How my first market went ~ and my set up!
Hello there~
I attended my very first market over the weekend!
In this post I hope to break down how to market went, how I thought the market was overall for newbies (newbies being myself!), and what my set up was like!
A bit of background info on the market:
I had a stall at the new Younghusband Market held by the Rose St Market crew on Saturday the 15th of March. The market ran from 10am to 3pm and had a mix of outdoor stalls in the laneway and indoor stalls in the conjoining rooms. This was only the second time it was running, as it only happens once a month, and started in February (2025). It’s a lucky dip where your stall will be located, as they allocate you themselves.
The outside stalls had large umbrellas, but for both inside and outside you had to bring all display materials yourself. This included tables, chairs, racks, basically anything you wanted to have on your stall you had to bring. I was lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day, and the umbrella I was situated under was perfect for shade and kept me cool~
How the market went!
If you just want a quick summary of how the market went, scroll no further! For me, the market went really well. I honestly wasn’t expecting to sell anything at my very first market, and I was just happy to be there and experience it. I am so happy that I had some lovely people stop and chat, take a business card, and even purchase something. I had a great spot in the laneway between the two indoor rooms, so there was a lot of traffic moving around. I was also near the speakers so I could bop along to the funky music they were playing.
For me, the market being only 10am to 3pm was the sweet spot. It felt like there was plenty of people throughout the day, and then closer to 3pm it started to die down. It felt like a good entry to the market world as it was a shorter day then some other markets that finish at 4pm or 5pm!
The prep:
~I won’t include lists of what to bring or things you need etc. because there are so many resources online about what to bring to your first market, market checklists and resources to help you figure out what you need from people wayyyyy more experienced then I am! I’m very much a newbie!~
The first thing I did to prepare was scope out the market! In Feb I decided to go and have a sticky beak around the market to see what the atmosphere was like, how the other stalls were set up, and have a chat to the vendors and talk about their awesome products. It was really great to get a feel for where the market was, the parking, the traffic, public transport etc etc especially because I hadn’t been around the area too much before.
After my adventure to scope out the market, I started to get my stall display items ready. I started first with gathering the biggest materials, the trestle table, small folding table, and camping chair, and then focused on how I would display the items second. I was lucky to be able to repurpose almost all of my stall set up and use things I had on hand (or could borrow!).
For the table display I used: a pin board, two tall jewellery/stock stands, and plate stands from Ikea (to display my decorative pillows).
I knew for my first market I didn’t want to go overboard with stock since I didn’t know how anything would go! So I made sure to have a few variations of all my different item types, but kept the inventory overall quite small. When I got the table and display stands, I set everything up to see how much would fit and if I needed to make anything else.
I played around with my set up until I felt like I was happy with it, and then took a bunch of pictures so I remembered where everything was to make set up easier on the morning of the market!
Displaying my crochet:
I decided pretty early on I wanted my entire stall to be very much on theme, the ‘Spaghetti dreams’ theme. I decided I also had to be on theme, so I crocheted my own ‘Into the fairy garden’ vest to match my stock and stall!
So I had a pin board and some display stands…but they weren’t very ‘Spaghetti dreams',’ so I decided to decorate them! I bought some felt for the pin board, and found some pretty, shiny washi tape at the second-hand store to wrap around the display stands. I also made some squishy stars to go on top of the display stands to keep them on theme ~ purple and starry!
I also used a purple tablecloth, and made a squishy banner out of felt~
This was my market stall~
I had one trestle table, and one small folding table on the side displaying the pin board which I placed my ‘back of house’ things.
I kept it small, and tried to make sure everything could be seen.
I had my large jewellery/stock stand on the side of the table to display my bags and keep my banner in place. I made sure it had plenty of room to spin around without hitting anything. I popped my business cards underneath it and made sure there were always some there for people to grab on their way past!
The felt star on the top had the prices of the bags on them, small and medium, and then I also individually priced all the items so people could pick up the tag and see the price on their own.
In the middle of the table I had my decorative pillows sitting on an Ikea plate stand to add a bit of height. In front of them I sat my fingerless gloves and my pouches, which were also displayed using an Ikea plate stand.
The small jewellery display stand held my charms and a few more pouches.
To finish it off, I had my pin board sitting on the smaller, folding table to display my wall hangings. I decorated the edges with felt so it would match the stall. Behind it I popped all of my extra ‘back of house’ goods, like my tech pencils, paper etc etc.
My overall thoughts (as a newbie!):
The preparation was key to making a smooth day for me I think, I checked the weather reports, took photos of my stall and practiced putting it up and taking it down! When I arrived on the morning they showed me to my spot and off I went, happy unpack and set up with no troubles. I also got super lucky with the weather! It was a lovely sunny day with little to no wind, it was very hot, but the umbrella I was under kept me in the shade, and being situated between the two indoor rooms meant I got a bit of cool air every now and again.
I had a great time at the Younghusband Market! I think for me, it was a great introduction to the market scene. It wasn’t an overwhelming crowd (but still seemed quite busy!), it wasn’t a super long day, and it was a very tightly run ship. The other stall holders I met were lovely, and offered to help me out if I got into a tight spot, and it had a great atmosphere. I was lucky enough to be able to gather and borrow the equipment I needed to use for my display, but I know this wouldn’t be easy for everyone!
Overall, I would say that this adventure was a success. I saw a lot, talked a lot and learnt a whole lot! Thank you for having Spaghetti dreams at your market, Younghusband!
I’m not quite sure if this post would be helpful to anyone, but if there is something you’d like me to add or think that I have missed please feel free to shoot me a message!
~Spaghetti dreams