Rachel Toy In the fourth of these series of articles, I discuss where to sell vintage items: Antiques Centres. I discuss how to find a centre, what to expect in terms of costs and day to day matters, plus selling tips. The previous articles are here; Part 1, Selling at Car Boot Sales, Part 2: Fairs and Markets and Part 3: Social Media and Online Marketplaces.
Selling in Antiques Centres
If you are a vintage dealer and wish to sell your items in a more permanent retail setting, you may like to consider a unit in an Antiques Centre. This is a great way to test the water and learn about bricks and mortar retailing. Centres allow you to display your stock (so its not all just sitting in a box in the shed), and sell items when you are not there. It can be the only place you sell, or as one part of your vintage business.
Finding a centre
If you already have a favourite centre, then start there. There is likely to be a good reason you love it, and others probably do too. Ask to speak to the owner and find out more, such as how much they charge for a space, size of space, if you are expected to work any hours as part of your agreement, and if there is a waiting list. It is a good idea to ask about security, insurance, and if cabinets are lockable. Antiques centres are a target for thieves, and you need to make sure the owner takes this seriously.
When you are shopping around do take the time to ask the dealers about the centre, and how long term they are. If the dealers stay a while that is a good sign that they are happy with it. Check other things like parking availability, cafes and restaurants, toilets and location. You might like to check if it is in an area with heavy footfall such as a high street, or is hard to find down a winding country road. This could all affect volume of sales. Another thing to find out is if they are date-lined (ie will only let you sell items up to a certain era).
Finally, do consider how far the centre is away from your home. Are you prepared to travel to regularly replenish your stock or would you prefer somewhere more convenient? If it is a busy centre it is likely you will need to restock quite often.
Consider expenses
The biggest investment when setting up in a centre is the rent cost. This can vary by centre and is likely to be in the region of £30 – £50 per month for a cabinet, and £200+ for a unit. Some centres may require you to sign up for a three month period before you start. Even though this seems a long time, it is a good idea as it gives you a proper amount of time to assess how successful or not your endeavours have been. Six months would be even better, or even a year. This is because some months may be quiet but some may be very busy and it is best to consider your takings over a longer period to average it out.
Other costs from centres that are likely to eat into your profit are commission on sales and / or a small fee for credit card transactions. Find out what your centre’s policies are on this. Then there is your time to consider if you are required to work there (usually for free). I always think time is money, so if you think you would be better off doing something else with that time, you need to consider that.
Day to day matters
One good thing about working in a centre is that you get to talk to the customers and find out the sort of thing they are looking for. You can also get an idea of what is popular from the sales you put through the till. It can be a valuable learning experience. A downside to this is that other dealers are more likely to push their own items when working at the till, so you may lose sales this way as it can be very competitive.
You will need to know is how often you get paid for your sales, as this can vary by centre. Most will pay monthly via bank transfer. Some will let you take the cash (or less so these days, a cheque) when you come in. They should also give you a copy of your labels with receipts so you can see exactly what has sold. Check this against the amount you have been paid too in case of any anomalies.
You should also be prepared to allow a discount on your items, and the industry standard is 10%. This can happen automatically at the till without them asking you first. I’ve known some dealers to just up their price by 10% in anticipation of this. Some customers ask for the ‘best price’ and this usually means they want more of a deal, especially if they are interested in a few items. In this case the centre will usually ring you to check what you are prepared to do and agree a price with you over the phone.
How to sell your items in a centre
One of the biggest things I learned when I had a unit in a centre was that I needed to display my items well, in order for them to sell. When I first arrived, I only had a sideboard and some shelves, and it looked like a stall at a vintage fair. As a result my items were not selling as they were hard to see and it just didnt look very inspiring for a retail space.
The owner gave me some great advice and said, ‘use all of the space in your unit, and think upwards!’. This was so true, I had totally missed the fact that I could display items on the wall, even the ceiling, and use more shelves to display even more of my items. I even bought in vintage furniture and displayed items on them, with those pieces also being for sale. You could even add fairy lights and fresh seasonal flowers to make your unit more attractive and stand out from the others.
Another thing I needed was a theme, so that people who came in knew what I was about quickly. I decided on early 20th century household items. The centre was datelined which meant nothing past the 1960s was allowed to be sold. I had this in mind when sourcing stock so that I could add to the display easily. People soon got it and I had several repeat customers as well as multiple sales per customer.
So that the centre staff know what to charge people, you will need to label up all of your stock using tickets. This can be time consuming, but it is worth it so you get the price you want. Buy some white labels with string attached, or the larger brown suitcase labels for large items. These will give you enough room to write all the info needed. This is description of the item, as well as the price and your dealer number (which they will give to you when you sign up). If you do not want to offer a discount on the item put ‘NT’ which means no trade (ie the automatic 10% discount if people ask).
Finally if the centre allows it, why not display some business cards or flyers, and a sign about your business in the unit directing customers to your website!
Recommended Antiques Centres – South East
Antiques at Wendover, High Street, Wendover. Tel: 01296 625335
Brackley Antique Cellar, Drayman’s Walk, Brackley. Tel: 01280 841841
Swan Antiques, London Road, Boxmoor. Tel: 01442 239100
The Fleetville Emporium, Churchgate Shopping Centre, Hitchin. Tel: 01462 431777
The Old Flight House, Northampton Road, nr Bicester. Tel: 01869 343441
This blog post is written by Rachel Toy, owner of Rachel’s Vintage & Retro. I am a 20th Century Vintage Blogger and Dealer writing about the vintage lifestyle, collecting, nostalgia and selling vintage. I also sell carefully curated 20th century antiques and collectables from my online vintage shop. I am happy to work with related brands on collaborations and also accept guest blogs. Find out how to work with me.
