The important bits!

What would l need to bring?

Your stock should be in a good clean state, free from dust or damage and in well-presented condition. For pre-loved items, No holes, no hair or pet fur. No stains. Shoes polished and instep cleaned. Take a good hard look at what you want to sell and consider it from the buyer's perspective. If the only reason you want to get a particular item out of your wardrobe is because its worn, has stains, is badly pilled or flaking, then it is doubtful someone else will not want to pay money to wear it either. Be mindful that shoppers will judge the quality of your stall and goods very quickly (and thereby decide if you stall is worthy of their attention) so if there is anything of obvious poor quality on display, they will move on to the next stall. 

Display Equipment. You need to bring everything you think you will require to set up your stall; hanging rack/s, coat hangers and tablecloth, displays, boxes, baskets, clothes airer, ladder – the options are limited only by your imagination and what you can fit in the car! Try to avoid buying anything specific for this purpose – be resourceful with what you have around the house.

Signage. Spend some time creating decent signage so that people can see clearly what you are offering. Grab some cardboard, string, sticky tape, texts, tinsel, balloons – whatever is going to help you stand out!

Float. You’ll need some float money so you can give shoppers change. How much and how you break this down depends on your selling price points. Best to have too much, rather than not enough as you don’t want to lose a sale due to not being able to facilitate it. Also, a shoulder bag or bum bag to keep your float secure on your person is a good idea.

Bags. Recycled/re-used shopping bags for your customers to put their purchases in.

Some stallholders like to bring a mirror to have in their stall, however we have change rooms and mirrors spread throughout the venue. If you bring a mirror and it breaks, you are responsible for cleaning it up (broken glass cannot just be thrown into a garbage bin!)

You might like to bring a water bottle and snacks, but depending on the venue, we will either have coffee and food on site, or you will be close by a high street to access cafes. Just be sure to get a pass-out stamp on your wrist before you leave the venue.

And maybe, if you have one/can borrow one, a trolley to help you bring everything in.

Please do not bring anything that requires power as you will not have access to an electric socket.

How to get the most from the stall holder experience?

Engage with shoppers. Smile and make them feel welcome. Ask if they are looking for anything in particular and offer suggestions. If the item they are looking at has a backstory, share it with them. Be proactive. We know it can be a long day, but you’ve only got one day to sell your stuff, so give it your best shot.

Be realistic with your pricing. Try to avoid emotionally pricing your goods.

Please, don’t set your stall up and then sit in a chair at the back of your stall and not engage. That’s no way to make a sale and there is nothing more off-putting for a shopper – they will walk right by. 

Create good signage for your stall. If you have a point of difference (vintage, retro, specific sizes, specific brands, etc) make it obvious for people to quickly get a visual take on what you are offering. Check out the Gallery page to see samples of how others have done this. Shoppers need to be able to see at a glance what it is you are offering, especially sizes.

Try not to crowd your stall with too many assistants/other stallholders, friends, family, etc. The only crowd you want in your stall is a crowd of active, engaged shoppers. 

We understand you may have a lot of gear to sell, however try to avoid bringing so much gear that your stall looks overstuffed and inaccessible. Avoid packing your hanging racks so tightly that shoppers can’t easily browse what’s hanging there. Shoppers like to be able to get a quick visual sense of what you are selling and then be able to easily browse your offerings.

We suggest you set up a ‘test’ stall at home in the same space as the stall you have booked, plus consider the size and scale of your display equipment (racks, etc). It’s important to remember we are strict on everyone keeping within the designated stall space (it’s a health and safety issue as well as being fair). If you have a lot of gear to sell, book two stalls.

Come with an attitude of community. If you’ve set up and you see a fellow stall holder struggling, lend them a hand. Offer to watch your neighbours stall if they need a comfort break.

If the market offers the opportunity to be involved in a social media campaign (eg #backstory) be sure to take part in it and 'like', 'share', 'love' and post the #backstory of your profiled gear to your own social media platforms. We appreciate not everyone 'does' social media, however it is the most accessible marketing and promotion platform for this kind of market event available, so by not taking part you are wasting an opportunity to encourage shoppers to seek you out and visit your stall. 

