Running a vintage shop keeps me busy. As I travel across the Southeast, I’m constantly on the lookout for great finds and buys. During a recent trip to Northeast Georgia, I picked up some more items for my brick-and-mortar store.
Keep reading to check out my hauls and pick up a few tricks of the trade.
More, more, more!
Thrifty Treasures Flea Market in Cleveland, Georgia, is chock-full of items old and new! So many, in fact, they spill onto the sidewalk outside, and fill at least one container-truck load, also outside.
So what’s inside? More, More, More! They have a little (or a lot) of everything!
This is one of those stores where there is so much to see that I had to walk around twice to get my bearings before I really started to shop. I knew I was in business when I came across this display of mugs, all priced at a dollar!
Enamel over tin sells well for me, so I picked up a few of the enamelware mugs with plans to sell them for $5 each in my brick-and-mortar shop.
After gathering the mugs, I continued to explore, finding most other prices to be fair.
Yours, mine, and ours
The problem for me as a re-seller is that I need to purchase items at a rate better than fair – a price low enough to leave room for markup. So instead of calling it a day and leaving with my mugs, I scooped up four gorgeous carved teak boxes and headed to the register to try my hand at bargaining.
Not all teak boxes out there are vintage, but these all were, which means they were particularly nice. (One way to identify a teak box as vintage is by the depth and intricacy of the carving and whether or not they are lined with dark blue felt, as some of these were.)
Thrifty Treasures Flea Market is kind of the store equivalent of a “yours, mine, and ours” family. Some items are owned by the proprietors, some items are consigned, and some items belonging to particular vendors.
The proprietors explained that they acquire their stock everywhere, and in a bunch of different ways. They looked at the tags on the boxes I brought to the register, noted they were all from the same vendor, and said I could purchase all four boxes for $30. I felt this was a good deal, especially because the flat-topped ones make attractive display pedestals in my shop.
The cat’s meow
Now that I knew a bargain could be struck, I backtracked through the store, grabbed a set of four mid-century Colony Sapphire Blue goblets and asked for a better price on those too. We settled on $25 for four, which was perfect for me, because I am building a set of different colored mid-century goblets for my daughter. I added one of these to the set, and sold the others for around $12 each, thereby making a profit while adding to a collection.
While I was at the register, I made sure to check out the glass display cases. This is something shoppers should not overlook! One held an entire collection of Lenox Elephants.
But in another, I found the mid-century brass cat ring holder pictured earlier nestled among an eclectic mixture of interesting smalls. It seems like I mention this in every article, but my shoppers love cats! So, I snapped this brass one up without asking for a discount and sold it for double what I paid within the week. Me-wow!
TSP Takeaway
Thrifty Treasures Flea Market was worth the trip! In addition to discovering an assortment of treasures, the proprietors shared some interesting stories about their years in the business with me, making the stop worth more than what I brought home in a shopping bag.
The store is located at 2139 US-129 in Cleveland, Georgia. For more information on store hours, call them at 706-809-1942 or visit them on Facebook at Thrifty Treasures Flea Market LLC.
Who should visit: Folks who like to look through a wide variety of items while treasure hunting.
Score of the day: Teak Boxes
Predicted profit on boxes: $45
Re-seller takeaway: If you are in a shop where there is so much stuff that it seems overwhelming, don’t immediately start shopping. Take some time to look around and get your bearings. Then let the shopping begin!
Click here for more great reads and finds. For additional tips on tracking vintage treasures, visit The Savvy Picker website.
