the Giant flea market

While I'm a frequent browser and buyer at area flea markets, I've only set up and sold my wares a couple of times. I gave it another shot this past weekend at the biannual giant flea market at the West Virginia State fairgrounds.



The weather was terrible, as seen by the stormy sky behind the Fairgrounds sign.

I shared a giant outdoor spot with three friends, one of whom had a luxe RV to serve as a getaway, bathroom, and storehouse for our operation.




It was definitely a buyer's market -- my largest single sale was a mah-jong set for $32. Far and away, our most popular area was the $1 dollar table, which seemed to get fewer lookers after we knocked the price down to $.50. Could that be possible?


The rebirth of home sewing hasn't hit this area, so my sewing notions weren't very popular. Luckily, I did manage to sell the over sized Coats & Clark zipper display to a fellow who'll use it for tool storage. I was so excited when I bought it a year ago at an antiques fair in Virginia. Hopefully its new owner will have better luck using it than I did. It was just too big and odd to be very practical.


It was fun but crazy amount of work -- a bit like moving each day, with unloading, displaying, then loading and packing up.