PDA

View Full Version : Rhoda's Flea Market-for vendors


trinity
04-17-2010, 06:53 PM
I was just wondering if anyone who had been a vendor could tell me why we can't get in to set up before 7:30 on Sunday morning? I've been there 3 of the last 4 Sundays and I think it's ridiculous. You can see other sellers inside doing things but they won't let me in until the very last minute, then you have to unpack like a crazy person to get it all set up by 8, all the while having other vendors picking through your still-packed bags and boxes because they have been able to be already set up at their leisure. I understand some of the time you can get in on Saturday night, but that doesn't work for me as I work Saturday overnights so I'm generally sleeping on a normal Saturday about now, until 9:30-10 pm. I am therefore not envious of the people who got to set up the night before, since I cannot. It bothers me because I am SEEing other people inside setting up before 7:30 while I'm standing outside looking in like a dog at dinner. Last week when they came around and asked me if I would be taking a table again the next week, I said NO because of this, and asked them point-blank why I couldn't get in at like 7:15 (I get off work at 7 and have been just driving down the street from work) and I got a hem haw hem haw mumble non-answer. I'm not asking to come in at first light of dawn. I just don't get it, am I asking the wrong question, wrong person,is there another door I should be going to? I also see some other sellers rushing in and having to unpack in a big hurry so it doesn't seem to be just me, but maybe they are just late. 30 minutes just isn't enough time; by the time you locate the table assigned to you and drag your second load in, you have about 10 minutes to lay out and nicely arrange all your stuff before the public swarms in. For the 6-28$ I have been making after cost, the stress just isn't worth it to me.

inuit
04-17-2010, 09:46 PM
Yeah, that's why I no longer go there. You are trying to get unpacked and set up and the other vendors who already have their stuff set up comes to your table and befor you can even get it in the door they are grabbing at it and about 10 of them asking how much you want for it. The last straw was for me last summer when this happened and I sold a lot o stuff at reduced cost because two of these people "had to have it" their culture you know. Even talked me down to less than 1/2 of what I had marked on it. In the rush and choas of trying to get unbpacked alone I sold a lot of it for next to nothing. Later that morning I was going to get something to drink and lo and behold these same vendors were selling these things for 4 times what they bought it from me (yes 4 times) for because it was "their culture and they had to have it for their homes" NEVER AGAIN! After that I went to that empty lot on Rothesay Ave and had a great summer of selling .( actually I think I bought more than I sold)lol

trinity
04-17-2010, 11:45 PM
Well, I don't usually care if another vendor is selling my stuff for more than I got for it, because from my point of view it's gone from me and that was the goal, but I used to love having yard sales as a kid, my favourite part was the set up, arranging, rearranging when stuff got sold etc, and I really have an almost OCD issue with people touching my stuff before I'm ready for you to touch it. (yes, that does sound crazy :-0 and no, I don't care). That is a personal issue though, unrelated to the business issue. I just don't understand why someone else can be in there and not me. I would understand if NO ONE was allowed in til 7:30 but that isn't the case. All tables are $12, whether you sell random junk, food, movies, cards, antiques or raffle tickets for your school, so there isn't a tier system of importance. It just finally got to me when I had to wait 20 minutes to find a table, since there was some sort of a screw up and they didn't put my name on a second table, just my friends on his, with someone else labeled on either side of him. It ruined my whole day starting out like that, frustrated, tired, sore back from wandering the room pulling a loaded cart-I almost just walked out the door again with my dolly cart still tied up.

inuit
04-18-2010, 08:30 AM
Yeah even if they gave you an hour to get set up it would be alright. I don't care what they do with my stuff once it is sold. It was just the crappy way they begged to get it for a lot less than what I had on it because they had to have it then to turn right around in front of me to sell it for so so much more. Lesson learned though.

rwmom
04-22-2010, 05:29 AM
I have to agree. Once a year my hubby and I rent a table at Rhoda's and have a "yard sale". We live in a rather remote area and wouldn't get any business if we did it at home. I found every time we go to Rhoda's it's the same thing, we can't get in until 7:30 (although I see other people setting up before that...grrrr), then my hubby is feverishly unloading the truck while I'm trying to set up. It drives me insane that I'm trying to get things unloaded and other vendors are picking through my things asking "how much?". I know I shouldn't be complaining, at least I'm getting rid of it, but I feel so rushed I can't even think straight. Then, last year, at around noon, we had sold most of our items. We were starting to pack up to leave and were told we couldn't, we HAD to stay until 2PM. WHY??? We didn't have much to sell anyway. Anything we had left over we were donating. Anyway, hubby broached the subject again over the weekend and I'm really having second thoughts. I think this year I'll try to find another family and have a "Family Yard Sale" somewhere in town. Sorry, I don't normally rant on this site, but this just got me riled up, LOL!

Chinna Dah
04-22-2010, 08:24 AM
RWMOM, I would suggest using the one on Rothesay Ave on the empty lot, alot of people stop there, it is free and you can come and go as you please. I seen people there last weekend actually

trinity
04-23-2010, 06:11 AM
I have to agree. Once a year my hubby and I rent a table at Rhoda's and have a "yard sale". We live in a rather remote area and wouldn't get any business if we did it at home. I found every time we go to Rhoda's it's the same thing, we can't get in until 7:30 (although I see other people setting up before that...grrrr), then my hubby is feverishly unloading the truck while I'm trying to set up. It drives me insane that I'm trying to get things unloaded and other vendors are picking through my things asking "how much?". I know I shouldn't be complaining, at least I'm getting rid of it, but I feel so rushed I can't even think straight. T Sorry, I don't normally rant on this site, but this just got me riled up, LOL! It makes it even harder for me because I am doing it alone, although I am there with a friend, he has his own setup and he is able to bring someone else to help him, but they have their own stuff to do. I got so annoyed the last time that I actually snatched a bag of stuff off the table and shoved it behind my table saying it was for sale AFTER 8 and not before, and I wouldn't be in that snippy state if I were able to be already set up like the person picking through the bag was.