I absolutely love how you keep it real and stand on business, I respect it. Honestly corporations need more of this. You can’t mince words with them or let them gaslight you. This was well called out and critically thought out, thank you 🌺
Thank you! 🥹 I’m glad I followed my gut and made the video. Hopefully it causes discussion in the vintage world and they get back to their roots. Lots of lessons to be learned for everyone.
Hope you have a snack ready lol it’s a long one. Glad this is being appreciated though! This is the kind of video I would’ve liked to have seen before I signed up & I feel like a lot of sellers sugar coat/only tell the highlights of their markets. If you’re looking to get into selling at markets it’s nice to know the ins/out. It’s more than just showing up/selling clothes.
It's crazy to have a "goodwill bins experience" with stained un-curated goods selling at $10/lb when you can just go to the goodwill outlets and pay $1.69/lb
I agree completely which is what made this all even crazier bc the buyers couldn’t even conceptualize they weren’t getting a good deal & it was hurting the sellers 😪
I think the part that made my head explode is when you said they put the vintage by the lb thing in the front and then you said " they fill these HUGE bags AND that's BEFORE they even see a curated vender" WHAT IN THE ACTUAL??? You are SO right about the reach... inserts in bags at local thrift stores that would want to partner to promote would have been the bare minimum they could have done locally. To NEVER even step foot into the said venue they organized...OMG
The way I had to keep rereading that email where they said they planned everything thru FaceTime. What a joke 😭 they’re so unserious about the event but still want us to drop rent money to be there. INSANITY. I did a market the weekend after thriftcon & they had flyers posted everywhere. They got a billboard made. They worked with stores all across Tennessee to promote it. Like it’s crazy how a market half the size could do everything right but thriftcon thought they could just rely on their name 🥴
So sorry for your poor experience! I’m vending at Portland next wknd and hope they take some consideration in better planning. Thank you for your video- you’re wonderful to watch!
Im glad you are talking about this. I was a seller ATL in the pit to test it. All I ever heard was how much $ you could make and it was all a LIE! If they made it more of an event they could’ve had pre parties get ppl excited. It was very disappointing ❤ thx for the video!
Right?! The expectations vs reality disappointment was real. The music festival experience they want to curate is a half baked idea at best. They couldn’t even get the basics of layout & marketing together.. that should’ve been top of the priority list.
My son and I went to Charlotte last year and Atlanta this year based on the hype. We look for unique tees and clothing from the past. 100 percent correct about ATL. It looked vacant up front. Then the guys with overpriced tees on the floor then the stage with music and empty space. We were there to buy the good stuff. Bins makes it look like Goodwill Bins. We have that at home. Everyone has that at home. The reason we won't set up with them is the cost. They are pricing themselves out of business and not taking care of vendors. Our favorite sellers were from Oklahoma and Arizona and Eastern NC. They were all talking about not coming back. We aren't there for the music, the bins or the wall. None of our friends are either. Paying $20 entry amd $10 per pound for the bins makes no sense when it is less than $2 per pound at a local Goodwill. We hear you.
In Belgium we have a thing that sounds similar to thrift con, it’s called brocante. It’s between flea market and car boot sale. Each neighbourhood has one every year for a weekend. You pay $15 for a pitch 🤷🏼♀️
omg as a reseller I feel for you so hard 😭😭 I went to thrift con Vegas just as a buyer but I had several friends (vendors) who barely broken even! I 100% agree w you that there’s no wayyy we should be giving them ANY more money when they’re screwing over their sellers to line their own pockets it’s ridiculous atp
There’s just no reason at a market this big to barely break even 😭 but I heard that about Vegas from a couple vendors! I feel like they’ll only change their ways by being called out so hopefully this starts a discussion in the vintage community and more people “wake up” to their nonsense. 😅
The other vtg by the pound activation I mention is also a sponsor for them & it wasn’t in the front. Even when it was when I did Charlotte in December it was a timed experience so it didn’t really take away from sellers success. Regardless though they should’ve kept sellers in mind. I understand wanting sponsors but at what cost? We as Patreon members paid for a prime space as well & we got shafted.
