Do you want to start a flea market (swap meet) and make fast money selling used second-hand items? If YES, here are 50 lucrative flea market business ideas.
A flea market gives you a very good location to sell your products; a location where you can double or even triple your turnover and income.
However, to be able to make good profit from selling at flea markets, you have to know the right products you should be selling especially products that you can sell at very cheap rates and still make good profits from. These are 50 lucrative flea market business ideas that sell fast and can make you reasonable profit:
Lucrative Flea Market Business ideas
1. Dollar Store
You can start a dollar store that only sells items for a dollar or less. You can sell just about anything from clothing items to jewelries, DVD’s, artworks; anything that costs less than a dollar.
2. Sunglasses
Sunglasses sell very well in summer. Buy very nice and durable sunglasses from wholesalers, add a suitable mark-up, and sell them in your stall. You can also add other items like attractive cases for sunglasses, fancy contact lenses, children’s glasses, clown sunglasses and sunglass cleaners.
3. Athletic Footwear
You can sell running shoes, children’s shoes, hiking shoes and athletic foot wear for ladies. They don’t have to be designer items or very expensive; they just have to be attractive, durable and cheap.
4. Phone and Tablet Cases
Attractive phones and tablet cases are also very great flea market sales items as people often need protective cases for their phones, tablets and computers. The trendier and attractive they are, the better for your business.
5. Prints and Posters
Those Justin Beiber and Rihanna posters that people hang all over their rooms have to come from somewhere. Most people buy them from flea markets and this means that you can make very impressive profits from printing and selling such posters too.
6. Movie DVDs
Selling movie DVDs is also very lucrative. You can sell classic movies and music as well as trending music and movies.
7. Second-hand Clothing
A lot of people who are unable to afford new clothing visit flea markets to purchase second-hand clothing. It is one of the fastest selling items in flea markets especially if they are gently used, attractive and cheap.
8. African Artworks
African artworks are very beautiful and many people love to use them as decoration in their homes or add them to their art collections. You can make good money from selling nice African artworks at flea markets.
9. Fitness Equipment and Gear
You may not be able to sell large fitness equipment like treadmills and stationery bikes in a flea market but you can make a lot of money from selling sports clothing, shoes and smaller accessories like dumbbells, skipping ropes and timers.
10. Paintings and Drawings
If you are a good artist, you can convert your skills to good cash in the flea markets. You can either sell already-made paintings or set up a painting stall where you can paint people on the spot. Many people appreciate artistic talent and would reward you handsomely for this.
11. Second-hand Shoes and Bags
You can choose a specific niche in the second-hand clothing business and focus on selling second-hand shoes and bags. A lot of people may not be comfortable wearing second-hand clothes but most people don’t mind second-hand bags and shoes of great quality.
12. African Black Soap
African black soap is loved by many people as it is made of organic ingredients and doesn’t contain harmful chemicals that may damage the skin. You can start making, packaging and selling African black soap.
13. Gaming Center
You can set up a gaming center for people to relax, unwind and have fun after shopping.
14. Restaurant
It is not everyone who comes to a flea market that comes there to buy stuffs, some people are just there to have fun and some are tourists who come for sight-seeing. These are people who would not mind trying out some street food.
You can sell packaged food or set up a few tables and chairs at your flea market stall so that people can sit-in and enjoy some delicious food. Don’t forget to find out the types of licenses that you need for selling food at a flea market though.
15. T-shirts
Another good product idea to sell in a flea market is t-shirts. You can never go wrong selling t-shirts in a flea market especially when they are nicely designed, of good quality and reasonably priced.
16. Start a Flea Market
If you have enough space in a suitable location, you can start your own flea market. You can make a lot of money from renting out stalls or spaces to flea market traders. You would need approval from zoning agencies and your local government for this though.
17. Cheap Toy
You can make a lot of money selling inexpensive dolls, toy cars, water guns, electronic games and other toys at flea markets. You can even convert your toy store into a dollar store for better attention and sales.
18. Baseball Caps
Baseball caps are a very commonly used item especially amongst men and children. You can make good money selling them because they sell very fast.
19. Fresh farm Produce
This is another fast selling item that you can make good money from at flea markets. You can sell things like fresh vegetables, foodstuff and fruits.
20. Fruit Juice and Smoothies
Selling fruit juice and smoothies at flea markets is also a very popular, lucrative business idea. You can sell cold smoothies and juice to shoppers so they can quench their thirst or you can sell packaged juice and smoothies to them so that they can take them home.
21. Ice Cream
Just like smoothies and fruit juices, ice creams are also hot selling items at flea markets.
22. Jewelry
You can also sell inexpensive jewelry at a flea market. If you can make handmade jewelry or sell costume jewelry then you are in luck because many people like these. You can also offer jewelry cleaning services for extra income and profit.
