A Girl's Guide to Selling Posh Junk

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that we headed off to the countryside for the holiday weekend. My parents live in rural Gloucestershire and every year around May Day they hold a fair at the Village Hall. Last week I received an email from my Dad, asking if Mr DI and I, as we were going to be around over the weekend, would mind helping out a bit. Ok I said, why not? What were we to be doing? Running a stall he said, let's call it posh junk. Images of interesting and covetable vintage items popped into my head. The reality turned out to be more like selling posh people's junk, but it was all great fun, we enjoyed a lovely sunny day and made a tidy profit for Village funds to boot.

So here's my guide to selling posh junk, village-style...


1. Get up bright and early, you might be unexpectedly rewarded for your trouble...

2. Chat to the locals a bit before you get started, it's important to get them on side

 

 

3. If the sun's out, get yourself some shade ~ this umbrella was supposed to be for sale! And you need something to put your takings in ~ a pint mug (also from the stall) worked well for us

 

 

 

4. Make sure you have a good view, for those times when business is a little slower. We had the table tennis and skittles in front of us, and I kept a close eye on the bottle stall with my long lens!

 

 

 

5. Make sure you grab a bit of time to check out other stalls ~ I bought myself a good amount of wool for an absolutely bargain ~ and of course eye up the best stuff on your own stall: just check out this old washboard and pretty tea flask ~ I won't mention who ended up packing those into her car at the end of the day!

 

 

6. Keep yourself properly fuelled up ~ it's hard work this stallholder business ~ tea, cake and perhaps an ice cream or two are essential! 

 



By the end of the day we had sold a fair bit of our junk ~ posh and otherwise ~ including a trouser press, which I thought no-one would ever want! I really enjoyed chatting to the people who came to see our wares and listening to them talking to each other, reminiscing over items they or their family used to have years ago, or speculating about what things actually were...

As the afternoon came to an end, people slowly began to make their way home, warmed by the sun and the atmosphere of the day. I'd happily do it again, and now have thoughts of my own little market stall bubbling along somewhere in the back of my mind. 

Have you ever manned a stall? What were you selling and what did you enjoy most about the day?