Market Stall

[AardvarkBookShop]

I am thinking of venturing into this world and wondered if anyone does this as part of their selling. Looking for any tips or any websites that give good advice. I have a million questions but looking at the basics of how well it works for you and costs etc..

[lejoueurdepipeau]

Yes, I am a registered market trader in France - currently selling my patchwork fabrics at Bayeux Saturday market (in addition to having listings on eBid and a French website). I find it a very successful way to sell - and it is great fun. The other market traders are very kind and helpful and a group of very friendly regular customers is building up. I also catch quite a few tourists from UK, Germany, USA, Holland etc although I expect that will tail off over the winter. I only started this a few months ago and will expand into other markets next spring I think. At the moment I am a casual and have to take any available space each week but I hope to get a permanent pitch next year. The problem is that most of the really good markets are on Saturdays and it isn't possible to be at all of them!

The space there costs me about 4euros for three meters - so heaps cheaper than any bricks and mortar establishment. The local ladies have been very excited to see me as there are no patchwork shops for miles around! I have been extremely lucky with the weather and have not been rained on yet - but I have realised that a cover is essential and I am investigating market umbrellas currently.

There is a chap at the market who sells books and he has a great van which is his stall - like a mobile library I suppose with all the books arranged along the side on shelves - he then just removes the side of the van and he is ready to sell.

It will be interesting to read other ideas from people for me too!

[earthangel]

I am thinking of venturing into this world and wondered if anyone does this as part of their selling. Looking for any tips or any websites that give good advice. I have a million questions but looking at the basics of how well it works for you and costs etc..

You might want to take a look at this site, especially if you intend doing markets regularly.

http://www.nmtf.co.uk/index.php?id_cpg=1

[buckhysen]

I've done a few Car boot sales in the past. Even if you pay the business rate it is not normally anymore than £8-£10 so you don't have to sell a lot to start making a profit. And depending on what you sell and how cheap you are it could be a better option than market stalls.

[lejoueurdepipeau]

Strangely, here - a space at a vide-grenier (car boot) can be more expensive than a municipal market. But then the superb weekly markets are an essential part of life in France so maybe they are cheap to preserve them.

[Rednosty]

The space there costs me about 4euros for three meters - so heaps cheaper than any bricks and mortar establishment. but I have realised that a cover is essential and I am investigating market umbrellas currently.

WOW 4 Euros = £3.69 (For just under 9 feet) I pay more then that for a stupid Boot fair!!

Want to suggest you look at one of those POP up Gazebos (They are brill) take 5 mins to put up and cover a large area) Cheap enough on the other side to buy )

[ChameleonSystems]

Markets stalls where I live in Lincs are a rip off. Last time I used one several years ago they were £15 for our local and £21 for a town further away. Just to stand around all day and sell hardly enough to pay the rent. I did this in the last recession to try to sell anything to make money. The council also make rules to limit what you can sell. You had to fill in an application and declare what you wanted to sell, they refused the application if you wanted to sell items already covered by some local shops and existing market traders.

Depends on what you want to sell. I would advise walking around your local market and get a feel for trade levels and likely competition.

[earthangel]

I am thinking of venturing into this world and wondered if anyone does this as part of their selling. Looking for any tips or any websites that give good advice. I have a million questions but looking at the basics of how well it works for you and costs etc..

By the way, your links only lead to the eBid Stores lists, not to your shops.

[lejoueurdepipeau]

Thanks Red! Yes, I have been looking at those too - they seem to work out cheaper than the parasols and there is the added advantage of keeping the centre of the space under them free (parasol means there is a leg in the middle) so that if it is raining customers can come inside and browse more easily. Easy to fit side walls too - so that I can display quilts, notices etc.

The stall was only 7.30 euros in the summer at one of the most tourist populated towns in Normandy - we get a reduction in the winter season -which starts on September 16th as far as the market is concerned! So it is certainly a bargain!

[deltadelta48]

Markets stalls where I live in Lincs are a rip off. Last time I used one several years ago they were £15 for our local and £21 for a town further away. Just to stand around all day and sell hardly enough to pay the rent. I did this in the last recession to try to sell anything to make money. The council also make rules to limit what you can sell. You had to fill in an application and declare what you wanted to sell, they refused the application if you wanted to sell items already covered by some local shops and existing market traders.

Depends on what you want to sell. I would advise walking around your local market and get a feel for trade levels and likely competition.

I agree. A few years ago a promoter starting a collectables fair, and rented us booths at a covered building at our state fair park. Was $75 for weekend. Nice show, we had huge spaces, had a horse stall that held our cars, many tables etc. But few buyers came. I sat all weekend and just broke even.

Of course I handed out my web site info, etc, but it was a long weekend of sitting and knitting/reading when I could have been listing etc.

And we were in an enclosed area with no place to get a hot coffee or a sandwich so it was a waste of time and uncomforable too.

However there are some antique shows in the state with tremendous traffic. Booths are $200+ but thousands attend and profits are excellent. So it depends. I would never sign up again with anyplace that was isolated, and had less traffic etc. Better to buy a very expensive booth in a heavily attended antiques show than sit all weekend like we did.

Local antiques malls in our area did well until this year. They were open 7 days a week, sellers rented a stall and one casher handled the sales for a cut of the profits. Now they have much less traffic and sellers have few sales. The economy no doubt.