I shared a stall at Camberwell on the weekend. For those non-Melbournites, Camberwell Market is an absolute institutions. Institution a la Totes! A big flea market which happens every Sunday. A nice mixture of vintage dealers, regular folk doing Spring Cleaning, crafters and doughnut chefs.
I’ve been going as a flâneur, doughnut eater, sun catcher and clutter merchant since 1995. But this weekend was the first time I’ve been a seller. Here are some things I learnt.
:: It will probably be dark when you arrive. Dealers and crazy people will descend on you like possessed zombies. They will not care that they are tipping your carefully packed boxes on the ground, and they will care less for your protests. SO, keep your money and your small items hidden until the sun rises!
:: Don’t second guess what people want. Not everyone wants vintage, cute and cool. People are very happy to buy random stuff from your junk-shed that you perhaps can’t even identify.
:: Don’t make your stall look TOO good (some people might think you’re a dealer and steer clear), or TOO lame (you don’t wanna turn people off).
:: People love to rummage! Don’t assume you have to have everything neatly displayed. My two best selling things were cheap jewellery from a shoebox and scraps of material from a cardboard box on the ground.
:: The pay-off for the rummage factor is that people spend more time at your stall, and somehow, when people see OTHER people madly rummaging, it attracts them over. Just call me an attention seeker.
:: Price your stuff. Sometimes people assume that things are more than they want to pay, and not everyone wants to ask. Price your stuff with a little bit of room to haggle.
:: If you can afford it, book two bays and have your car in one. It means you can lock things away, have some lunch on hand and make a quick get away at the end.
:: Bring some snacks (as nice as doughnuts are, they aren’t that sustaining), sunscreen, a zip-able bag for your money and a fold up chair (sitting down is super nice when you’ve been up since 5am). We also brought plastic paint dropsheets to throw over the goods if it rained. Oh, and good amounts of change.
:: Do it in a posse! If you have pals the time goes faster, you have more hands and more eyes and you can horse around if you get bored.
What are YOUR market tips? There were lots of good markets and garage stalls over the weekend … did you check any out?
Love PG x