STEP 1. FIRST STEP IS TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU WANT TO SELL? Now the good thing about a market stall is that you can sell absolutely anything you want. Some market do specialise particular goods but market places such as Portobello Road anything goes. As long as you can fit it on your pitch and it been approved by the market trading office your Stellar .
- Antiques
- New Goods
- Second Hand Goods
- Arts & Craft
- Street Food (little bit complicated -Food License Required)
- Brick-a-Brac
- Fresh Produce
- Fashion
- Vintage gifts
- Jewellery
- Music / Vinyl’s
- And many many more. (if you have a unique idea that’s even better)
STEP 2. FIND OUT WHERE TO BUY STOCK (IMPORT FROM CHINA) OR (BUY DIRECTLY FROM A WHOLESALER) Now this is the most important part of this business believe. there’s is two ways to do this if you make your own products well done. but if you buy and sell then you need to source your stock and pray that you have a regular supply of your best selling item. if you decide to buy from a wholesaler you would be paying more the goods, but the good thing is you would have to hold no stock, where as you buy directly from china. you will pay probably half what the wholesaler is charging you, which means you increase your profit margin by maybe 400%. This also means buying in bulk and if you have confident in your business, then i see no reason not to stock up 6 months worth of stock.
- Buying from wholesaler
- commercial street in London
- the wholesaler (cover a lot of online wholesalers)
- Search Job-Lot on Ebay
- Search for Ex-Catalouge stock on google
- ArgosClearance
- Endless list of wholesaler on Google search. but choose wisely and watch out for those funny prices, because when you go the market just remember that people love a bargain.
- Buying from directly from china
- Aliexpress (trustworthy seller here – make sure to check feedback before buying anything from china, or order a small sample first) (recommended).
- Bang-Good (Trustworthy)( Good china website with a factory in the UK, selling wholesale at china prices offering 2-3 day delivery, if they have that stock in the UK, if not then you will have to wait the normal shipping time frame)(also good for dropping shipping – meaning that you add an extra 000’s of product from bang good to your e-commerce website. When you make a sale just roll over to bang good and place your order for what you just sold and they will ship it using your company name or your name and address. as if you sent it, your customer will never know your dropping. (recommended)
- They are many other Chinese wholesale website but these are the only two i trust. Aliexpress is great because of their Escrow system and Bang-good is good and their product are banging.(speaking from Experience and trust me i went through f**king hell when i first started buying from china. Got Ripped off so many times. Stick with these two sites and you’ll be cool like a pink of Fosters.
STEP 3. CONTACT THE MARKET YOU WOULD LIKE TO TRADE AT (recommended – PORTOBELLO ROAD MARKET – recommended) Now that you’ve decided what you would like to sell and your fully confident you can make some money from it. you now have to contact the market trading office of the market you would like to start your business on. in this case Portobello Road.
STEP 4. BUY YOUR STOCK AND ALSO EQUIPMENT FOR YOUR MARKET STALL
- clips
- covers
- table sheets and cloth
- handing bars
- pop up gazebo’s
- money bag
- display equipments
- point of sale items
STEP 5. DEPENDING ON WHAT YOUR SELLING YOU CAN ALSO SET UP AN Ebay, AMAZON AND E-COMMERCE WEBSITE FOR STALL
STEP 6. NOW IF YOU FEEL YOUR MARKET STALL IS A SUCCESSFUL, IT WILL BE A GOOD IDEA TO START ACCEPTING CARD PAYMENTS.
STEP 7. SET UP A FACEBOOK, TWITTER, LINKED-IN, GOOGLE +, YOUTUBE CHANNEL AND MOST DEFINITELY A WORD-PRESS BLOG TO AUTOMATICALLY BUILD YOUR SEO PRESENCE ONLINE.
STEP 8. THIS NEXT ONE IS TOTALLY FOR YOU TO DECIDE – don’t say i didn’t tell you. (register yourself as self-employed and pay your taxes on your profits).
STEP 9. DON’T EXPECT TO MAKE A £MILLION£ OVER NIGHT OR BECOME THE NEXT ALLEN SUGAR FROM JUST ONE MARKET STALL. but these are a few more tip and advice about how to expand and generate more income.
- Set up road shows
- Music festivals
- Kiosk at shopping malls
- kiosk at train station
- Affiliate marketing for your eCommerce website
- and am sure there is many more to add to this list
- please leave a comment if you have any suggestions regarding starting a market stall and i will be glad to add them to my list.
STEP 10. Get Paid (don’t think i need to teach you how to sell, if you don’t have the GIFT OF THE GAB like Delboy from ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES, then your in the wrong business my son).
STEP 11. ALMOST FORGOT – register for a third party market traders insurance. only about £50 a year. most market require you have this especially Portobello Road.
GOOD LUCK and BE HAPPY
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT IF THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL OR IF YOU HAVE A SUGGESTION TO ADD.. THANK YOU.
Portobello Road Marketplace 