How to price antiques and vintage for your booth

Updated November 11, 2026

Pricing is the part most booth dealers worry about. Price too high and items sit for months. Price too low and you work for nothing. Here is a simple routine that works for most antiques and vintage.

1. Look at what sold, not what is listed

Asking prices online tell you what people hope to get. Sold prices tell you what buyers actually paid. On eBay, search for your item, then turn on Sold items in the filters. Look at three to five sales of the same item in about the same condition.

Your booth is not eBay. Shoppers in a mall can see and hold the piece, and there is no shipping. Many items sell for a little more in a booth than online, and large or fragile items often sell for a lot more because they are hard to ship.

2. Be honest about condition

Chips, cracks, missing parts, repairs and fading all lower the price. Compare your piece to sold items in the same condition, not to perfect ones. Note any damage on the tag. Shoppers trust a dealer who tells them up front.

3. Leave room for the dealer discount

Many malls let dealers ask for a discount, often 10 percent. If your mall does, set the price so you are still happy with what you get after that discount and after the mall's commission.

4. Use clear, rounded prices

Prices like $12, $18 and $45 are easy to read at a glance. Put the price, a short description and your dealer number on every tag, so the register can ring it up quickly and credit your booth.

5. Write the date on the tag

Write the date you put each item out, even on the back of the tag. After 60 days, anything still there gets a markdown of 10 to 20 percent or gets moved to a new spot. After 90 days, mark it down again or take it home. This keeps your booth fresh and your money moving.

6. Keep track of what sells

Over a few months you will see which kinds of items sell fast and which sit. Buy more of what sells, and pay less for what sits. That one habit improves a booth more than anything else.

How BoothNest helps

BoothNest keeps the date each item went out, reminds you when items are due for a markdown, shows price help from recent sales and prints tags with your price and dealer number. Try it free for up to 50 items.