The Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association runs an indoor flea market every Sunday from 7 a.m…read more to 3 p.m.
I have participated in this flea market as both a shopper and a vendor, and I am happy to share my thoughts as both.
As a shopper, i was shocked at the size of it. When I first arrived and looked around, there had to be 50+ vendors around this gymnasium.. Just when I thought I saw it all, I found out there were three large rooms with MORE vendors. So if you go, keep wandering. There is definately more than simply that one big area.
This is definately more of a flea market with plenty of bric a brac, as opposed to an artizan market such as the Calgary Farmer's Market, so be prepared for an indoor garage sale-type scenario. I got some fantastic deals on CDs and second hand books, so I was quite a happy little shopper. I also bought a pair of gorgeous earrings for $2. Seriously!
There was one kiosk in there that made falafels that was delicous. :) I don't know if this lady is there every week, but she was worth every penny.
As a vendor, the price was definately right. A table is $25. However, admittedly it is tough to get space there, since it is so busy. I was lucky enough to secure two tables for $50, so I actually had some room to display some clothing I was selling to raise money for the Giver for Liver Marathon. www.giverforliver.ca.
Since the crowd was such bargain hunters, I didn't have much choice but to price my wares accordingly, therefore, making it difficult to do exceedingly well profit-wise. I know for certain there are many vendors that do very well there, but for me, with second hand clothing, it was a challenge. An item I would sell on kijiji for $10, I had to sell for $5, and more often than not, I would get haggled to $2. The vendor across from me dropped his prices all day and gave away all of his product for free in the last hour, which made it extremely hard for me to compete with free.
I did exhibit in January where customer traffic was slower, so I may give this another kick at the can in the spring and update my review. However, my experience with the post-Christmas traffic was not a lot of profit for a nine hour day. I tried for two weekends. The first weekend, I didn't make my table (sold $40 worth of items, and the two tables were $50). The second week, I walked away with $55, so I had a much better sales day, but when I divide $55 by 9 hours, the charity only made $6.11 per hour. Much less than minimum wage.
However, I spoke to many vendors around me, and many of them have been exhibiting there for years and have been profitable, selling antiquey-type housewares or books. So, it may simply be my product line (which was second hand clothing) or possibly my display, or other factors directly related to me.
However, dealing with the community center was an absolute pleasure. Bonnie was extremely helpful and all the vendors I interacted with were a pleasure to deal with.
