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The pop up market stall
Running a market stall / pop up stall is a rewarding way to make a part-time or full-time income. The benefits are plentiful, but as with all the great things in life, you do need to be mindful of the pitfalls involved with running a market stall. This article is not intended to leave you disillusioned at life as a market vendor, but it is intended to give you a little heads up so you are not caught by surprise and you can be prepared for any market stall hurdles that come your way.
1. Running a market pop up stall is one tough gig
Running a pop up stall is not for the faint hearted and will likely not be your only source of income in the early days until you find your groove. Vendors new to the market may not realise the inconsistency in revenue. Markets are full of foot traffic, yet every stall in that market is fighting for that same traffic and for those elusive sales. Some days you may have a roaring trade, others you may barely scratch the surface of rent. This is especially true in the early days. In time, you will likely have consistent revenue once you have figured out which products work for your business and which products are holding you back.
2. Long hours, early hours
Most markets are usually run early in the morning until the afternoon. If you are not a morning person, waking up at 5am to set up your stall may be a bit of a struggle at first. On the other hand, night markets tend to end around 11pm and factoring in pack-up and dismantling time could mean a late night. If you are attending multiple weekend markets, as many vendors do, this can wreak havoc on your body clock.
3. No breaks
If you are running your market pop up stall on your own, you may not be able to have regular breaks as if you were in a 9-5 job as you might not have anyone to cover you. At best, you can bring your own lunch and have sneaky bites in between customers. Bathroom breaks might be tricky, but not impossible. If you have a good relationship with your vendor neighbour you can easily ask them to watch your stall as you run off to use the facilities. This is why it pays to always have a good relationship with vendor neighbours or have someone run the stall with you.
4. You are exposed to the elements
90% of markets and fetes are outdoors, which can mean some pretty cold days in the winter and some hot days in the summer, especially when you rock up to a market to set up at 5am or 6am. Brrr! if you have an outdoor fete the chances are that you won’t have access to electricity, so setting up a fan or a heater would be unlikely, although battery powered mini fans will be your best friend in the summer time.
In the winter, a warm, thick jacket, scarves, and layered clothing will be your friend.
5. Competitive vendors – The copycat syndrome
Everyone at a market is trying to grow their business, and sometimes their are clashes if products are seen as too similar. Some markets even have exclusivity clauses for this very reason. When the fidget spinners trend hit the world, many market vendors jumped on the bandwagon, stocking up on spinners.
I know of some markets that had to impose bans on non-toy vendors selling spinners, as just about every vendor had spinners to sell. It can be a tricky thing to navigate. After all, if you go to a shopping centre, you are bound to find multiple sellers of the same thing. It is likely to be two businesses independently sourcing the same products, although there is no denying that copycat sellers exist. Personally, I tend to stick to my stall and not worry about what other vendors are selling, and just do my own thing.
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6.Damaged stock
Part and parcel of running a market pop up stall is the inevitability of damaged stock from time to time. If you have an outdoor market, you may have to deal with stock being knocked over on windy days, or rain damage on those winter days. Be prepared with a transparent drop sheet for sudden rain and cloth to wipe any damp products.
Kids, in their enthusiasm, and tantrums, can also accidentally cause breakages. Make sure you don’t overreact and scold the child or their parents. Accidents happen. I would also avoid scolding kids that handle your products roughly. Disciplining another parent’s child can be a real sore point for some mums and dads.
When kids play roughly with my products at my pop up stall, I usually find engaging with the parents often brings their attention to their kids rough handling of my stock at my pop up stall and they ask their kids to settle down themselves. Otherwise, I might politely tell the parent that the product their child is handling is fragile and I don’t want them to hurt themselves. If the parent is not around, I will simply explain to the child in a polite, non-threatening way that the product can break easily if handled roughly.
7. Theft
In a perfect world, nobody would take what wasn’t theirs, and businesses could not have to worry about theft. Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world. Theft is usually opportunistic, and these moments happen when the stallholder is distracted. Make sure to always keep your cash out of passersby’s eyes. If you don’t have your money physically on you when you are setting up and dismantling your stall, you might want to consider locking your money in your car, of course, this only applies if your car is on site with you such as at a car boot sale type setup.
At the end of the day, potential pitfalls should not put you off running a pop up stall. As long as you are aware of the pitfalls, you can usually reduce the chance of them happening.
Related reading: the market stall checklist and the market directory.
