All You Need to Know about Sourcing Inventory for a Flea Market in Ontario

Picking up bargains is something every buyer and shopaholic enjoys. While it is fun to pick up cheap products, it is not often you find quality products at rock bottom prices. But this does not mean that there is no market, and no customer base for cheap products. Some products are cheap because they are low quality, but then there are some products that are cheap because they might be old, used, or sold through a specific outlet, like a flea market.

Yes, flea market merchandise is cheap, and often you might think that products sold at such places are old, broken, scrap, used, which explains the price. However, with the supply chain options changing drastically with the power of internet and smart sourcing, you should not be surprised if you come across some really cool merchandise in practically new condition at a flea market stalls in Canada’s Ontario. Here’s the reason why.

Stocking a Flea Market Business in Ontario, Canada

Speaking in traditional terms, a flea market stall has usually been stocked by people selling their old, used merchandise, or products they assembled from scrap parts into a functional unit. However, nowadays liquidation companies and liquidation platforms such as Direct Liquidation, enable flea market stall owners to stock up with cheap merchandise that is not necessarily used, or broken. While products offered through our platform are mostly customer returns and reviewed but non-functioning items, there are pallets and lots that bring a significant profit and resale appeal such as closeout or overstock merchandise, which is practically brand new. Now these products do come at a price that might be beyond the flea market budget, but the mentioned customer returns hide an opportunity for flea market stall owners.

Products come in different conditions, but at the same time, customer returned products are returned for various reasons. Maybe the buyer got a new item while the one they ordered was in transit, maybe the seller shipped the wrong size or color, maybe there was some blemish or slight cosmetic damage sustained during transport, all these are valid reasons for returns. Sometimes buyers simply don’t want to use the product any longer and return it within the return window. So what does this mean for you? Well, often you will find unsorted customer returns being offered for sale. These, together with tested, not working products come at the lowest prices, but can be the merchandise you are looking for.

Each of those unsorted customer return pallets could include one item that has been returned unopened in its original packaging, worth as much as your whole lot. It is a risk worth taking, at a low, flea market budget price. In addition, if you end up with scrap parts, you can sell them individually, and sometimes you can use them to bring one product to life that could repay your whole investment.

But how do you know what you are buying? Well Direct Liquidation provides you with a manifest, a list of products contained in a pallet or a lot. So if you maybe have a box of smartphones at home with broken screens, you could look for a lot of the exact same model that has functioning displays but speaker issue or something similar. Buy such lot, combine the working pieces and you have yourself a small batch of functioning smartphones worth a lot more than what you paid for the lot.

And why did we mention Ontario, Canada? Well, if you operate a flea market stall near Brampton, you could save further on shipping since our warehouse is located in Brampton and you could pick up the products you purchase yourself and start earning that extra bit of cash.

View all Canadian liquidation lots here.

‘Courtice Flea Market’

1696 Bloor St
Courtice, ON L1E 2N1
(905) 436-1024

‘Elmvale Flea And Farmers Market’

1568 County Rd 92
Elmvale, ON L0L 1P0
(705) 322-1633

‘The Pickering Markets’

1400 Squires Beach Rd
Pickering, ON L1W 4B9
(905) 426-3387

‘Pinery Antique Flea Market’

10163 Lakeshore Rd
Grand Bend, ON N0M 1T0
(519) 238-8382

‘McHaffie Flea Market’

5070 31
Morrisburg, ON K0C 1X0
(613) 543-2623

‘Dr Flea’s Flea Market’

8 Westmore Dr
Etobicoke, ON M9V 3Z7
(416) 745-3532

‘Grand River Flea Market’

261 Hespeler Rd
Cambridge, ON N1R 3H8
(519) 623-0540

‘Haggler’s Flea Market’

1565 Barton St E
Hamilton, ON L8H 2Y3
(905) 545-4747

‘Aberfoyle Antique Market’

57 Brock Rd S
Guelph, ON N0N 2J0
(519) 763-1077

‘Merchants’ Flea Market’

1921 Eglinton Ave E
Scarborough, ON M1L 2L6
(416) 757-5698

‘Downsview Park Merchants Market’

40 Carl Hall Rd
North York, ON M3K 2C1
(416) 638-2525

‘Fantastic Flea Market Ltd’

1250 S Service Rd
Mississauga, ON L5E 1V4
(905) 274-9403

‘St. Catharines Factory Outlet Flea Market’

46 Turner Crescent
Catharines, ON L2P 2H6
(905) 684-3066

‘747 Flea Market’

95 Parkhurst Square
Brampton, ON L6T 5H5
(905) 790-3113

‘Mississauga Flea Market’

3092 Mavis Rd
Mississauga, ON L5C 1T8
(905) 268-0502

‘Collins Bay Flea Market’

666 Collins Bay Rd
Kingston, ON K7M 7E9
(613) 389-2227

‘Hanover Flea Market’

711 10th Ave
Hanover, ON N4N 2P7
(519) 506-6363

‘Stittsville’s Carp Rd Flea Market’

2079 Carp Rd
Carp, ON K0A 1L0
(613) 836-3103

‘Barrie Automotive Flea Market’

180 8 Line S
Oro-Medonte, ON L0L 2X0
(705) 487-3663

‘Rockford Flea Market’

317804 Highway 6 & 10, RR#4
Owen Sound, ON N4K 5N6
(519) 371-8333

‘Gibraltar Weekend Market’

1712 Dundas St
London, ON N5W 3E3
(519) 659-8725

‘Prudhommes Antique Market’

3125 N Service Rd
Vineland Station, ON L0R 2E0
(905) 562-5187

‘Perth Flea Market’

3004 Rideau Ferry Rd
Perth, ON K7H 3C7
(613) 267-8394

‘St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market & Flea Market’

878 Weber St N
Woolwich, ON N2J 4A9
(519) 747-1830

‘Aylmer Sales Arena’

51 Murray St
Aylmer, ON N5H
(519) 765-2211

‘Murray’s Furniture and Flea Market’

525 High St
Carleton Place, ON K7C 3P1
(613) 253-1804

‘Deseronto Waterside Market & Storage’

240 Main St
Deseronto, ON K0K 1X0
(613) 396-2819

‘Vendor’s Flea Market’

53 Parkhurst Square
Brampton, ON L6T 5H5
(905) 792-0666

‘The Hidden Treasure Chest Flea Market’

2 Industrial Dr
Campbellford, ON K0L 1L0
(705) 854-0037

‘Brampton Flea Market’

253 Queen St E
Brampton, ON L6W 2B8
(647) 827-0760

‘Welland Flea Market’

190 King St
Welland, ON L3B 3J5
(905) 325-0604

‘OPS Flea Market & Indoor Outdoor Storage’

554 Colborne St W
Lindsay, ON K9V 4R1
(705) 878-5978

‘Olde Circle Flea Market’

28 Bath Road
Kingston, ON K7L 1H4
(613) 536-1050

Other Useful Sites and Further Reading

Tripadvisor provides a list of top user-rated flea markets in Ontario, which allows you to check out the latest reviews, and stay on top of the latest contact details.

The Spruce has an article on getting started up with a new flea market business.

Brighthub has an article on owning and operating your own flea market business.

And Wikihow has a useful guide to becoming a flea market vendor.

If you plan to set up a stand as a vendor at a flea market, you need to make sure you are fully complying with the law, in terms of tax registration. Make sure as a first time entrant to a flea market as a stallholder, you ask about any relevant permits, as this may change by local authority area.

Direct Liquidation is a goTRG company.

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