Well, it took a few hours to put together the puzzle, but we were able to fit almost everything in a 20ft truck, my van and my mom’s car.  We still have a few things to take down on Thursday and Friday, but it was really amazing how much we were able to fit in that truck!  We have dressers stacked three high in some places.

And loading was so much easier now that we don’t have to carry everything up our basement steps!  I have been so thankful for the studio as we’ve been getting ready for Lucketts this year.

My boys were there, helping with the small boxes, and then playing in the studio when things got boring.  At one point, my eight year old bent his knees slightly, cocked his head and softened his voice.  “Oh, look.  There’s a little cat…”  I looked under the edge of the opened studio door and curled up against the steps was a furry, pointed face.  It didn’t belong to a cat, though.  It was a huge groundhog, literally backed into a corner.  I gasped.  “Jeff!!  What do we do?!  There’s a groundhog!!”  I’m imagining a rabid groundhog behaving something like a ROUS. (Princess Bride reference.)

  Everyone stood still.  The groundhog just stared out at all of us and we started back.

Jeff stepped towards him, approaching from the side in a non-threatening way.  With everyone else standing still, the groundhog made a run for it under the truck and bolted off.  Poor guy was probably nosing around in a bush when we all started making a ruckus, putting French chairs and boxes of ironstone in his way.  All ended well, though.  No animals were harmed in the preparation for Lucketts 2015.

Tomorrow, we drive down to set up, so I’ll share pictures and a guide to shopping my space.

For tonight, though, I’ve received a lot of questions as I’ve been getting ready for Lucketts, so I thought I would answer them all in one post.  I’ve answered a lot of these before, but some things have changed through the years and I know it’s hard to dig into the depths of this blog to find all I’ve written.  So, here we go…

How do you price your pieces?  

This question is always so tough to answer, because there are so many variables.  I wrote a post about it HERE that you can read if you’re interested in the long answer.  As a short answer, I’ll say that with small things or things that I just buy and sell without changing or improving, I try to double the price.  That doesn’t always pan out, though.  There are some pieces I make a tiny profit on, because they are neat pieces and I’m willing to just let them pass through my hands.  My profit margin on my furniture is higher, because I shop smart and buy pieces that are underpriced, unusually because of flaws in the finish, wonky drawers, bubbled veneer, ugly upholstery fabric, etc.

Pricing for me is also very personal.  I want my pieces to be affordable.  And I want to sell everything!  It’s almost a joke how empty my booth is at the end of fairs.  After Chapel Market one year, I literally had one plastic tote of stuff and that was it.  In past years, I’ve come to Lucketts with a 17′ truck stuffed to the ceiling and leave with a mini-van, mostly full of our tents, chairs, a table to checkout, etc.  I like it that way, so I shop and price accordingly.

You have to keep in mind, though, that retail isn’t my only or main thing.  It’s just a piece of my business and I can keep my prices lower, because it’s not my bread and butter.

How do you shop on Craig’s List?

I wish I had some super secret way to shop on Craig’s List, but I don’t!  I just troll the Furniture For Sale and Antiques For Sale sections and see if anything catches my eye.  I sometimes use search terms like antique, old, dresser, French, wood, primitive, etc.  I’m patient and I wait until I see what I like at a good price.

I do have an ace up my sleeve when it comes to picking pieces up, though.  I have a dad with a truck who likes to drive it around and pick things up in it.  At least, he does for his baby girl.  So, I send him the link of something I like and he contacts the person, arranges pick up and even negotiates with them and asks if they have any other furniture to sell.  It’s awesome.  Furniture just shows up at my doorstep.

Why are you still selling at Lucketts instead of having your own sale?

I have thoughts about having my own sale and maybe I’ll do that one day, but I really miss being a full-time dealer at Lucketts, so I love working with them once a year, back at one of my favorite places ever.  It’s a fun event with repeat, loyal shoppers and great vendors.  I enjoy mingling with them.  I also work best when I have something specific to work on with a deadline.  Sometimes I push myself too hard towards those deadlines, but without them, I get a little aimless and I’m less motivated.  I’m still productive and work hard, but I’m just not as focused.

Kriste and I have kicked around the idea of having a “Lucketts Leftover” sale if there’s enough left to do so.  If not, we’ll list things online and locally.

Maybe in the future I’ll have my own sale, but when I start thinking about parking and port-a-potties and occupancy laws, I just don’t even want to try.  For now, I’m just going to stick with selling at a few antique markets here and there.

How do you get so much done? 

I will say that a part of it is just the way I am.  I’ve been a driven and very productive person since I was young.  I remember working on projects with my mom and insisting that we finish.  My mom called me “the good housekeeping fairy”, because I used to clean our entire house while she was at work.  At my own initiative.  When I was a teenager.  I remember my Music Theory professor telling my parents, “Marian is very serious.”  I’m happy when I’m productive and have a lot to show for my day.

I’m also good at multitasking and I work quickly and efficiently.  (Most of the time.)

The upside to this personality is that I am very productive.  The downside is that I have a tendency to overwork and I have a hard time just resting.

And it really is true that if you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.  And I really do love my work.  I can honestly say that I never dread Mondays.

Well, I am totally pooped, so I am going to sign off for tonight, but I have lot more to share about getting ready for a market or fair like Lucketts…