Flea Market Flip - Sell Day

So here we are the last day of filming!  Our Sell Day!!!….

If you haven’t caught up to here.. You can read about our adventure on Flea Market Flip HERE, HERE & HERE!!

Leading up to our sell day was pretty much filled full of all sorts of feelings, emotions and everything in between.  Excitement is an understatement, nervous doesn’t come close to describing the rumbling in my stomach, but happy pretty much nails it. 

Something we gave a little love to was going to get the chance to live life for many more years to come, an extra layer to the story to be told.

Can you imagine the stories that trunk already has!?! 

And, then to add that a couple of girls filming a show saw a little potential and turned it into a functional centerpiece for someone’s home.  

And, as years pass, the owners passing it down with the story that they purchased it at a flea market from a show that was filming, and it’s documented on television.  In 30+ years will they even understand the concept of how we filmed? 

So onward to sell day… Since I live in the Hudson Valley of New York and Cindy lives in Westchester we decided to meet in Yonkers, right before getting into the city so that we could finish the drive together.  We were selling at the Long Island City Flea Market which is located in Queens, and we wanted to get our game plan together.

Once we arrived, we unloaded our accessories to show off our flips. But, man it was cold, windy and rainy...

They had tents set up, and breakfast with coffee (very important) were being served to help warm us and get some energy in us...

We were not sure what to expect since we were selling inside....

This was the first time they had the flea market indoors at the Long Island City Flea Market.

  

So you couple that with the weather it was all up in the air!! 

Now remember those emotions I spoke about earlier???  

Well let’s just say they were magnified by about 100%!  Remember up there I mentioned this was the first time they were holding the flea market indoors? 

We were taken to the upstairs, small stairway, two rooms… Still with me?  The doorway that led to the stairway was barely noticeable.  And, we were placed in the back room, in the corner that one gentleman referred to as something like the Blair Witch Project!  WHAT!?! 

I was happy that we were getting ready to see our flips and that they were potentially heading off to find a new home.  Anticipation was building as the crew was getting cameras ready, sound equipment right, and all things placed in the best place to get good shots.

Those emotions…were set into an all-time high!  All of the excitement that had been built up was now “oh my gosh”…how are we possibly going to get people up here!

We were finally given the go ahead to unwrap our items as they filmed us, asking us what we thought, if we were still happy with what we had done, and what we were feeling about our competition.  Our stuff looked amazing!!

Let's get this party started and sell some furniture..

Getting some money shots...

Doug & June's Flips...

During this time, the awesome production crew knowing we needed to get the word out that we were up in the back corner, went out and passed around cool postcards, and told people we were upstairs!!  YAY!!!

Not everyone that comes to a flea market wants to be on camera while making a purchase.  It’s not for everyone!!  The camera crew is great about staying back so that they are not right in your face, but it’s obvious they are there.  Often people would walk through the door see the cameras and walk away… My stomach would flip each time.  I just wanted to say "no come on in, come chat with me, and buy from us".  

Our trunk was the first to go..  The family that bought it fell in love with it immediately.  The lady was so excited about the subway art and just talked about all the possibilities that she could use it for.  

Her grandson loved it too, and they even decided it’d be a great toy box for his room. 

And, even though June said that this had been done before, and it has many times....we added our touch to it with the stencil, map and casters.  It was about making it stand out in a different way! 

We had lots of interest in the Dictaphone side table, people loved it and talking about its history.  

The gentleman that made the purchase talked to us forever about it.  He left, wanted to think about it, came back and was just smitten with it.  

I think he got a great deal on it.  I know that industrial isn’t for everyone, but it is a fun piece of history that you just won’t find anywhere.  It will be a conversation piece for years to come!

The bar was big, and we knew that going into the workshop day.  

But, we also knew it wasn’t too big.  And, it was all about having a nice piece of furniture that would be functional for a wide variety.

It would be good for a bachelor, a married couple, a single female...just about anyone!!

I loved how it turned out and would welcome it in my home any day of the week.  There were so many possibilities with this piece.  The couple that purchased the piece were expecting a baby in just a few short months after the filming.  They were just so nice, and I was so happy that the bar would fit into their home. ::waving hi to Debra::  

As someone that flips and refinishes furniture for a living, I love when a customer contacts me to show me the piece in their home.  This couple has kept in touch, and has shared pictures with me.  They were just the sweetest & I am so happy they are happy.  They have a fun memory to share with their baby in the future!!  I think that is just the coolest thing!! 

It was a hard, stressful and at times discouraging day.  We all felt it including the production team.  We didn’t have to slash our prices but we did negotiate a little more on a couple of items than I wanted to, but given the day and circumstances it was necessary.  At the end of the day, it’s about making sure you sell everything in the allotted time and to make the bigger profit.

Gah I want that mirror!!!  I think they were slashing prices :)

I’m a numbers girl, and I had calculated what Doug & June had sold their items for, and I knew what we could come down to in order to stay ahead of the game….so long as we sold everything. 

Prior to the sell day I had emailed Cindy what I thought they purchased their items for and what they’d sell for…  I still have that email…  I was right on the money!!  It gave me a bit of an idea of where we needed to stay in price range, and it worked!!

The experience in my books was probably by far one of the most memorable to date!!!  I loved every minute of it. 

The entire production team kicked some serious butt!! They were on point through the entire filming process.  

This is Dustin our awesome Field Producer...he made the whole experience pretty darn fantastic!!

Everyone was nice, fun, and more than willing to help at any given moment.  During the sell day they tried their best to help ease our nerves and frustrations with the lack of foot traffic!  I can’t name any single one person that out did the other because they all stepped up!

Our competition…well geez what can I say except I love them!!  We remain in contact and have become friends!  June is super talented and has an amazing Etsy shop, and she can sing folks.  At one point during the day we were trying to get people to come see us upstairs, we had windows looking out over the downstairs....

...and June leaned out of the window and started singing…. It was fun!  

And, Doug!!!  Gah I just love how incredibly sweet, funny, and overall just a truly fantastic guy he is!!  Both good people that without the show wouldn't be apart of my journey in this life!! 

Oh and I guess the fact that we WON probably makes the whole experience that much sweeter!!! And, all of those emotions, they were well worth it. 

Celebration dinner and drinks...we were starving!

I hit the jackpot!  I was on TV doing something that I have a deep passion for, I met some like-minded people that I’ve remained friends with, and I have a fun memorable story to share with my girls for years to come. 

I hope you enjoyed the series of my adventures on Flea Market Flip!!  If you haven’t seen it yet, it will be on GAC many many times in the future.  Here is a link to find the listing and a little snippet of the show itself. 

With much love, peace & happiness ~