If you are the kind of person that loves to browse at craft markets or farmers markets, you could equally be well suited to set up a stall yourself. If you have considered doing this at some stage but have been put off by the lack of storage space to keep your materials, then a storage solution is at hand.

Finding space to keep materials for a new business need not be a headache at all. As you may only need to set up on specific days such as weekends, finding a lock-up-and-go situation is probably the best bet.

While your garage may be an option, it’s not ideal as the car is then likely to have to sleep outside. Your ideal storage solution, therefore, is self storage, the most convenient and safe choice of storage you can make.

Storage facilities in Cumbria such as Stop & Store Penrith provide affordable storage which is accessible and perfect for the storage of stock and support materials that are required for a market stall. By having your own lock and key everything inside the self storage unit is secure until you need it again.

Depending on the size of the storage unit rental you hire, there could be additional space inside the insulated container to allow you to work inside. This will assist you when preparing for the next day’s work.

What to Sell at a Craft Market

While finding the space is easy, finding the right products to sell at a market is much more of a challenge. This is because you want to be absolutely sure that what you offer is what the customers want.

Starting out, visit the market you intend to display your goods at. As you already have an idea or an interest in the type of product you want to offer, stake it out and see if there is any opposition to your intended products.

Next, get hold of the organizers and bounce the idea off them. They will give you excellent feedback and help you identify the gaps that they are looking for. Chat to those staffing the stalls. Mostly they will be only too happy to talk to you about their business.

Now that you have had the opportunity to conduct your research, do your designs and get your range of products together.

Choices generally fall into two broad categories: crafts and food. Note that if you intend to sell food there are a few hoops that you need to jump through in terms of rules, regulations, and food standards first.

What kind of Stall are you Thinking of?

If you are not a foodie type, then general items including crafts may be for you. One of them is clothing:

  • Choose your Craft Sector Carefully

You would need to source well and have a steady, interesting supply for your customers. This means that a range is needed that covers specific categories of clothing. These items could be crafted shoes, designer dresses and clothing that is unique or different.

Another opportunity is a good secondhand market for appliances, mobile phones and other gadgets will attract interest as customers are always looking for bargains in this sector.

If you are a music enthusiast, a stall with CD’s, videos and old vinyl which are now collector’s items is also extremely popular. This is likely to do well if there is not too much competition as people love browsing through record collections. Don’t forget to back it up with some cool music in the background!

Décor and peripherals for the home are accessories that are often impulse purchases made when customers have the chance to look and feel the goods in a relaxed setting like a market.

Selling crafts at a market requires some heavy lifting every time you prepare for and pack up a craft market stall. Plants are a popular choice and if you are a garden enthusiast this could be an interesting and rewarding sector to pursue.

Carpets are also a popular and profitable choice to which other accessories like baskets can be added.

In all, space will be needed to store all your crafts between markets, so ensure that you provide easy access for loading and offloading.

  • Food is always popular, but remember the Regulations

Broadly the two categories of food are those that are prepared on-site, which normally requires electricity or gas for heating, and those that are prepared and may require some form of cooling for the day.

There is a vast array of specialist and general foods that can tempt a customer into purchasing. If you have a special type of product that is on sale week after week customers may choose to come to your stall for the specific purpose of buying it. In these cases, consistency is key, as quality and reliability are what the customer seeks.

Examples are fresh pastries and cakes or speciality cooked foods that are made using your secret recipe, and which become known as your signature prepared by you.

Food Laws are Made to Protect you and the Customer

These laws are pretty straightforward and easy to follow. They are there to safeguard you and give the customer certain rights of purchase.

  • The customer is always king which means that they have the right to know what goes into the product and how to get in touch with you if they need to after purchase.
  • If you are selling by weight, the reading on the scale used must be visible to the purchaser so that the weight to cost per pound is transparent.
  • Thirdly the pricing must be clear so that there is no ambiguity which in turn means that there will be no dispute afterwards.

A returns policy will give the purchaser peace of mind, so make this clear upfront.

Keeping it all together in Self Storage

Using the pack-up-and-go approach for storage and infrastructure between market days will be a headache if you don’t have secure storage. Renting a unit is cheap and effective.

When you need a quotation, call us at Stop & Store Penrith on 01768 800291 or find us at https://www.stopandstore.co.uk/penrith-storage/