I am always amazed at what other people think is important in their lives. Some place great value on how new and expensive their vehicle is, others on their video collection, etc.
What about the price they paid? Do they buy retail? Could they have used this money in a better direction?
Of course!
Every time you spend in the wrong direction you lose, not gain. (author’s note: If you spend $10 dollars a week on junk food, what do you end up with? Heart
disease, stroke, the bloats, etc? If you take the same $10 and buy good wholesale merchandise with it, you end up with an extra $20-$70 in your pocket every week!) If you can find a way to change your spending habits and come up with an extra $100-$200 dollars a month, you can put that money into buying wholesale
merchandise and start your own on-the–road business!
The 3 x Mark-up
Most flea market items are marked up over cost at least 3 times what the vendor paid for it!
I know, I know, you were told that the grocery stores only makes a tiny bit of profit on each item they sell. The retail stores only make about 20-30% profit on their merchandise, blah, blah, blah.
Copyright © 2004 Larry L. Austin
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The truth is that you must mark your products up 2-7 times or more over what you paid for them if you are going to make a profit on the road .
This 3x mark up is necessary for your survival. Most of the cheaper items that you sell for around $3 should cost you less than a dollar wholesale.
Look at it this way. When you are on the road you need to break down your
selling price into three parts. For an item that sells for three dollars, one dollar goes to replace the just sold item. One dollar goes for road expenses ( booth rent, gas, food, repairs, etc).
The last one-dollar goes in your pocket as profit.
So, to put it another way, if you sell 100 x $3 dollar items in a day (that would be a busy item), you take in $300 dollars. Now take that money and
1. put aside $100 to replace your inventory of those items.
2. put aside another $100 for road expenses and
3. put the other $100 in your savings box.
I like to use surplus ammo boxes for this, they have a watertight seal around the lid and are tough enough to stay with you. Of course, you can do it any way you see fit. This just works for me. Remember, split the money into three parts. That way you will always know where you are coming from.
Copyright © 2004 Larry L. Austin
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