Lesson 3: Essential Starter Equipment for the Market Stall
There are many ways you can trade on the market stall. The cheapest method, lay down a cardboard box and place your items on the box. Job done! But you didn’t come here for that advice…
The way you present the products you have bought and made is important to presenting your stall and business to customers.
Throw everything in a pile on the table and guarantee you’ll be attracting buyers who want the cheapest deal because they can see you aren’t bothered.
Here, we’ll be looking at what a typical Market Stall looks like, starter equipment and the way you can improve perceptions by presenting your stall right.
The Typical Market Layout
In the UK and Europe, the traditional market is to have your products and produce laid out in a way that potential customers can see at a glance what you have available. The stall is your shop window and you need to draw folks in to view what you have on offer.
If your stall is dull, or your products are hidden behind fancy display cabinets many customers will wander past and not even know what gems you have or foods you are selling.
Show off what you have to those walking past.
Customer Attention
How you are perceived is the crux of the market stall. What can I do with a few seconds of a passerby’s attention? What do I need them to focus on?
There are many ways in which market vendors sell their items. They may be shouting offers out, there may be loud music, or they may be out meeting and greeting people as they walk by, inviting them to look.
Each method employs a little tactic that uses the attention of a person a little more to focus on the products on offer.
Customers have seconds to look and decide if they want to visit your stall so keep the focus right on what you have on offer.
Essential Starter Equipment
If you are going to sell in a marketplace regularly then you will a few basic items to get ahead.
Your main focus should be your display.
First ask yourself where you are going to be selling. Are you indoors or out? Will you be going to different venues to sell your products and if so will there be different arrangements required?
If you have rented a space in a marketplace then you may be entitled to a table or tent as part of the rent, but more than likely you will be given a number to the location of the floor space your market stall will occupy. There you will be greeted by a set of dimensions that you are “allowed” to set up on and use.
If you are cooking, place yourself front and centre to see customers, talk and share those wonderful aromas you will have.
If it’s precooked/baked or raw, think about how you will arrange your space for maximum interest. We eat with our eyes.
Averge Size of Stall
There really is no average-size of market stall, but a lot will depend on the location. It may be that one marketplace only allows pitches of 6ft (1.8m) whereas you may find another location offering a more generous space of 12ft (3.6m).
In planning your stall, take into account what you are selling too. A jewellery stall will require far less space than a fruit and veg stall. There is no point in having a 12ft table and using only 3ft of it to display your products. It will look empty and drowned out!
Plan for 6ft initially and then you can always build from there. A value (new) market stall stand, at 6ft by 6ft, will set you back around £144.00 from janusridgeway.
There are no sides and you will not be able to hide behind the table either, forcing you into the public and your soon-to-be customers. Build your display with simple wrapped cardboard boxes and as you grow, purchase sloping displays and hooks.
The Gazebo
Some market traders use a simple gazebo with some folding tables to display their products. This too is perfectly fine and as long as you are within your 6ft bay you are covered! (Quite literally) They also offer some protection on the sides too, to keep you a little warmer and dry in the cold and wet.
The Hartleys 6 Foot Folding Table is a durable table that will support the weight of bulkier items. These tables are 6ft exactly and utilise the whole space available to you on the average stall. They will also take quite a beating with all the in and out of the car, setting up and dismantling. Not bad for an item that needs to be used all over the place!
The reason so many people use them is for their compact folding ability and the small storage space between the undersides. Great for small necklaces and bracelets or cards.
Displaying your Product
Have your table covered! That shows a little more finesse and care about how your stall appears to others. The BLACK spandex stretch cover tablecloth for 6ft foot table is one way to go. It is flat-fronted and open at the back so you can easily store your boxes under the table and have access to them with ease.
This is a good investment because they don’t blow around. A tablecloth or dust sheet works fine until someone stands on a corner or the wind gets up. With an easy stretch cloth, your stall looks neat from the start and for very little extra outlay!
Brown paper like the Ambassador 500x25m Kraft Paper Roll, comes in handy for covering old shoe boxes to give a clean-looking display. But you can mix it up with festive Christmas paper or a themed wall paper you buy in a sale at a hardware store.
Once your customers have purchased your product will you be placing a flyer or business card in with their purchases, directing them to a Facebook page or email contact address? What about the way you give the product over? Plastic white bag or decorative box? Will you be offering a wrapping service for a customers to take away there and then as a gift?
Buying Secondhand
The secondhand market is certainly a place to start if you know what you are looking for.
Consider purchasing new as products normally have a warranty and you will have the full length of use from the item. Buying secondhand gives a false sense of economy as you end up having to make running repairs and create add-ons to make things work properly. This equates to lost time on your product and sales.
Conclusion
There are so many options to make your stall stand out and get people coming back again and again. Each little addition will cost a little more and you will need to factor in the expense into your prices, but if you go above and beyond you will always have customers.
People visit markets for a good deal, but equally, they have come for the experience they cannot get in a supermarket!
Getting set up can be as easy as making some items at home or selling them from the boot of your car. For a small initial outlay, the market stall trader starting their business off should consider perceptions and some essential starter equipment that might make all the difference.
See you for the next lesson: What’s my Niche?
Quick Quiz
- How large is a typical Market Stall stand in the UK?
- What is the crux of a market stall?
- Why is choosing secondhand equipment not always a wise move to make?
