Maps
Cartography is fascinating – to some people. My stepfather loves old maps and has several nice antique ones in frames which substitute for art. I fairness they look very nice but I don’t share his fascination. To me maps are useful things that help you to get from A to B but both functions are valid when it comes to selling them.
Old/antique maps can be had for very little money, and once framed can be sold for a hefty profit. Even when the map has o relevance to your given area it may be easy to sell using the power of the internet. For example an old map of Northumberland in England might be hard to sell in Connecticut but put it on the internet and make it available to people in (or from) Northumberland and it suddenly generates increased demand.
Even up to date maps can be sold to travellers who want a walking or driving guide of the area they are headed to.
In the age of GPS and Google Maps you will need to find a market of people who want the reassurance of paper. This might be the senior travelling market, or people who may range out of signal such as hikers, mountain-bikers or climbers. To give an idea of how popular (and necessary) maps are Google has 255 million results for a simple search on the word “maps”.
Distribution may depend on whether you are selling old maps or new ones. You can look at the following: -
Ebay
Website
Advertise
Antique stores
Clubs/restaurants
Travel Agents
Ebay has 18,754 listings under “maps”. Narrowing this to antique maps still lists over “6000”, being more specific and putting “antique maps England” gives 96 listings. “road map England” lists just 10 results. The great thing about this product is that people will be very specific in what they search for and you will only be one of the few specific results that they are looking for. Naturally the more diverse the maps you carry the more people will find you, but given 10 results you could happily sell UK road atlases bought cheap in the UK on Ebay to American buyers.
Building a website and becoming one of the 255 million results on Google does not sound very appealing, but link the site to an Ebay store to facilitate sales, and show your other stock and promote through travel forums and websites as well as through your offline facilities and you may soon have a steady flow of traffic. Listing each of your maps with appropriate key words and a picture will also help you to get found.
Advertising in appropriate publications will help you to get noticed. My parents are both around 60 and both quite internet literate so don’t be afraid to advertise your website in magazines that appeal to seniors, as well as climbing, mountain biking and hiking magazines. Measure the response of each of your ads in terms of traffic to the website as well as sales as many people may bookmark your site and purchase later.
Antique stores may be a good source of rolled maps but may also be interested in buying nice maps of local interest that have been framed. Use simple wooden frames and nice borders and labelling. Make sure that there is sufficient margin left for the antique store to make a profit. If you carry a lot of stock, then leave them a couple of examples and a catalogue of your other items.
It’s not unusual to see photographs or paintings on the walls of clubs or restaurants that are for sale. This serves a double purpose for the owners as they get free decoration and a commission on any sales. There is no reason why in the right setting you couldn’t do the same thing with nicely framed maps.
Travel agents could easily promote your stock. The large stores like Thomas Cook might take some persuading but smaller independent operators could simply ask all clients who are going on a fly-drive type holiday whether they would like to buy a map of the local area, the state, etc. Response rates should be healthy and with a dollar or two commission to the sales agents they are likely to ask the right questions.
www.cartographic.com has over 7 million maps available covering locations worldwide and would probably be a good place to start looking for bulk discounts. Drop them an email and ask them about setting up as an affiliate marketing their products and ask what kind of discounts they can make available.
For older maps you will need to do some leg work and start looking around. Check in the attics and sellers of older relatives, talk to antique shop owners and browse junk shops. Also go to garage sales and keep an eye on Ebay for those undervalued bargains. Remember a nicely rolled map can go up massively in value once you frame it. If you get nice maps in good condition you may be able to contact the original manufacturers and ask for permission to reproduce them, contact details can usually be found in the key.
Don’t reproduce maps without permission they are protected by copyright and you will end up getting in trouble.
A rolled up map costs very little to ship, so your additional costs in acquiring stock will be low
If your older maps are crumpled or folded you can iron them gently through a towel or something similar but ultimately if it looks unattractive just be honest when you sell it on.
Remember to look at the dates maps were published/printed as a birth-year may make this an attractive gift for people over 35.