Avoca Beachside Markets

I had my first adventure as Paisley Vintage at the Avoca Beachside Markets on Sunday and I had such an amazing day!

I'll admit that I was completely scared to death. I imagined coming home with absolutely everything, having not sold even a small item. I'm still pinching myself; I sold all my furniture bar one piece!!! It seems completely incredible to me and people were so positive and encouraging. There were a couple of things that I could have sold two or three times over and now I know what to look for in my next pieces!

I did have one or two funny experiences; one lady was in raptures about this little side table, but exclaimed as loud as she possibly could 'I don't know who would ever think of painting it such an atrocious colour!!'.

Luckily it had sold first thing that morning, a fact that I quickly shared with her. Her expression was hilarious and she walked away at pace. To each their own... The other involved an attempt to eat a bacon and egg sandwich at 7am - the yolk burst on first bite and I was covered in it before the market had even started! It was even in my shoe!!

And what did I learn about having a market stall? There were loads of practical things like checking what the ground will be like - my stall was on dirt and bark so I had to use my transport materials to put down on the ground to protect the furniture (you can see what I mean in the photo below)! I've bought some shade cloth for next time. People were also not so interested in the smaller items I'd made like cushions, coasters etc, but without them the stall looked empty, so they'll come along next time too.

I also think I need to make more of my space - think about ways to hang things from my tent, and block out some of the background. I want it open enough that people are comfortable to come on in and browse, but I could have also blocked out the ugly brick wall and walkway behind me.

I'm now madly working on pieces for next market, and have a buying trip scheduled for next weekend ;)

A big thank you goes to those people who offered support and advice before the market, and who came along on the day. And I couldn't have managed without my family; Bronwyn who came with me on the day and stopped me from chickening out, and Danny who looked after Emma and Harry so I could go. THANK YOU!!