Weekend Sales and Inventory Control

It is tricky for me to retain a balance between inventory (both before and after refurbishing) and sales. I want to have enough on hand for potential customers to see a range of options in colors, styles and price-points. I want them not just to visit my on-line stores (mostly eBay and Etsy these days) but come back often for new and exciting offerings. With that in mind, I am almost always searching out great "before" pieces and the weekend estate and garage sales in the greater Atlanta area are amongst my best sources. Storage is a problem - I have limited home storage and my great upholsterers (the fabulous Lees at Sun's Upholstery in Norcross) very generously allow me to store both my before and some of my after pieces at their shop. Sometimes, however, it gets overly crowded and that is currently the case.

Given all of my misgivings about my inventory and space problems, however, I still went out on Friday and Saturday for the sales and found three nice pieces to buy!  I just can't stop myself!

This sale (in high-end Buckhead part of the city) was being held by a group of friends who put together quite an array of items for sale creating a real festival market atmosphere!

Just sine of the items for sale at the sale - tempting, tempting!

This company had two nice sales going this weekend and I visited both. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately given my inventory situation), their prices are always very high and they are not negotiable enough to make it worth my while even leaving a bid. The company has warehouse space and they bring unsold items there and, therefore, do not seem to have the incentive to reduce the items enough to move them out. I would have liked all of the items shown here but the settee was $1100 and the pink chair $495 - about 80% more than I want to spent!

These three pieces are well constructed and will look amazing redone. The wingback is a Hickory Chair - can't buy a better piece than that!