Hi pals

Markets can be hard to get the grips of when you’re totally new to being a stall holder. And if you don’t have any market mates yet, it’s pretty rude to ask other creators what they do or use to be honest, so I thought making a short guide based on my experiences so far could be helpful to those out there contemplating whether to give it a go or not.

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Things you need if you are going to start selling at markets:

Public Liability Insurance

One of the biggest most important things you need is public liability insurance. There are lots of places you can get it. It really depends on what it is that you are selling as to what kind of public liability insurance you get. I get a specific kind of artist insurance that is also the cheapest that I’ve seen anywhere, but you can also just get general soul trader public liability insurance. If you are making and selling food that will be something entirely of its own as well and you would likely have to go and get other kinds of certificates. Think about what you might need to cover and have a look around at the options.

Modes of Payment

Methods people can pay you by. So every market will be different when it comes to ease of access to data or Wi-Fi in general, many forms of card payments require some kind of Internet connection. Whether you’re using it on a Phone app like PayPal or Monzo, or if you’re connecting to a Payment machine like sum up, you’ll still need some kind of access to Wi-Fi.

Sum Up

Many people do use SumUp as an easy method of taking card payments. Here is my referral link and you can get some money off when buying your first SumUp item and I get £10 for referring you. It comes with an app which I don’t fully use to be totally honest. You can set up individual listings and their prices, which seems like a good idea, but I’ve honestly never used it this way. I mainly just type in the amount owed and be done with it. My stock is very individual and does change quite a bit, plus I find it hard to bundle some listings for a buyer and ADD a discount because I don’t do discounts in percentages… I just take a quid or so off, so I’ve not yet found a way to really utilise half of the features of a SumUp machine or the app. There is a small fee taken from every transaction but it’s very small, especially compared to PayPal fees.

Cash Float

I like to go to markets with a combination of options, so I have my own SumUp machine, but I also have a cash float with a lot of coin change and a lot of £5 notes because if people have money it’s usually in much larger notes: £10 or £20 so you’ll need lots of change, especially if you have very specific prices like £2.95 or £399 I tend to stick to rounded numbers like a pound or 50p. People tend to use cash LESS but people do still use cash.

Monzo Bank

If any of these things do have issues, I can provide my Monzo bank details or use some kind of payment link through Monzo. I used to use PayPal right when I very first started doing markets but because it has my legal name, not my business name, people were saying that shit out loud a lot and also were never sure that it was me even though I literally gave them the details so it was way more hassle and way more embarrassing and honestly kind of transphobic at times. So I prefer using Monzo business because you can argue your way into getting a business card with an appropriate name on it. Plus, like I said earlier the fees are terrible and people are not very good at sending cash via friends & family at markets (which… they should do coz they literally have the goods in hand… would have saved me the fees)

I have Monzo business bank account referral details that you can check out here so if you wanted to set up a Monzo account, here’s the chance now! I also get money for this obviously if the terms are met, but one of the things I really like about Monzo is the fact that you can separate money into different pots and they are away from your main balance and won’t have anything taken out of the pots if you use the bankcard. Plus! You get a separate bank card to make it easier to manage your taxes and expenses as they’re all in one place. Read the specifics of this referral on my affiliates page.

Table Decoration

A table cloth big enough to cover a range of table sizes and shapes – many markets don’t allow no table cloth (not cute) and don’t provide them, so you need to have something you can bring everywhere. It doesn’t need to be a fancy branded cloth, literally anything will do. Lots of people just use white or black fabric. I would say though, try to find one that doesn’t wrinkle because I find the fold lines very ugly!

Consider lighting. Some markets, particularly alternative ones, can be in very dark venues for ~the vibe~ but it’s not the best shopping experience. There’s a few options you can get, depending on ur set up and your own brand vibe but some things I have seen are string fairy lights powered by batteries and rechargeable clip-on desk lamps. One market I did in Brighton for an alt market, I basically had to use my phone light anytime someone was browsing because it was just so dark!

What are you doing for signage? I use a combination of collage and handwritten signs due to my DIY branding (plus I’m often changing prices and offers to suit each market) But the main thing I recommend is using card at least so the signs stand up well on their own, ideally you would use some cute pattern or colour but it’s really not necessary. Some people have far more professional signs, but as long as you have some card and a decent sharpie, you’re fine.

Other Practical Things

A suitcase or some mode of luggage to transport all your stock safely and in a way that works for you. Some people use sholley trolleys but I currently prefer a small or large suitcase with 4 wheels at the bottom so it can roll upright. Some people have funky little hand-pulled trailers, I have no idea how they are transporting that. It might take some time and will probably take trial and error to find what works for you.

Photos of your work. And they have to be decent photos. Find something to use as the background if you don’t have an ~aesthetic~ house like I definitely don’t. I use the same table cloths for photos as I use at markets to have a more uniform look to my photos, but also a good way to make the photo look interesting but not sloppy or too overstimulating. You can definitely take good photos with a phone, all of mine have been taken with an iphone.

Practice editing. Editing your photos to make them look good on social media or to brighten up a photo. I just use the current iPhone photo editing settings available. Using some kind of free software as well like canva and getting familiar with that, it can be helpful if markets provide you with some transparent branding you can pop on your images (which is what I’m working on right as I’m writing this for Fancy A Mooch market) However, a lot of markets usually create market branded content for you to share, at the very least a poster.

Discounted travel or cheaper travel where possible: Have a look at the places you might be going to regularly, are there ways you can make that trip cheaper? I am disabled and have a disabled railcard, so my usual train tickets are discounted by 1/3 and I also get another person travelling with me if I want at the same rate. I also have a bus pass that makes MOST buses free. In London you can also get it set up on an oyster card, but you have to do this in person which is really inconvenient so I haven’t done this yet. Just an example, but it may be worth getting a certain age rage travel card, or you may qualify for other discounts.

I think in general, that’s all you need if you’re trialling markets for the first time. If you want to take selling your work more seriously, you will need to set yourself up as self employed or as a limited company but that’s not really necessary when you’re first starting out and just giving it a try. I’d advise that yes small new markets are often more accessible when it comes to table fees but they are often not well versed in marketing an event like a market and there is a higher likelihood of a poorer turnout making it less likely for you to earn your table fee and travel costs back. Do some research for a mid-sized market as the larger more popular ones are not likely to accept someone so new to markets.

This is not a definitive list but I think it’s a good starting point for anyone considering it. Let me know in the comments if you have any other ideas or suggestions you think people should think about as market selling artists!

~ Artie

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