How should I price things?

How you price your goods is up to you, however our advice is you MUST be emotionally disconnected from what you are selling and you need to be realistic. 

We suggest you appreciate that an items ‘value’ is only relative to what the buyer is prepared to pay. Shoppers don’t necessarily care that you paid 300 AED for a lovely designer outfit which you have only worn once and have emotionally priced at AED250 because ‘it is beautiful’ and ‘it’s X brand’ and ‘in great condition’. They see a nice outfit which, at a pre-loved clothing market, they may be prepared to pay AED30 – AED40 for. Take the money! Let this outfit go on and have another life and wish the new owner lots of joy in wearing it. You can then enjoy the lightness of having released it from your possession. Arhhh….doesn’t that feel good? 

Similarly, we wouldn't discourage stallholders from selling 'fast fashion' as to do so is one way of slowing it down, but for it to have any value for a buyer it must be in perfect condition and be realistically priced.

If you want a good wardrobe clean out, price low and watch it go. You’ve not brought it all here to take it home again (although you can donate it to our charity partner at the end of the day – see below).

You will have a successful day if come along with the frame of mind to clear out as much you can and be happy with the money you make. We encourage you to engage in some good natured haggling. If someone has offered you a price for an item, you're three-quarters of the way to a sale. Negotiate. Consider offering multi-buy deals. 

You may have a super successful market one time and a less successful one the next. Markets are, by nature, places where total randomness, synchronicity and coincidences happen. No two markets will ever be the same. And that’s what we all LOVE about them.

Should I price/tag everything?

Our advice to you is YES. Consider the shopper’s perspective – it’s always a more pleasant shopping experience knowing the asking price of the item you are considering as this provides both parties a starting point for negotiation. At the very least, we suggest you have items in boxes/baskets or grouped together on racks marked AED5, AED10, and AED20 etc.

If you are sharing a stall with a friend, consider having different colour tags or creating tags that show the owner’s initials, item description and sell price. Then, if your friend is away from the stall (doing some of their own shopping, for example!) those left in the stall will know the details of the item and can keep the tag to show what was sold.

There are no guarantees

The market cannot and will not be held responsible for how much stallholders sell or how much money they make at any given market. What stallholders bring to sell; the condition it is in, the appropriateness of what they are selling v/v the shopper demographics on any particular market day, their price points, the way they engage with customers (or not), the signage and stall presentation, etc is all up to individual stallholders. We facilitate the market event and spend considerable time and resources advertising and promoting it to a broad audience, however we cannot guarantee the turnout at any event. 

We encourage stallholders to tell people they are having a stall at the market and encourage them to come along, plus share the market event on their social media networks. We provide social media tiles and flyers in the stallholder notes (sent a week before market day) to facilitate this. Stallholders must be prepared to promote their attendance at the market.

What if I need a break?

If you are on your own, you’ll probably find that you and your neighbours will become quite friendly during the setting up process, and can offer to watch each other’s stall when you need a bathroom break or coffee (another good reason to price up your stock).

Advertising and promotion

Each market has an extensive advertising and promotion campaign which starts around 2 – 3 months out and will run until the end of market day. We utilise paid poster and flyer distribution, paid and free online advertising and event listings, paid print media advertising in local newspapers + community listings, community social media platforms, collaborations with third parties, and any other opportunity we can find.

However, there is only so much we can do therefore each stall holder’s proactive engagement in promoting their attendance at the market is expected. We provide social media tiles and flyers in the stall holder notes (sent a week before market day) to facilitate this. Stallholders must be prepared to promote their attendance at the market.

Please ‘Like’ our Facebook page and confirm you are ‘attending’ the market event. ‘Check-in’ to the market when you arrive to set up. Like/love the Facebook and Instagram posts which will be posted regularly in the lead up to each market. The more social media likes and shares the market receives, the more shoppers will be encouraged to come to the market.