Running a market stall

[Scott]

Does anyone here do it? Any hints tips or advice for someone thinking of trying it.

Any websites or books you could recommend.

 

As ive mentioned before i'm facing redundancy in the comming months i've looked at franchising (some good ideas put paying a monthly fee puts me off)now im looking at a market stall.

 

Any help would be very wellcome,

 

Scott.

[Sultan]

Been there, done that. It is b***** hard work. Would it be inside or out. Outside can be a real chore, cold and it is no fun getting set up in the middle of winter.

 

You have to find a product that is needed and not normally available in the market. You can be sure that stall holders who already sell a certain product will not want a newcomer coming in and pinching their trade, in fact when I was doing the markets, (Hailsham, Battle, Rye and Folkestone) in the 80s most market tobies wouldn't allow it.

 

Good luck anyway.

[yoxer]

The days of markets are long gone Scott, and for too many reasons to list here, will never return. Market trading if its to be successful is highly competative and operates soley on a price basis.This may seem an obvious statement , but what is not so obvious is that in general you are trying to sell to the people with the least disposable income and who are very much aware of the price of everything. There are probably very few traders left that are now capable of taking money from a market , those traders now finding that any product that can be successfuly sold in the quantities neccessary, can be wholesaled to either other retailers, or the less successful and the increasingly desperate traders left trying to get a living by market trading, for the same price and a lot less bother.

Sultans remarks are very accurate, it is very hard work , and the rewards for the effort are no longer availlable. The rents on markets are no longer cheap, and as incredable as this may sound, you are looking around a minimum of £100 per day in exspences.

[Alan Fawcett]

Scott

 

I'd start buy selling on boot markets (like boot sales but traders are alowed to), the wednesday & saturday markets at Penkridge near Stafford are packed every time, the one fella who did make a killing was the tackle stall but his wife became very ill & he had to pack it in.

 

Tools etc are also good sellers but its a case of finding what will sell at the markets you'll be attending.

 

I'd say give it a go but don't shell out to much in one go, look through the free ads papers (if you have them near you) for second hand gear (ie market stall etc) & keep an eye open for bankruptcy sales for getting your stock from.

[yoxer]

Yeah , you'll find loads of bankruptcy sales . I wonder why that is .

[Newt]

ALAN FAWCETT:

... Tools etc are also good sellers but its a case of finding what will sell at the markets you'll be attending.....

Tools can make you a profit if you like to mess with them though. Used tools especially. You can buy up items that need a little work (maybe just sanding off rust or something) and recondition them. And things that people need will always sell if you offer a good price.

 

But lots of effort and the expense of locating.

[Chris Goddard]

Scott, send me your address as I have a cd of tools at prices that you will not believe and at a quality that will surpass most of the better tool names as well!! Just had an offer of 20+ rods too,Interseted??

 

Chris

[Scott]

yoxer:

Yeah , you'll find loads of bankruptcy sales . I wonder why that is .

I think thats because people take on far too much i.e. loans, overheads etc and dont get the returns to keep up the payments.

 

Dont know where you live Yoxer but up north prices for a pitch/stall are around £10-£20 a day, yes there are dearer ones (Lancaster indoor being very dear)but £20 a day is a normal price.

 

Thanks to the rest for the help and advice, I realise that it will involve a great deal of work and a great deal of research before hand, to explain how i'm going to go about it my simple idea is to buy a van which at the end of the day will still be mine and risk/spend £2000-£3000 of my redundancy cash on stock, if it fails then ive only lost 2-3 grand, i'll still have a van and still have a big lump of my redundancy cash left, im not naive enough to risk my home or to take out big loans to finance it, if I cant get what I want by using 50% of my redundancy then i'll have to look for a normal job and/or re-train for something.

 

Working for myself is something i've wanted to try for many years and a forced redundancy has just given me the push I needed (and the cash to make it happen), hence my posts asking about market stalls and franchises.

 

Alan, I like your idea of starting at car boot type sales so much that I think thats where i'll start.

 

But i'll keep looking till I get pushed (sometime in Feb) and posting further questions.

 

Thanks guys,

 

Scott.

[yoxer]

I also live in the North of the UK Scott and have over 25 years of market trading experience under my belt . I am unaware of any private market operater offering pitches at the rent you suggest and if you find any council run markets offering rents around the £10 per pitch price I suggest you give them a wide berth. The rents are the least of your ex's , try checkin out the commercial policy for your proposed van , that is if you can find a company thats willing to insure you when you tell them your proposed occupation.

[Scott]

Yoxer, have a look at these prices for my area

Barrow

Ulverston

Kendal

Lancaster

Morecambe

Penrith

 

All I asked for was some help/advice if you have spend 25 years doing it then it must have been worthwhile.

I didnt think insurance would be cheap but someone must provide cover unless all the market traders have lied on their insurance details.

 

Scott.