some people can't afford nice knives.
Maybe as an impulse buy. But I agree that you should make sure there isn't 5 guys already selling them there.
 
You buy a load of those knives for $1 each, sell them for $2 or $3 each depending on size, and more than double your original investment. Sounds easy, huh?

So let's say no one else at the market has the same knives for sale as you, and so you sell 20 of them in a single day. That makes you $20-$30 'profit'. Sounds great huh, $30 for doing practically nothing and visiting with folks all day.

But... what about your expenses? Flea market booth fee, gas, lunch. So after a few expenses you clear $10.

Ten dollars for four hours of selling. That's $2.50/hr. Worth it?
 
If there's no other knife dealers, out there, why not?
Definetly scope the flea market out.
there's always guys out there who will buy a cheap knife.
But whatever you charge, start at a slightly higher price, since EVERYONE tries to dicker with prices at a flea market.
Offer 2 for 1 specials, or make it seem like you already marked the prices down.
Good Luck.
Don't expect to get rich, but if you have extra time, and can afford to take a chance, why not?
 
I bought into a similar deal a few years back, I was able to sell them to my employees and their kin, I stopped selling them once I made my money back due to how crappy they are. I still have 50-80 knives in my storage closet at the office. I'll give them out as a joke every once in awhile or pull them out just to break one for shits and giggles.

If I didn't think I could sell them conveniently at work I wouldn't have even thought about it. It's not worth it if you ask me.
 
LesserBeing is stating my plan almost exactly. There are usually two or three people selling some knives with other mics items, usually exclusively cutlery stands are selling big 100 dollar weapons like swords and machetes, maybe a few gift knives. Id be offering just cheap knives for cheap prices, ones youd just use if you dont wanna break your grandpappies lucky pocket knife, not one youd keep as a collecters item. I live in a rural/suburban town. If i break even id have no regrets. You can sell from 8 am to 4pm. And its 3 days, friday saturday and sunday. Itd also be a few weeks before christmas.
 
I agree this probably isn't the best forum to be asking. Mosey around that flea market and try asking sellers how they're doing, what sells, what doesn't, how much does gas and booth rent cut into a weekend's profits?
Then if you like their answers, ask yourself if there's something else you could sell at the same flea market that might be more profitable for you than the .99 knives? If so, go with whatever product seems more profitable.
If you do choose to sell knives but they're junk, how will you handle returns? Is your market mostly going to be teenage guys? What's your anti-shoplifting plan? (knives are easy to pocket).

I'm no snob and I like a good flea market. I don't remember ever seeing any big crowds around a knife booth. The guy who sells knives at my local flea market runs the gamut from $3 knives to swords, ninja daggers and generally the misc knives you see on eBay just marked up 50 or 100% times eBay's Buy It Now price. I've never asked him how much he makes.

I live in an area with a lot of retirees, so the flea market skews to a lot of retired guys running booths. I don't think they place a high hourly value on their time.
You know your area and that flea market. This just my two cents, trying to be helpful. Good luck whatever you do.
 
Bob W said:
You buy a load of those knives for $1 each, sell them for $2 or $3 each depending on size, and more than double your original investment. Sounds easy, huh?

So let's say no one else at the market has the same knives for sale as you, and so you sell 20 of them in a single day. That makes you $20-$30 'profit'. Sounds great huh, $30 for doing practically nothing and visiting with folks all day.

But... what about your expenses? Flea market booth fee, gas, lunch. So after a few expenses you clear $10.

Ten dollars for four hours of selling. That's $2.50/hr. Worth it?
Click to expand...


Exactly what I was thinking. Doubling or tripling your money "sounds" great but what you really should be interested in is how much profit you actually make as Bob has pointed out. Maybe you enjoy sitting around doing nothing at a flea market on the weekends (the ones I've met do) and don't mind not making much money. I've toyed with the idea of setting up a sharpening booth at a flea market but, every time I end with the same conclusion...It's not going to be worth my time, I could be doing something I enjoyed much more.

I think a flea market is the perfect audience for cheap knives like this, but I believe (my opinion, nothing factual) 20 knives a day is a bit of stretch for most flea markets I've been to.
 
See if you can bake a few batches of cookies before you go out. Home made cookies seem to sell like crazy around here, and might increase your profits HUGELY. Or contact a local bakery for something you can sell on the side. People get hungry walking around flea markets, esp. large ones.
 
LesserBeing said:
See if you can bake a few batches of cookies before you go out. Home made cookies seem to sell like crazy around here, and might increase your profits HUGELY. Or contact a local bakery for something you can sell on the side. People get hungry walking around flea markets, esp. large ones.
Click to expand...

"Buy a cookie, get a free knife!"

:D
 
I did very well selling Rough Rider and low-end Case knives at Flea Markets here in WV. I no longer sell Rough Riders or at Flea Markets as I now have a full time website, go to many different Gun and Knife Shows, and operate a 50 thousand + per annum Retail Knife Business.
 
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