Looking for a fun way to make extra money, meet lots of interesting people, spend quality time with your family, enjoy the great outdoors… without missing a day of work? Or maybe your goal is to make two or three-day weekends the only working days of the week. Learn how you may be able to do all of that and more as a swap meet and/or flea market marketer with our Swap Meet & Flea Market Handbook.

1. Swap Meet &
Flea Market
Handbook
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2. Looking for a fun way to make extra money,
meet lots of interesting people, spend quality
time with your family, enjoy the great
outdoors… without missing a day of work?
Or maybe your goal is to make two or three-
day weekends the only working days of the
week.
You may be able to do all of that and more as
a swap meet and/or flea market marketer!
Swap Meets & Flea Markets
A Fun Way to Make Money on the Weekends!
www.edingtoncollection.com© 2014 The Edington Collection. All Rights Reserved.

3. www.edingtoncollection.com© 2014 The Edington Collection. All Rights Reserved.
INDEX
Swap Meet Names Page 4
Finding a Swap Meet Page 6
What to Do Before You Start Page 7
Supplies You’ll Need Page 9
Keys to Swap Meet Success Page 10
During the Swap Meet Page 11
After the Swap Meet Page 12

4. A Swap Meet by Any Other Name…
There are three distinct types of Swap Meets.
1. Outdoor Swap Meets
These usually run the gamut in terms of merchandise.
Here, you can find anything; from high-end stereo
systems to fashion jewelry, to families clearing out a
garage of old tools, toys and various parts and pieces
from who-knows-what. Ordinarily these attract folks
looking for some big time discounts and bargains.
2. Indoor “Malls“
These usually attract a more professional class of
marketer. The displays tend to be more organized in
appearance and the merchandise is generally of a
consistently higher quality throughout the meet. Rather
than tables there may be booths, and each marketer
tends to specialize in specific product categories.
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5. Let’s start with…
well, the beginning!
3. Craft Fairs
These may be held indoors or outdoors; you’ll find them
in parks, or as part of a local carnival, fund-raiser, county
fair, or other similar event. Usually the marketers show
their wares from booths, and the offerings can vary from
homemade to high-ticket, depending on the location.
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Whatever type of Swap Meet you choose to
begin with, there are some simple, basic
steps you will need to take before the event,
during the event and after the event.

6. Finding a Swap Meet
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You can find regularly scheduled swap meets and flea
markets in cities and towns of all sizes across the nation,
each attracting many hundreds, even thousands of
bargain hunters. They may be held at the local drive-in
theater, in large parking lots, warehouses, parks,
community centers – just about anywhere there’s enough
room to put up some booths and bring in a crowd.
To locate swap meets and flea markets in your area,
search the Internet, check local newspapers and ask
around. It’s that simple!
The majority of the time these meets are held on
weekends, although in some locations you find them
starting on Thursdays and running four consecutive days.
Some flea markets are even “permanent” – supplying
bargains to shoppers seven days a week.
Swap meets and flea markets are fun, profitable, and can
be a great launching pad for your business.
Some members
who began with
swap meet sales
have gone on to
open gift shops or
run sizeable mail
order businesses.

7. What to Do Before You Start
1. First, find out where the local swap meets are, if you
don’t already know. This shouldn’t be too hard; they
normally advertise in newspapers, and in giveaway
magazines you can find in convenience store racks.
Smaller meets may not advertise, but if you check
with local drive-ins, or let your fingers do some
walking through the phone directory and on the
internet, you should find some.
2. Next, scout the meet yourself. Take a look around,
observing the tables and booths with a marketer’s
eye. What are the vendors carrying? More
importantly, what aren’t they carrying? What are
they charging? With the products to choose from in
The Edington Collection line, you can come up with
a variety of offerings that will make your table
unique, and you can set competitive prices that will
allow you to make plenty of profit.
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Contact the meet’s
manager and get
information on
space rental prices,
along with general
rules and guidelines.

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Research the types
of merchandise
being sold, the
“look” of the tables,
booths, general
price points, etc.
3. Reserve a table or booth. Do this by contacting the
swap meet manager, who will provide you with the
pricing, along with a list of rules and regulations you
must follow when marketing at the meet. The cost
for renting space at a swap meet varies widely,
from a few dollars a day to much more, depending
on the meet. Try to begin at an inexpensive yet
will-attended meet, so you can keep your initial
cash outlay as low as possible.
4. Select your merchandise. The recommended initial
order for your booth is $300 - $500 worth of
merchandise. A good bet is to order a selection of
merchandise you feel is a good fit with the swap
meet you’ve selected. You’ll also want a large
supply of catalogs, particularly smaller “specialty”
catalogs, and/or product flyers you can throw in as
a giveaway with every purchase.
What to Do Before You Start

9. Supplies You’ll Need
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► At least one folding table
► A cash box, with some small bills and change
► Folding chairs
► A clean tablecloth
► Some clear plastic to protect your merchandise if it rains
► Plenty of business cards
► Catalogs and/or product flyers to help promote further sales
► A calculator
► A rubber stamp for endorsing checks
► Pens and paper
► Your price list, so you know your bottom line when it’s time
to haggle
► A large umbrella, tarp, or other type of canopy to protect
your customers, and you, from the sun
► An order book, so you can write receipts and capture
names, addresses, emails and phone numbers of all your
customers
Before the meet, it’s important to gather things you’ll need.
Depending on the meet, you may need to bring some or all
of the following:
Capture each
customer’s name,
address, email and
phone number to
create a mailing list
for future marketing.

10. Two Keys to Swap Meet Success
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1. A friendly, upbeat attitude
2. A willingness to barter and “play the game.”
As one member puts it,
“People come to shop at swap meets looking for a
bargain, and they come because it’s fun. So I keep a
smile on my face and I’m always ready to enter into the
bargaining game. I have my ‘bottom line’ price in mind,
and I don’t go below it – but I’m always willing to give a
little on the original asking price. That way the customer
feels good about the purchase, and I still make a nice
profit. We both come out winners.”
Whatever type of swap meet you choose to begin with, there are
some simple, basic steps you’ll need to take during and after the
event.
We’ve heard from scores of successful swap meet members
over the years, and they tell us that the two most important
things you can bring with you are:
Plan your set-up.
Play with different
displays, until you
find the most
attractive
arrangement.

11. During the Swap Meet
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► When you arrive at the meet, find your space and set up.
Rehearse your set-up at home, so you can plan the most
effective display before you’re actually at the meet.
► Decide on your “bottom line,” that is, the lowest price you’ll
accept for each item.
► Be prepared to take checks. Many of your customers will
prefer to pay this way, and members report only a very small
incidence of “bad” checks. Verify that the address and phone
number is current. It also helps to write a driver’s license or ID
number on the check.
►There are easy to use apps available for smart phones that
allow you to accept credit cards and the funds are deposited into
your account.
► Do everything you can to capture as much information about
each customer as possible. Along with the name, address and
phone, try to get an email address.
► If you can, take a partner along to help manage the cashbox
while you handle sales.
► Have Fun!
Have a rubber
stamp to quickly
and securely
endorse checks.

12. After the Swap Meet
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1. Reorder merchandise
If you’ve got some items moving exceptionally fast,
order a larger supply for next time.
2. Build your mailing list
Add all the customers names you collected to your
customer mailing list. Over time, these will be an
important part of your follow-up marketing efforts.
3. Plan/implement mailings
Depending on the size of your list, you’ll want to start
sending your customers some follow-up mailings.
Swap Meet marketing is enjoyable, highly
profitable, and can be done successfully
by devoting just a few hours a week.

13. Happy
Selling!
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