Madness!

Greetings from snowy Rhode Island. I haven't come down with full blown cabin fever yet. Between a good run at Gifted and a good run on eBay, I've been able to afford myself some bona fide leisure time, and taken up snowboarding again. Otherwise weather related insanity would be definite threat.

Since we're on the subject of insanity, I'd like to share with my readers an aspect of my business that you may or may not be aware of. It's my job to deal with crazy people. The people I buy from are nuts. I'm the middleman (middlegirl) between the lovely retail venue that is the Brooklyn Flea, and the senile, calloused, quirky and unique population that make up the collective world of flea market vendors. In the slide show above, you'll see a photo of the Cumberland Flea Market, and a few shots of the booths inside. I spent the weekend shopping two weeks ago,and made my first trip to "Rhode Isand's Biggest Flea Market." They advertise for this place on the radio all day every day. Bunny's Hare pieces? Wow. I really loved the display of second hand knick knacks and expired over the counter meds. These people put jewelry that they're selling for $2 each in locked glass cases and it takes them 15 minutes to get it out. The biggest challenge I faced while shopping that day was sorting out the vintage from the brand new jewelry. They're making tons of new cheap costume jewelry. It generally looks great, and falls apart the second you put it on. These vendors had it all mixed up together, and it's a real challenge zeroing in on the vintage items. It's tiring and frustrating. Shopping is hard work! Picking is like training your brain to be an infra-red heat sensor. You scan, and zero in on the things that glow. It's a unique mental skill. And the crazy people really try to mess up your scanner. So one charming vendor had a big spread of jewelry. New and vintage in every case. All of it was displayed perfectly under glass, and nothing priced. You may have noticed I never put my jewelry under glass. There's a good reason for that. She had her hands full, so I asked if I could look in a case. "I'll help you with it in just a minute. You caught me in the middle of something". I also try not to be in the middle of something when I'm selling. Before she was done with her project she informed me, "That's all expensive jewelry." I tell her I'm a dealer and I'm there to buy costume jewelry. She opens the case in question, and I flip some pins to see if they're signed. I'm told, "I don't discount for dealers ever!" Wow! Where did this woman learn salesmanship? I can't look at it, I don't know the price, it's suggested that I probably can't afford it, and this mysterious high price is firm. And nothing was even that great, so I just thanked her and moved on. I see a lot of people at the flea markets where I shop asking higher prices than I get in Brooklyn. The flip side of that is I'm very keen on "the going rate" for things, and offer the best price possible for things. Just because you're shopping outside of Brooklyn doesn't mean you're getting a deal. And I make it easy by pricing everything, and letting you pick it up and try it on without asking for help. I gain more sales by making my booth shopper-friendly than I lose to shoplifting. But maybe I'm the crazy one.