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Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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Posted by sweetpea_path Z8 WA maritime (My Page) on Sat, Jul 21, 07 at 14:26
| I'd enjoy learning what all of you are using for tables to display your goods. I'll be selling plants (mainly in 4" pots) and I'm especially interested in tables that are smaller and easy for one person to load & move. Anybody use card tables??? My vehicle isn't very large (jeep wrangler) and I'd like to keep the interior open for plants, so I'm thinking of stacking tables on the roof in a roof rack -- anybody else do this?
Thanks for any tips,
Sweetpea |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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| I started off with my Grandmother's old aluminum folding table. Totally lightweight and would hold up a ton. It's probably 40 years old and I haven't seen another one ever because if I did I'd buy 10 of 'em! I bought some green topped camp tables from the local mart store. They are relatively sturdy and lightweight. Went back to buy some more and of course they quit carrying them. Ended up with a "camp" table that is a heavy white plastic top and is so totally sturdy it's unreal. It was also almost $50 and weights probably 20 lbs. Not nearly as easy to hoist into the truck when you're tired and just want to get home but it isn't going to be a table that will collapse once it's filled with goods. If you're going to stack something on the roof of our vehicle you'd better make sure that you have the physical stamina to get the item up there by yourself. You can't guarantee that there'll be someone there to help you load and unload. Janet |
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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We started out with an old waterbed underdrawer frame. This was a two person job but super easy. I'd put the underdrawer boxes in the van then fill them up with larger plants, then put my flats on the plywood part then then me and my daughter would slide them over the boxes. Removal- slide out one plywood piece, empty out the plants sitting in the box, take out the box the slide out the 2nd plywood piece and set on the box. Clear out and remove 2nd box and put the first plywood on top of that, arrange larger plants around the boxes. This worked well for us because we got two layers of plants in the van, the whole set up was fairly light weight and we could unload and set up the booth in about 20 minutes flat! We even got comments like, "I can't believe you got all those plants out of that van, so fast. Another nice thing was I could set up the plants on the table top the night before and didn't have much arranging to do at the market.
Oops, I just reread your post and you only have a jeep wrangler, probably coudn't fit a full sized waterbed in there. Unless you are looking for waist high height you might go for milk crates that you could stack the plants in so that you can get as many plants in there as possible! Use the milk crates as legs and a piece plywood as the table top.
Let me know if this isn't very clear, I'm still kinda groggy from a road trip and am having a hard time typing. |
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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Most people here use the 6 foot white tables that Kmart and others sell. They used to be $49 then $39 and now I see $29. I use two of them and they fit into my space and I put the in the back of my Jeep Liberty with the back seats folded down and then put the boxes of produce on top.
They are sturdy and I can lift them. |
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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| We use a banquet folding table from Target. It's 6' long, but folds in half and has a carrying handle. I purchased ours on sale for $29.99. It fits in the back of my VW Beetle when the back seat is up. Here is a link to it: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-2/qid=1185215352/ref=sr_1_2/601-5451031-3118527?ie=UTF8&asin=B000BK3IBC |
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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| For the last four years I have been using plastic sawhorses and various tops for tables. The sawhorses were cheap at WalMart ($13 for two). You can make the table tops what ever size that will fit in your car and set them up into any arrangement you want. I constructed mine by making a frame out of junk 2 X 2's and covered it with old 1/4" paneling. I have a truck, so I can get 8' long tops in, but if I couldn't, I'd hinge two 4' frames together, that way they would folded up. Altogether I have about 20' of selling space that I shape into a U. I also have milk crates that I use on the ends and put another board on top to make risers. I found stuff sells better on the risers because it is at eye level. |
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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| Thanks everyone for the really clever ideas -- gives me something to go on now. I hadn't even thought of "camping equipment" (DUH) which would be lightweight & foldable. Also, the Target folding banquet table seems like a good option, too, along with plastic sawhorses (I even own a pair) with any size top I desire. I'm thinking now that it would probably work to get a roof rack for the Wrangler and stash the tables up there -- then the body of the jeep can get filled with all the plants. I already constructed a wooden shelf that lays across the top of the wheel wells in the back, so I've got two layers in there. If I create a U-shaped table configuration in my stall (with 3 tables), would you recommend people walk INTO the U, or would you face the tables so that I'm BEHIND the U and they shop the tables from the OUTSIDE perimeter (hope I've explained that ok)? Thanks again, Sweetea |
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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| With plastic sawhorses, you can use several 1 x 6 or 1 x 8 boards for the top (laid side-by-side). Gives you a lot more flexibility in loading your vehicle. |
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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| I also would recommend the tables the fold in half with the carrying handle. ALso, I'd arrange the tables so that you are inside the U. You would be able to reach everything on the tables and be close to your customers without running around the U all day (if it were set up reverse). |
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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| I set my tables up just the opposite. That way the CUSTOMERS can come in out of the intense heat or the rain. I have just enough room to still stay in the shade. I use two 6 foot banquet tables then 1 x 8 inch boards to form the last table |
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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| Set it up before you buy. My van will only take a 4' table of which I have 1 solid and a folding one. Just bought a new solid one at Sam's Club which has the most stupid design I've ever seen. You are supposed to hold in two separate buttons (about 8-9 inches apart at the same time) and pull the leg portion to the height you need. When I grow a 3rd arm, maybe I could manage!! With help I got it set up yesterday, but I think that baby is going back to the store this week. |
RE: Your favorite TABLES to take to market?
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| I use the four foot fold-in-half/collapsable tables from Sam's and love them. They're lightweight and easy to keep clean and because they fold up so small I can always stuff them in somewhere. They also have the need for three hands with all the button pushing and leg extending... I found that if I flip the table upside down, extend the legs, I can depress the button on one side while I pull on the legs on that side which will wedge the button a bit. Then I work on the other leg and usually the first button doesn't slide back and pop out - I can then move the leg up to the next level of holes and do the process all over again. |
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