Sharing means caring!
If you are a new antique booth owner, learning how to choose the right price for your antique booth items is one of the most important things you have to figure out.
A strong pricing strategy is key to building a happy customer base and generating sustainable profit for your pocket.
Follow along to learn how to set the right price for the items you want to sell!
When I opened my first antique stall 12 years ago, I knew nothing about running a business. I knew I loved cool old things, and I thought I could sell some of my finds as a way to make more money.
When it came time to price the items I was putting in my suite, I asked myself, “What would I pay for this?”
That worked for a while, but then I felt like I was underpricing my items.
I needed a better way to know how to price my items so I could take my business to the next level.
What is an antique business?
Before we dive into the pricing, let me explain what I mean by “vintage cabin,” in case you’re new to this whole idea.
One common business model is the “antique mall”, which is a large store divided into smaller “kiosks”. These small booths are rented to individuals—often called “vendors”—who fill the space with their own inventory.
The mall collects payment for the items and usually takes a percentage commission from each sale. They then pay vendors the balance of what is owed for the items sold.
Although these types of stores are commonly called “antique malls” and “antique kiosks,” they can be filled with a mix of items. Many places sell real antiques (items over 100 years old), others sell vintage items (over 20 years old), and some sell new clothing and decorative items.
You may also hear these types of stores called flea markets, antique malls, or outlet malls.
Whatever its name, the idea is the same – a group of small vendors selling items within a larger space.
Since each vendor booth is run independently, pricing all of their inventory is the responsibility of the booth owner, and there is usually a lot of leeway given in how this is done.
Related Post: Can You Make Money Selling at an Antique Mall?
How do I know the right price for the items in my antique suite?
If you start your kiosk to make a profit, a good pricing strategy is the key to your success.
Often, stall owners price items too low to see any real consistent profit or too high and then rely on regular ‘flash sales’! Signs to drive sales.
There’s a sweet spot — for both your wallet and your customer base — that you need to hit.
Here are 4 things to consider when deciding how to price items for your booth space.
1. Profit margin for your booth space
My starting point is to price items at least 3 times what I paid for them, which roughly equates to a profit margin of 66%.
Now, this may seem high, but again, most antique malls will take a commission from your sales, usually around 10%.
You must also cover booth rent, which, depending on the size of your booth and the number of items you move per month, can easily represent another 5-10% of your profit.
Together, the 66% profit margin quickly drops to 45-50%. So $1,000 in sales at your booth puts $450-$500 in your pocket.
If you spend 50 hours working on your booth that month, that’s $10 per hour.
Are you starting to realize the importance of pricing your items with the right profit margin in mind?
Many stall owners fail to take the true cost of running a stall business into account, so they don’t price their items high enough to cover their costs and actually pay themselves a salary for the time they spend shopping, pricing, loading and displaying.
That’s why starting with a 3x markup or a 66% profit margin is key.
You’ll likely be paying yourself pennies per hour if you continually drop below that.
I’m also talking about average here – there are some larger items I sell that can’t reach that 3x mark, and others that I can mark up much more than the 3x mark.
Also, it’s normal for the wholesale items I purchase for my booth space to have lower markups than found, select items – typically 40-50%. This is important to take into consideration if you are mixing new wholesale items with your old ones.
If you consider 3x profit margin of 66% a good baseline, then you’re starting in a healthy place.
2. Consider your customer base when pricing
Different malls attract different levels of customers, some attract discerning shoppers, others attract second-hand marketing types.
Add to that the cost of living differences between regions of the country, and the online Etsy price you found for your treasure may not be appropriate for the location where your booth is located.
I always encourage the kiosk vendors I coach to target high-end shoppers, which means setting their prices at the higher end of the spectrum.
However, an item is only really worth what someone will actually go in and pay for it.
It’s a good idea to take into consideration the local customer base that frequents your mall and the prices they expect to find there.
You don’t have to be the cheapest seller in your mall, but you should make sure you price your items within what your actual customer base can afford.
If you find that the prices on your site are too low to get the profit margin you want, consider moving to a site that attracts high-end customers.
3. Understand the different ways in which an item has value
Several years ago, I found a cool old wall clock at a flea market. It had a stunning ivory, and even though it didn’t work, I loved the look of it.
It was made by a well-known maker, so out of curiosity, I contacted a local watch restoration expert. After I sent him the pictures, he said it wasn’t worth much because it needed a lot of repair work and the condition was bad.
He offered me $35. But then I sold it in my booth space for $125.
How could I get that kind of money when the watch expert said it was basically garbage?
I focused on decorative value rather than book value.
In the world of antique resale, some items have what I call a “book” or “collectible” value—a number assigned by appraisers or experts based on demand, rarity, and condition.
Think like the folks on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow. This is a perfect example of items that are valued at book value.
But there is also a whole other customer who is not looking to collect or find an item in perfect condition, but rather wants something unique to decorate with.
This is what I call decorative value. Because my watch looked so stunning, its high decorative value drove up its price.
If the piece has a great appearance, don’t just focus on its book value. Try selling it as a decorative piece instead, and you may be surprised at the price you can get.
4. Don’t underestimate the value of your time
It takes a lot of time to search for great items. You may have spent a significant amount of time repairing or rehabilitating an item before placing it in your booth space.
Your price should reflect that. Your time is worth paying for.
I recently sold a small wooden desk from an old high school store. I drove 7 hours to spend a few days shopping in a certain area in another state, and I brought this office with me.
The desk itself was nothing special – the top was pretty scratched and it was undersized.
But I priced it higher than other similar pieces in my mall, mainly because it cost me a lot of time to get it. I knew there was nothing else like it in my area.
When a client came to ask for a discount, I politely declined, explaining that the office came from 7 hours away and was unique to the area.
Then guess what?
They paid full price for the office 🙂
If you’re selling hard-to-find items in your antique suite, or perhaps furniture pieces that you spend hours painting or restoring, your time is worth the money. The price of your item should be taken into consideration.
Related Post: How to Label Items in Your Antique Booth
More tips to help price your old kiosk inventory
If an item sells out within a day or two, the next time you stock something similar, increase the price by 10%. This item is in demand! Follow current trends on places like Pinterest or Instagram to see what types of items are popular. If a product is popular, add 20% to its price and see what happens! Avoid making flash sales at your booth where you mark everything up by a percentage. This makes your booth look cheap, and shoppers will wait to shop until they see the sale sign. For items that have been sitting too long and need to be moved, mark them individually on the tag with a red marker. This is a better strategy than hosting a booth-level sale. If an item has a book value or collectible value that is too high for your local customers, try selling it online instead, using a platform like Etsy or Ebay.
Related Video: Getting Started with Selling Online for Antique Booth Owners
Thank you for joining me today in our discussion of how to choose the right price for your antique booth items.
I hope you feel more confident now in your pricing strategy and that your sales are up!