I'm not even halfway through the video and I'm so sorry this happened to you and other vendors/sellers who paid good money to sell at this event. The people who ran this thing just sound like another organization (if you can even call them that lol) who got too caught up in setting up pockets of trendier elements (i.e. the gimmicky pay by the lb at the expense of vendors, the sudden Coachella shift, IG music videos instead of investing in diversified promotion) instead of considering the core elements (the sellers) and the overall experience. Pourin' your money into irrelevant features!!! Like what
Unfortunately it’s part of the roller coaster of running a business. If you don’t adapt you’ll get left behind and sometimes you don’t know something won’t work for you until you try 🤷🏽♀️ So you take risks & learn lessons along the way lol. I learned a lot, got to see my friends & still managed to make my money so I’m counting it was a win which sounds crazy BUT I won’t be dumb enough to do this again. I dont know how some sellers have been following them for years city to city doing this. There’s a tasteful way to branch out & thriftcon failed lol. Lots of half baked ideas. Trying to keep up with growth of your brand is hard I will give them that but you have to remember your roots 😅 there were a lot of rookie mistakes made here
So glad you made this video about your experience. I think your idea about a women’s market was a great one. I enjoyed meeting you at ATL market behind Krystal’s. Hopefully your future endeavors will turn out more in your favor.
Even though I have nothing to do with the thrift community I feel this video more than most. As I watched your video you should check out what happened to blue ridge rock festival in Virginia pretty much every year it’s been there but especially 2023 like people who paid hundreds if not thousands of dollars to go literally got scam it was crazy but the artist the musicians and the workers oh my God it was one of the most insane things like I have chills right now I’m just saying it’s like it was the one of the most insane things I’ve ever experienced and there’s bound to be lawsuits like there’s already sound but it’s crazy it’s absolutely crazy and there has not been any refunds and what you’ll read if you do light research is that it was canceled due to weather But it’s just proof of a company that got to where it’s at because of the fans or in your case the vendors and they try to do it bigger and bigger and bigger every year and they lose grip with reality really an end up screwing over the ones who died in there and it’s sad
Amazing how you rattled off over a dozen ways to promote the event and these people couldn’t figure it out??? The whole thing was a hot mess!!! Sorry to hear that - I know it’s a LOT of work for the sellers!
I’ve never even run a market these just felt like common sense practices which is why I was so frustrated 😅 It was definitely a hotness, I’m just happy I didnt lose money in the process & got to see all my friends since we all live in different states 😌
THIS IS CRAZY! My brother is 14 and wants to do this type of business and watching this is shocking and crazy what they are doing and not keeping the vendors in mind and putting the by-the-pound thing in the front is WILD. Also if you guys have any tips for my brother LMK.
I was in a state of shock for a week after this happened. I refused to believe this was real life lol. So many poor decisions made I would recommend online selling first on a platform like depop/ebay and then when he’s ready smaller markets. The smaller ones are WAY more manageable, vibes are better & they tend to show 100x more care. I promise most markets aren’t like this. Thriftcon has just gotten greedy as they’ve grown. Also have him make an IG/Tiktok specifically for his buisness so he can promote himself to get sales.
So they charged $20 for a ticket! Seems steep, but when you think about it : charging people to get in is kind of a good strategy. At that point, you’re already invested and you have to buy something or multiple things to make it worth your initial investment. (Just thinking aloud don’t mind me)
It’s not uncommon to charge for an indoor market so that didn’t catch me off guard. I think that tracks from a business perspective on their end. My only issue was that they were making bank off those ticket sales & it didn’t feel like it was being poured back into the production of the market. Just felt pocketed
@@k.synclaireyeah I can see AN entree fee but maybe 10-15 bucks is more reasonable. Either way, thanks to sunken cost fallacy people will likely want to buy stuff to feel like they got their moneys worth after paying just to enter
sorry for all the spam comments! this just hit home bc while i dont do irl events, ebay where i mainly sell atm has made it to where paying a really high promoted fee is just ~the norm~ (they casually suggest like 10-15% promoted fees, on top of the base selling fees of like 13%…) /end rant i promise. stay strong, im feeling the squeeze too!