23. Books
eBooks are the in-thing at the moment but it doesn’t mean good old paperback books are dead. In fact, they are fast becoming collectors’ items and a lot of people buy them to add to their library collections. You can make good money selling these too.
24. Printing and Engraving Services
Another good business idea for flea markets is to offer engraving or printing services. People often need to engrave their jewelries, mugs, gift items and make prints on their shirts and other clothing items. These are quick services that you can earn good money from.
25. Tattoo Drawing and Removal
If you can get a good stall and equip it properly, you can also render tattoo drawing and tattoo removal services at a flea market.
26. Dress Mending
Dress mending is also very lucrative. You can help people fit their dresses or mend torn clothing.
27. Seasonal Items
You can sell seasonal items like Christmas decorations during Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day items, Easter goodies, 4th of July items, Halloween costumes and so on.
28. Herbs
Fresh and dried herbs are also great sales items for flea markets. You can add sales of herbal teas, ointments and other herbal products.
29. Vehicle Accessories
Another great business idea for flea markets is selling of vehicle accessories like car seat covers, car cleaning products, car air fresheners, wipers and other accessories.
30. Handmade Bags
If you know how to make bags or know anywhere you can get nice handmade bags at wholesale prices, you can make good money from selling them at flea markets too.
31. Essential Oils and Spices
A lot of people use essential oils for healthcare and health management purposes. You can sell these at flea markets for good profits too.
32. Used Electronics
You can either sell antique electronics to collectors or sell used or refurbished electronics to people who cannot afford to purchase new electronics.
33. Farming and Gardening Tools and Accessories
Many people have gardens or small farms in their homes. You can sell things like watering cans, hoses, wheelbarrows, seedlings and small gardening tools too.
34. Old Stamps and Coins
A lot of people collect stamps and coins. You can make money selling these at flea markets.
35. Freshly Brewed Beer
If you know how to brew delicious beer, you can convert it to cash by brewing fresh beer for sale at flea markets.
36. Mobile Phones
You can also sell mobile phones and mobile phone accessories like earphones, screen covers and Bluetooth receivers too.
37. Raincoats
Towards the rainy season, selling rain coats, shower caps and umbrellas is a lucrative business idea for flea markets.
38. Fancy Key holders
People often need key holders for their car keys, home keys and so on. You can make money selling personalized key holders or very attractive key holders at flea markets.
39. Kitchen Utensils
You can also sell knives, spoons, cooking pots, camp stoves, plates, buckets, bowls, manual cutters and slicers, food processors and other inexpensive kitchen utensils.
40. Perfumes and Scents
Not everyone can afford expensive designer or brand name perfumes. You can sell inexpensive perfumes, body sprays and home scents at flea markets.
41. Antique Items
There is a whole market of antique product lovers that you can cater to. You can sell anything from antique furniture to antique electronics, jewelries, clocks and just about any antique item.
42. Furniture
Flea markets are good places for selling used furniture, revamped furniture, plastic furniture and a lot of other inexpensive furniture.
If you are a furniture maker, you can use the flea market to build your customer base by selling small items at flea markets and showing them a catalogue of other products that you can also make. If your stuffs are good, many of them would not mind patronizing you outside the flea market.
43. Board Games and Puzzles
You can sell cheap and inexpensive board games, card games and puzzles like Sudoku, Monopoly, Whot, Ludo and so on. You can also sell educational games for children and adults.
44. Home Organizers
Bag organizers, shoe organizers, book organizers and just about any type of organizer would sell well at a flea market because people often need these things to make their lives easier and environment cleaner.
45. Wall Clocks and Alarm Clocks
Wall clocks and alarm clocks are also great sales items for flea markets as almost everyone needs them. Just make them inexpensive and beautiful because many people have wristwatches and clocks on their phones and computers to tell them the time but usually buy these clocks for decorative purposes.
46. Junk Sales
Collecting and reselling of junks is also a very good business idea for flea markets. You can go around and buy nice stuffs from yard sales, clean them up nicely, repair those that need to be repaired, add a good markup and sell for good profit.
47. Phone and Electronic Repairs
Phone repairs and repair of electronics also attract good customers at flea markets.
48. Hairstyling
Hair braiding, barbing, male hair styling and sale of hair extensions, hair care products like shampoos and hair creams also sell well at flea markets. You can also consider adding massage services to your hairstyling business so as to gain more patronage.
49. Postcards
Postcards may not be as popular as they used to be but people still buy them and you can make money from selling them or even helping people to mail them to their loved ones. You can also sell greeting cards like birthday cards, Christmas cards and other greeting cards. A lot of people appreciate greeting cards especially when they are handmade.
50. Handbills and Advert Service
A lot of people also pay other people to give out handbills and advertise their businesses at flea markets because of the large number of people that visit the markets. If you don’t really have the capital, resources or time to sell items at the market, you can consider a service-based business such as this instead.