ADVICE ON BECOMING A MARKET TRADER

There are a few things you need to look into if you are considering becoming a Market Trader.

The most important of these is setting yourself up with Public Liability Insurance as you won’t be able to trade unless you have it.  You can get this from various companies but most traders use the National Market Traders Federation.  You can find them online and once you have paid your yearly premium your insurance cover is instant.

Whilst we’re on the subject of insurance, you will also need to make sure that your car/van is insured for business use.  This can usually be added on to your regular insurance for a small premium.

What shall I sell?  For a first time trader we would advise you to think very carefully if you are going to sell “perishables”.  It takes time to become an established trader on any market and you don’t want to be out of pocket at the end of the day with a lot of stock that is going to perish before you trade again the following week.

Go and visit the market you would like to trade at and have a look around to see what others are selling to make sure that you are not wanting to sell the same items.  You will stand a much better chance of succeeding as a Market Trader if you are not duplicating what another trader in the same market is selling.  You may, also, not be allowed to trade if you are selling the same thing as someone else.

There are a few things you might want to take into consideration when you choose what to sell.

Will it fit into my car/van?  

How heavy is it?  Remember, you will have to do an awful lot of loading and unloading in the course of your working day so choose something you know you can handle.

Is there anything else I’ll need?

You will need to have plastic sheeting or tarpaulin to protect your merchandise from the rain/snow.  Even though the majority of our market stalls are covered the wind can cause rain or snow to be blown onto the stalls so it is better to take precautions against your valuable stock getting ruined.

As market traders are out in all weathers it makes good sense to equip yourself with warm, waterproof clothing and shoes/boots for the winter months.

Once you’ve taken these things into consideration the next steps are simple:-

Choose a market
Contact it to find out what’s available
Register and apply to be a market trader

Choosing a Market

There are a few things you may want to think about when choosing which market you wish to trade on.

1. Location - do you wish to work close to home or would you like to
Travel to another location.

2. Trading Days - find out what days the market you are interested in
Standing is open - most of our markets trade on Friday and
Saturday but some are open on other days too so be sure to choose
One which can offer you the days you want.  Trading days will vary
        throughout the country but most markets are open on a Saturday.

Contacting your chosen market to find out What’s Available

Nearly all markets in the UK can be found online so it should be quite easy to get hold of a contact number for the market of your choice.  If you can’t find them on the internet we suggest that you pop along to the market you would like to trade at and talk to one of the traders to find out who you need to contact about having a stall.

Registering and Applying to Become a Market Trader

This is your final step to becoming a Market Trader.  Once you have decided upon where you want to trade and spoken to the market manager/superintendent, you will need to fill out the relevant paperwork and hand it back.  You will also need to provide them with your insurance details for their records.

This is a leaflet that we put together for our own markets in conjunction with High Peak Council and we hope that you will find this information useful.  If you have any questions just leave us a comment and we'll do our best to be of help.