Vintage Dealer Interview No. 3 = Funky Junky in the Country

12:45 PM

Good afternoon friends. We hope everyone had a great weekend. Welcome to our third 
Vintage Dealer interview. If you missed the first two, just scroll down our page to see them. 
We hope this will become a weekly Sunday event. We love doing these. So far they seem to 
be a hit. If are a dealer that's been at this for over a year with successful monthly sales please 
email us. We would love to talk to you. Be sure to check back next Sunday we have a 
special interview we are doing with an Antique shop. So we will get to hear facts from a shop 
owner's perspective. Today we are talking with, Geniece from Funky Junk in the County


1. How long have you been a vintage dealer? Four (4) years now

2. What type of setting are you in? Antique Mall & Boutique/Vintage Store

3. How many booths do you have? Four (4) Booths, three (3) at the Antique Mall & one (1) 
at the boutique/vintage store.

4. What do you sell? Antique, vintage, shabby chic & French Typography furniture, milk glass, 
pink & green depression glass, garden items, luggage, lots of luggage, doileys, beaded purses,
vintage frames, mirrors, chalkboards, ball jars, anything unusual!

5. What do you find sells the most? My painted furniture, French typography is my best seller 
because it's different. 

6. What do find sells the least? Vintage tins

7. Why do you think your booth has been successful?  I work my booths twice a week, 
some weeks even more.  Stocking your booth with unusual vintage finds, don't be afraid to be 
different.  Ask other dealers what is selling in their booths, I'm not afraid to network.  Also keep
up on trends, what's popular on Facebook & Pinterest.

8. How often do you refresh your booth?  I am always refreshing with new finds.  Stopping
in, on average twice a week to restock, rearrange and stage items.

9.  What mistakes have made and learned from as dealer?  Pricing was difficult at the
 beginning, but we have that under control now.  Certain pieces I will mark as "firm", not willing to
budge on price.  Other items the Antique Mall calls me and I can accept a lower price or
counteroffer!  The right will come along, for the right price!

10. What advice do you have for someone just starting out?  Enjoy what you do, because
 it is going to take time.  If you have one bad month, don't give up.  You will have good and bad 
months, so stick with it.  I track my monthly sales on a log book, so I know to save for the lower 
sales months and spend wisely.  Also know your customers, if they want shabby chic, don't stock 
your booth with primitives.  I have completely different customers for both locations, and I stock it 
accordingly.

11. What do you think the number one mistake is that unsuccessful dealers make? 
Pricing and giving up to soon.  

12. Do you do this full time? Not yet, I work full time as a banker. Then I spend just about 
every waking moment working on my business.  My plan is to retire in two years and be a full 
time junker!

13. Do you stick to a specific color scheme with your booth? Yes, black & white! I love it, 
then I add furniture or glass in pops of color!

14. Do you utilize social media, and if so, which ones work best?  Facebook business & 
personal pages, Instagram, Pinterest, a website and a blog. Instagram is my favorite!  I really 
appreciate all the encouragement I receive.  When using social media I use my own photos,
 I like to keep it real.  Again, it takes time to build a following on social media.  It doesn't happen 
over night.

15. What is an average month in sales for your booth? $2,800.00-$4,500.00 average 
total, for all four (4) booths.  

16. How do you break down and come up with your prices? Typically price items at three 
(3) times what we paid for them.  Larger furniture pieces are priced based on original cost of 
piece, time spent on piece and cost of extras, i.e., handles.

Do you have anything further to add to this interview?  Make sure you enjoy spending 
your time finding antiques & vintage items, then haul them home, clean them up, paint them,
 if need be, price them, haul them back to the antique mall, unpack them yet again, stage
them and finally..............wait for them to sell!  I think you are getting the point, it is a lot of work!  
As you have heard from a lot of dealers, if you are looking to get rich quick?  You had better find a different line of business.  It takes time, so keep your chin up so can see all that great junk and love what you do!  

Well that's it for this week's vintage dealer interview. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. 
To find out more about Funky Junk from the County check out these links. 

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