Becoming a Market Trader

Are you brand new to market trading and unsure where to start? 

The National Market Traders Federation has an all-new guide to retail market trading that is aimed squarely at people who are looking for new livelihoods.

The guide is not exclusively for new traders, since the help and advice it contains will also benefit those who are already well established. For those interested in becoming a trader it describes how a business can be built up gradually, and about the flexibility of being able to work different markets on different days. 

The guide further outlines how market trading can help develop business skills and stresses the importance of communication skills and building a network of customers.

The fully interactive Spring into Markets guide is available now completely free to view and use. 

We operate markets and special events to suit a range of products and all types of traders and stall holders with fabulous top quality supplied stalls. We like to keep it simple and trading on one of our markets or events could not be easier as you only need to provide your stock, pricing systems, and preferred style of display. 

You won’t need to buy yourself a stall as we supply traders with pop-up canopy stalls and counters on all of our markets and events, our stalls are not just protection from the elements but they look amazing! Everything is sensitively colour matched, clean and dynamic with counter skirts or black cloth covers designed to frame the counter.   

However, it’s worth noting that on most of our events, it's cheaper to bring your own unit, as we charge for the use of our own stalls. This gives room for thought when setting up your own business and whether you feel its worth investing in your own stall. Top tip- most of event sites are tight on space, so either a 3x3m or 3x2m stall is recommended, and we require a photo of your unit in advance of accepting your application to trade. 

Along with trader friendly stalls, lighting is normally provided in the winter months on LSD hired stalls only and helps show up and improve the visual display of goods, assisting you on every level particularly on darker days, making the market safer, more vibrant, attractive, adding to the atmosphere, and bringing the event to life. 

We’ll make your stock look great and make sure you can see what you’re doing! LSD Promotions encourage traders to dress and display their stalls well, and we periodically give display demonstrations. 

 Be original & creative, draw your crowd! Seasonally, traders are encouraged to adopt the spirit of the occasion by decorating their stalls, as well as themselves, to suit each festival and season. Remember, the better your make your ‘flash’ the more chance you have of selling your stock. 

We are pleased to give extra help to new traders and we know it can be ‘nerve wracking’ on the first day – but rest assured we are there to help and after your first day you will feel like a veteran! 

In addition to the provided equipment traders are only permitted to use clear side sheets as an extra protection against extremes of weather, this prevents the overall appearance of the market being compromised.