Advice for craft stall holders

I have been doing various market stalls, craft fairs & festivals for several years now with girlwithbeads, selling recycled fashion, and I thought I'd share some of my market wisdom with you. They won't be relevant to everyone but hopefully will be of use to someone.

Tips - 

• get to the venue early as stalls can often be allocated on the day and you want to make sure you get a good prominent spot. Even if stalls have already been allocated its often possible to ask nicely if you can swap your stall for a better one, especially if the other person hasn't turned up yet. If you are late and everyone is already setting up you'll have to settle for the pitch you are given.

• Every trader has different needs/set ups, I sell clothing and bags so like to have a table to display bags & accessories, and a clothing rail to display my clothing - its not always possible to have both - you need to check with the organisers before hand to make sure you get the space you need.

• I also take a market stall bag with all the things I might need during the day. this is especially good if you do stalls in different locations as you need to be prepared for different set ups - different sized tables, backgrounds, different places to hang things, so i always take a variety of clips, sticky tape, scissors, safety pins, string, which allow me to adapt my set up to each stall.

• the way you dress you stall can really sell your products, its a good idea to think about what props you might use to display your products. Obviously these differ depending on what you sell. I have development a set of props that work for me & my stock over time, but its always evolving.

• think about where the market stall will be. is it outdoors/indoors, what time of year is it, whats the weather forecast, what type of stall do you expect, is it in a marquee? I have done some awful summer fairs outside - one in a park where the worst problem was the wind! Its no fun having to tie everything down to the table and hanging onto the rail whenever there is a gust to stop it all blowing away - I returned to the same spot the next year prepared with a sandbag for the rail & clear plastic sheet to act as a wind break, a much better experience. And there was another stall at a street festival that was really wet and ever since then I have taken a tarpaulin with me so that I can protect my stock quickly if there is a shower.

• I spent many years taking my stock to market on public transport which is hard work but doable, fortunately I now have a car which makes life a lot easier and means I can take more stock than before and luxuries like mannequins

• I always have a checklist of what to take as there is nothing more annoying than getting all the way to the market and realising you have forgotten something vital and having no time to go back for it! (forgetting the feet to your clothing rail is particularly annoying, especially after carrying the heavy thing to the market!)

Market Checklist:

• float - £20 worth of £1 coins & £20 worth of £5 notes are always good to have ready (if you are doing a longer event over several days, you might want to have more change ready in case it all gets used up)
• money belt - keep your money safe on your person and within easy reach when you get a sale
• trolley - to carry your bags from the car/bus to the stall
• clothes rail - not essential if you are at a market with the metal framed stalls as you can hang clothes from this, but its good to have as offers more space to display your clothing
• coat hangers - don't forget these!
• sign - make a good clear sign to let everyone know who you are
• Designer info - write a bit of info about yourself, your designs & how you make your goods and put it in a nice frame with a picture of you at work - this way people know your goods are handmade by you
• table cloth - make sure its clean & ironed, and reaches the floor at the front & sides of your stall (I sometimes take a couple so that I can cover all sides neatly)
• backdrop - optional depending on the location, it can be good to have a backdrop so you can display things in your own way, or create a certain look for your stall, and it can cover any mess going on behind you. This is good if you are against a wall but if you aren't keep in mind it might block out the light and means you can't interact easily with stall holders behind you, I sometimes find its nice to leave it open.
• lights - not always necessary but if you think you'll be in a dark corner or its winter and gets dark early you might want to think about having some spotlights to brighten up your stall
• bunting/fairy lights - optional, but think about how you might decorate your space, these are quite flexible items
• extension lead/4 way socket - if you are bringing lights or need power check with the organisers first as they might need to allocate you a space near a power supply,  some markets just ask you to bring a long extension lead. A 4 way socket is good as you may have to share with several other traders.
• mannequin - bit of a luxury and only viable if you have a car and someone to help carry stuff, but a mannequin is really good to display your clothes and stand out from other stalls
• towel rail - useful for displaying items - I use it for belts
• notice/display board - I made a freestanding folding display board from 2 cork notice board attached with hinges - this means that I can display lots of small items (necklaces / brooches) by pinning them to the boards and create some height on the table, and it doesn't take up much room.
• boxes - attractive boxes can double up as display stands and somewhere to transport smaller items to market
• mirror - I have a perspex mirror, so no danger of it breaking in my bag - good idea to have so people can try things on
• large metal clips - essential for solving lots of problems - holding up your backdrop, used as a hook to display bags, clipping your light to the stall frame, etc
• pegs - again very useful for putting up small signs, and I often put up string between the market stall frame and peg up t-shirts like washing line for display
• hooks - I use a lot of s-hooks to hang bags for display
• string - useful for all sorts - hanging things, fixing things, etc
• scissors - I always need them if they are left behind
• gaffa tape - for putting up signs, for fixing broken things in emergencies, for securing clothes rail for journey home
• sewing kit - for last minute adjustments/repairs and I like to take some sewing to do on the stall to reiterate that I do all the sewing, and to keep me busy if I get bored
• safety pins - for pinning up table cloth or backdrop if they are too long
• business cards - make sure you put one in the bag with every purchase and don't be shy with handing them out to potential customers
• bags - these have got to be recyclable as I sell recycled fashion so I use 3 sizes of paper bags for various sized purchases. I have rubber stamp with my logo that i put on each bag to brand it as mine
• spare price tags - I use manilla cardboard luggage tags for my price labels which I also stamp with my logo, I always take spare tags in case I have forgotten to put prices on everything
• tissue paper - optional depending what you sell but if you want to gift wrap items or protect them then this is a nice touch. Also can be used to stuff bags/purses to give them shape for displaying.
• marker pen - for making last minute signs
• notebook & pen - to record sales, customer details & design ideas that might come to you during the day or might be suggested by customers
• paperwork/directions/map/vehicle pass - make sure you know where you are going before hand and plan where you will park / get the bus
• Insurance certificate - a lot of markets now insist you have public liability insurance to trade in there space and you need to take the certificate with you on the day to prove it, check with organisers beforehand. Insurance can be bought for under £50 a year from the Combined Market Traders Insurance Association (http://www.cmtia.co.uk/) or the Market Traders Federation.
• stool - sometimes these are provided by the venue but its worth checking, especially if there is more than one of you on the stall, how many chairs will be provided? it can be very tiring standing up all day
• camera - ok so most people have these on their phone's now but once you are all set up why not take a photo of your stall and post it on twitter or facebook to let everyone know you are at a market today, and show off all the lovely things you are selling
• water bottle/flask of coffee/snacks/packed lunch - you can spend a fortune buying lunch & coffees throughout your day so save some cash and bring your own. Although saying that its also good to support other traders by patronising their stalls, so its up to you! Another thing to check with organisers is if there will be food stalls at the market you are doing - I have done fairs where I'm on my own (so not able to go out of the market for lunch) and the only food stall sold cake - ok not the worst thing in the world but a sandwich would have been welcome.
• wet wipes! - don't mess up your lovely things with greasy fingers after lunch

Thanks for reading!