"Vintage by the pound" aka slightly curated used clothing/brands of the last 40 years. Our local Goodwill bins are $0.98 PER LB. $10? People got SCAMMED that day. But also, as a reseller, I'd pass on stuff like this in the future. Your online market place will always be more successful/profitable thru digital money transactions alone. Not everyone has a bank account but even more ppl use Chime/Cashapp. The economy sucks BAD rn so Thrift-Con already wasn't going to be profitable. Yes, people are still spoiling themselves, but no one wants to waste money on a hype beast thrift store convention fronting as a giant glorified depop meetup- especially now. Art fairs, local markets, swap n shops, ect is your bread and butter. The foot traffic and local camaraderie is already 10x better than a convention company that can't even view the venue in person 🤷
People definitely got caught up in the moment & just followed the crowd bc they didn’t even realize how bad of a deal they were getting. Like I said in the video this wasn’t worth it & logistically it didn’t make sense for me to do another one in the future so trust I won’t be doing this again. I gave it 2 shots and got burned twice so lesson learned. My smaller tried and true markets will be where you can find me 😌 I do think it could’ve been profitable like years past despite the economy but the bins truly killed all chances. Thousands of people had big full bags from those bins that’s thousands of dollars that could’ve/would’ve been spent with curated vendors 🤷🏽♀️ if over 10,000 people were willing to pay $20+ just to get in the door I think they were okay with wasting money on a hype beast thrift convention depop meetup lol. If they didn’t want to be there they would’ve skipped entirely
More feedback from other sellers ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LErO56qD9Dc.html 2:48-5:42 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AwjG_WK5XRM.html 4:50-6:35 8:10-13:30
I told you 2yrs ago your overhead was way to HIGH. We talked about the booth fees . The hotel cost Gas & Food And the overall physical labor you put in. Not to mention the emotional roller coaster of trying to make a profit. Your words to us was its not about the money but the personal connections you make with people who love what you love. The comradery. You said. And my reply was its ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY. You are SMART. START YOUR OWN MARKET. Get some investors and go for it. ❤️❤️❤️
It’s expensive to do markets if you’re not in a major city that has markets. No matter which one I do it’s going to be a roadtrip. The closest market is 2.5hrs away from me there isn’t a scene for vintage where I live and I don’t do this full time so starting my own is out of the question. I’ve made so many friends & money thru these I’m not about to stop lol. Even thru everything I mentioned in this video & the fees i still profited 2k. 2k I wouldn’t have otherwise had if I skipped this market entirely. Money was made. Friends were seen. This video was just to expose the expectations vs reality.
Start your own market… how? Let’s be honest, it’s easy to say that! But so so so hard to actually do it. End of the day, it takes money to make money. More often than not, starting your own platform or cutting out the middle man is unrealistic. And becoming that same middle man, costs more than paying them. Just saying
Why not 2 10x10 side by side ??? $81:00 monthly membership. WHAT!!! Come on kennedy you are a very intelligent girl stop being sucked in by the Hype. We are here to help you young lady. Stop it. Stop it NOW. ❤️❤️❤️
1) They dont allow you to put two booths side by side. 2) I explained why i paid for the monthly membership. this market notoriously sells out within minutes and i wanted to ensure my spot. Grand scheme if i wouldve done the numbers vendors have done in the past like 10k, that monthly membership for a couple months wouldve been 200% worth it. like i said in the video I understood this was a high risk decision to do this market with all the fees, unfortunately it didnt pan out the way i expected but thats just life. 3) I said logistically this didnt make sense to do it again. So i wont be lol. I am making this very honest video to educate others. There are so many factors that werent disclosed to me before making the decision to do this. I had only heard positive things. Do i have any regrets? No. I made all my money back and then profited. That's a win. And this was a learning experience. Another win 🤷🏽♀
