Selling your art at an art and crafts fair is a great thing to try. I love meeting new customers and finding out which item they’re interested in. It can also be really inspiring to meet fellow artists on the other stalls and is a good motivator to produce new work.

If you’ve been selling your work online I’d highly recommend trying out a physical market. There’s lots of things to think about when setting up your first stall. Over the years of trying different markets, I’ve developed a system that works for me so thought I’d share my method.

UPDATE: Video I made of setting up my stall at a local arts market

Firstly, you need to think about how you’re going to display your products. Visit Art Markets and browse the stalls. Take note of any stalls you really like and display techniques that could work for you. I sell primarily prints and postcards which are much easier to transport and display than ceramics or glassware. Try setting your stall up at home first to find a solution you’re happy with. Make sure to try your stall using the same table size you’ll have at the market. Most markets tend to use 6’x2′ trestle tables but it might differ.

Once you’ve decided on your stock and table display, thinking about how you’re going to get everything to the market is the next important step. I like to keep everything compact so it can fit in the boot of a mid-sized car. Here’s my market stall all packed up and ready to be loaded.

Next is arriving at the venue and unloading your stock. Keeping everything compact prevents lots of back and forth from the car to the table. One great discovery I made was fitted table cloths! You can pick up 6’x2′ fitted table cloths on eBay and they make your table look smart and professional. Previously I’d been using random bits of cloth that slid around on the table and always looked creased.

Here’s my market stall setup without any stock. I’m using six white IKEA filing boxes that fold down for easy transport. Three at the front for browsing prints and three at the back to display prints on the easels. The mini-easels are from Cass Art and again fold down easily.

Height in your display is really important. It draws the customer’s eyes up and makes you more noticeable from a distance. I usually place the prints I think are going to be the most popular on the easels.

Here’s a picture of my final stall with all the stock. Make sure to make the price of your items really clear. Little extras like signage and something to let people know you accept card payments is a nice touch. A display item I added recently was a postcard holder. Bought from Amazon, a postcard holder really helps display smaller items.

Having a stack of business cards that are free to take is helpful and could be used to point customers to your online shop. Other essential tools are a card reader, a lockable money tin and a notebook for keeping track of your sales.

I use an iZettle card reader which works well. The only issue you might have is if your stall is in a wifi/4G dead zone. A power bank portable charger is another useful backup in case there’s no power sockets nearby.

One final important thing to remember is insurance. You need to have public liability insurance if you’re doing any kind of public market stall. The good news for any UK traders is that if you’re a member of the a-n The Artists Information Company, insurance is included in the membership from £38 a year.

Hope this is helpful and if you have any questions feel free to get in touch.