When you’re in your first year of business, there are a lot of firsts.

Setting up – and running – a market stall might be one of those firsts.

Recently Bettyquette was invited to be a part of the Champagne Cartel Giftapalooza shopping night. It was a fabulous event, featuring a market style set up with various Brisbane based businesses involved:

• Champagne Cartel – gifts for your lady loves
• Maiocchi – fabulous frocks
• Ruby Olive – statement jewellery that will colour your world
• SFH Designs – gorgeous garments & accessories
• Lovely Occasions – gift & partyware to make your Christmas Day sparkle
• Woodwards Wines – family wine makers who will be hosting a wine tasting
• and us, Bettyquette! (formerly Skin Boss)

Attendees were also treated to

• a style demo by the gorgeous Lily from Slow Down Style
• a makeup demo by the fabulous Gillian from Champagne Cartel and
• a bit of a chat about how to get through the festive season without losing your ever-loving mind by the oh so wise Carolyn from Champagne Cartel.

With free-flowing bubbles, wine tasting, makeup touch-ups, lucky door prizes – yes, someone went home with a pack full of Skin Boss goodies! – and of course, shopping, it was a wonderful way to kick off the festive season.

a beginner’s guide to setting up a market stall

Being an e-commerce/online store, we loved the opportunity to be involved in the Champagne Cartel event.

It enabled us to meet some of our Skin Boss customers, which was all sorts of fabulous. Both Scott and I loved chatting with the ladies who introduced themselves and hearing their feedback about our products was wonderful.

It also allowed us the opportunity to introduce our products to people who hadn’t heard of Skin Boss before.

If you’re thinking about selling your products at a market stall for the first time, here’s how we did it:

Keep in mind this was an indoor event. Marquees/overhead cover etc wasn’t required.

items required:

• collapsible table – previously purchased from Bunnings
• white tablecloths – previously purchased from Kmart
• Bettyquette stock –  Day face oil, Night face oil, Citrus Body Oil, Coconut Body Oil, Original Body Oil
• Testers for each product x 2
• packaging – signature white boxes, carry bags, social media cards, product information cards
• cash float of $100
• cash box – purchased from local newsagent
• portable eftpos machine
• system for collecting email addresses – I downloaded the free mail chimp subscribe app to our iPad. It’s fully customisable, meaning you can add your own logo, brand colours, font etc. Attendees enter their email address and this will sync directly to your email list.
• display signs/banners
• branded t-shirts/uniforms
• camera

two weeks leading up to the event:

• created and printed a checklist of items required and tasks to be completed
• designed and ordered a pull up banner from Vista Print
• designed and ordered custom t-shirts from Vista Print.
• blended, labelled and packaged a new batch of each product
• put together boxes & pre-filled them with our signature packaging – white tissue paper, compliment card, social media card, product information card
• designed and printed two A4 display signs. Attached to black clipboards from IKEA.

day before the event:

• packed lucky door prize + thank you gifts for Carolyn and Gillian
• ironed tablecloths
• wiped down table
• charged camera battery
• packed as much as possible into large boxes

day of the event:

• packed everything into the back of the car – it was a VERY tight fit!
• Scott unloaded everything AND carried it up the flight of stairs to the venue. That was a big job.
• set the stand up
• met the other lovely stall holders, had a group photo with the gorgeous Champagne Cartel team and waited for the evening to begin!

market stall set up tips:

If you’re selling your products on a table like we did, make sure your tablecloth covers the front of the table. That way you can store additional items – boxes, packaging, product etc – underneath and no one will be able to see it.

Keep your stand on brand. The colours, style and even layout used should reflect your online presence.

Allow at least an hour to set up – it took us 1.5 hours. Consider where you will be parking during bump in, during the event and pack down. You might need to allow more time if the distance from your car to the venue is lengthy.

general tips:

• If your products are heavy/bulky, ask a friend or family member to help you with the heavy lifting during bump in. That way you won’t be exhausted before the event has even begun.
• Ask a friend/family member to help you with the things you’re not entirely confident with. For example, I’m a shocker when it comes to anything mathematical while I’m chatting. So Scott handled all of the eftpos and cash transactions, while I filled the boxes with product and chatted to the customers.
• Wear comfortable shoes – you’ll be on your feet the whole time.
• Bring a big bottle of water – you’ll get very thirsty.
• Say hello to the lovely people who approach your stall. Don’t do the hard sell – nobody wants the pressure of a free set of steak knives – but they’d probably quite like to get to know you and your product.

Were you at the Champagne Cartel Giftapalooza event? Have you sold products at a market before?