Guide
How to price items for an antique booth
A good booth price covers what you paid, the rent and the mall's cut, and still looks like a find to the shopper holding it.
1. Start from comps
Look up what the same piece is listed for now, and what it has actually sold for. Asking prices are the ceiling; sold prices are closer to the truth. Price Check shows live eBay asking prices from a photo in seconds; eBay's own search can filter to sold items when you want to check what things went for.
2. Cover rent, commission and card fees
Work backward from what you want to keep. If your mall takes 10% and a 3% card fee on most sales, a piece you want to net $40 on needs a tag of about $46:
Tag price = what you want to keep ÷ (1 − commission − card fee)
$40 ÷ (1 − 0.10 − 0.03) = $45.98, so tag it $46.
The booth rent calculator shows how many sales cover your rent each month.
3. Price in tiers and mark down on a schedule
- Price fresh, desirable pieces at the top of the comps; they are what regulars come back for.
- Leave room to negotiate if your mall allows dealer discounts, commonly 10%.
- After 60 days, take 10% off. After 90, 20%. After that, list it online or pull it.
4. Write tags that sell
- Say what it is, the maker or pattern, and the era: "Pyrex Butterprint bowl, 1960s".
- Note flaws honestly; it builds trust for everything else in the booth.
- Print tags instead of handwriting them: QR price tags stay legible and ring up the right item.
5. Put the slow pieces online
A piece that sits in a small-town booth may sell in a week to a collector online. VendorSnap for antique booth vendors keeps the booth and eBay, Etsy and Facebook listings on one inventory.
Questions and answers
How much should I mark up antiques?
Many booth vendors aim for at least 2 to 3 times what they paid, then check that the price is in line with comps and still covers commission and rent.
Should I put prices on everything?
Yes. Shoppers rarely ask, and an unpriced item usually goes unsold. A clear tag with the price, name and era sells better than a bare sticker.
List it everywhere. Sell it anywhere.
One photo prices it, one tap lists it on eBay and Etsy, and a sale anywhere takes it down everywhere else.