As some of you know, I fix small engines in the summertime. This is mainly lawn mowers. The season goes from April to around now (October).

From November to mid-March, I go into this depression thing for lack of something to do.

However, I plan to sell Swiss Army Knives and some Leatherman multitools at the local flea market.

I get them on ePray where I pay about $1.5-2 per item on average. These are TSA confiscations.

So the questions are:
1. is there a market for such things (mind you that I will be selling the 'low end' of the Victorinox line....Classics to Tinker models only.
2. How much should I charge. I want to move merchandise of course but also don't want to leave money on the table.

Any suggestions on pricing?

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

I was planning on selling them for $6 each or 5 for $25. How do you all feel about that?

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

Remember that you will need to make money at this venture.

Doing outdoor shows usually means the vendor (you) provides or rents a canopy and any tables needed plus at least 1 chair. For indoor shows, tables and lights are needed. Sometimes these can be rented from the show producer. Electricity is usually a good thing to have for indoor shows.

Anyway it is tough to make a living at about $5 per sale. I suggest finding something you can make either $10-$20 per sale on, or look into providing food and drink to sell. Food vendors make the most at almost all shows because, as they say, everyone eats. The food can be as simple as chilled pop, some coffee with related bits, and pastries.

In this case you will need an adequate refrigerator to keep stuff fresh, possibly a microwave, to heat stuff and a couple of coffee pots or more. You will most likely need a food handlers permit to sell food. This amounts to passing a simple test and an up-front cost of about $300-$500 for most everything. A simple food vendor can make between $200 to over a kilobuck a day at a busy show.

On a larger scale, i know several food vendors who make several thousand per day per show, but they have a completely portable and full sized kitchen.

Anywho, my recommendation is to aim higher than selling $6 knives.

Best of luck!

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Toyota is a leader only because their drivers block everyone behind them. Oh what a feeling.

I bought a couple of the TSA Swiss Army Knives off separate eBay sellers. I paid $12 for one and $15 for the other with free shipping.
You might take a look and see what they are going for. The more do-dads the more they cost.

I prefer the Vitronox Officer Suisse. The one with the Saw Blade and a phillips head screwdriver instead of the cork screw.

I thought that I read somewhere that some Airlines were allowing the Swiss Army type knives on board.

Note I had to use the saw on the knife over the weekend to make an unplanned cut through some Dry Wall. It save me a trip do the store to buy a cheap dry wall saw.

Also once on My job as a mechanic I was out in a 40 acre yard working on a vehicle and had to cut a 2x4 in order to use it on the job I needed to finish and I cut through the 2x4 with the Swiss Army Knife saw. A lot of work but it worked much better then think it would have.

I have had a lot of other incidents were having the saw blade saved me time and effort.

Likewise the phillips head screwdriver is handy to use for light weight jobs like tightening up the screws on Light Switch Covers and Electrical Sockets saving you from having to get a screwdriver from your tool box.

On the other the Cork Screws on those knives does not work as well and are a PITA dealing with a tight bottle cork even if they are better then nothing.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I lived in South Florida for a while and used to visit the World Famous Thunderbird Drive In Flea Market (tens of thousands of people on Sat and Sun) tools and construction stuff was always a great seller; but, I ran into some wild and crazy biker chicks who collected and resold baby clothes! They would pick them up at thrift stores and places like that, they drove a big stake-side pickup truck and it would be full of bundles full of baby clothes. They'd park their truck and unload the bundles which were usually a large piece of cloth like a King size bed spread or something like that. One of boys stuff, one of girls stuff, one of infants one of toddlers and so on. Apparently kids grow fast and grow out of close so fast the clothes are often in quite good condition after they're too small to wear for the original owners.

When they rolled up it was like a scene from a UN rescue mission, people would surround the truck and as soon as the bundles were unloaded and spread open on the ground the customers started sorting through them looking for what they wanted. That went on for only a couple hours before they were sold out. They charged 50 cents or a dollar per item and I watched them take in over a thousand dollars on numerous occasions. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I'd never have imagined there was such a market and demand for the baby stuff!

I'd bet it would be very much worth your while to attend some flea markets and maybe get an idea about what's selling and what's not, before you spend any money and get your hopes up.

Might not be practical but maybe bringing a half dozen used working mowers, string trimmers etc. to sell might be something as well. Around here things like mowers and bicycles are often abundant and free for the taking. Maybe have your cards and a flyer available at the flea market and you can cross pollinate your sales and your repair side of the business.

Like I said decent tools almost always sell even if you have to accept maybe less than you imagined they should sell for.

Most of the flea markets I've ever been to the food and drink stuff is a locked up concession that with require some significant up front outlay.

Good luck whatever you try!

identify what people price these things at already at flea markets, and make sure your price is lower. If doing that is not profitable, don't get into it.

personally it sounds like a risky venture to me. Your market is people who haven't incidentally bought these things at box stores at the check out line for less than 20 bucks already.

A test run is worth it, to see if the purchased volume at a flea market is enough to pay for your trouble. If its a loss, its not a big loss.

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

That is a great idea. Baby clothes are freaking expensive. Selling barely used clean stuff for 50 cents to a dollar is about a 20th what it costs new. Another possible option for benhogan.

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

In the late 90's and early 00's, I had a stall at an indoor flea market. We sold knives, but the money from them wasn't where the rent came from...it came from the items I picked up at garage sales and estate sales. Old wall hanging rifles, then carnival, milk, and depression glass brought in the most, followed by knick-knacks, then the knives. Granted, the majority of our knives weren't the lower prices ones you're talking about, but we did have some. We carried a number of Chicom knives, as well as some local craftsmen made knives...and took orders for custom made knives for our suppliers to make.

To survive, you'll need to diversify your offerings, especially if you rent an indoor stall...since those cost more.

I got out when competition increased for the items I was carrying. I was one of the only ones in the building (there were a number of buildings, all connected) that was selling knives at first, but after two months, it seemed that everyone was carrying cheaper priced knives than I had...and the demand for glass items had dropped considerably.

Good luck to you.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

I quit going to them,they are full of cons selling junk,or chinese knock offs for alot.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Not a thread I was expecting to turn into a trip down memory lane, but it has (for me anyway). Much of my funding for college came from selling furniture at swap meets (we didn't call 'em flea markets in southern California).

I was working as the shop guy at an antique store, doing repairs & refinishing of the store's furniture. The owners would let me use the shop (and supplies) for side jobs - it really was a win-win setup. They could show a damaged piece off the bargain mezzanine at a "discounted" price, and point the prospective buyer towards the shop. I'd give them an estimate for the needed repairs.

Store made its sale, I got a cash under the table side job, and the customer was happy.

In addition, I'd make a cycle through local garage sales & thrift stores picking up busted furniture for next to nothing - fix it up in the off hours at the shop, then take a truck load to the swap meet every couple weekends.

Between the swap meets and side jobs, I was working ~ 25 hours each week. About the same in hours for the antique shop (and going to college full time - ah, youth). I routinely made twice as much on the swap meets and side jobs.... and it was all cash. Good times.

This era of my life has been in my thoughts a bit lately - currently working on a complete rebuild and refinish of a delightful mid-1800's cabinet Darling Wife and I picked up ~ ten years ago in California.

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1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife

baby clothes. hmmmm.....

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

Easy with the con-man talk, my friend...I sold those Chicoms, which were clearly marked and advertised as such. A con, I was not...hungry for money to feed my family is more like it.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles