A Day in the Life...

Of a Market Trader

On market days I get up at 5am. In winter this means it's dark when I rise and I still find it weird to be up when all the neighbours are fast asleep. I shower and get dressed as quietly as possible. In summer this is ultra quick because it means pulling on a t-shirt and shorts or jeans but in winter adding the layers is a pain. I wear on average 3-4 layers but generally they are thinnish ones so I can still move my arms!

It's too early for breakfast, I try to be away by 5.30am but sometimes it's later. It's great that there's not much traffic at this time.

In summer I get to see magical sunrises as I drive through the stunning Norfolk countryside. It's worth being up just for that.

Once at market I drive straight to my pitch. We have allocated spaces so there's no waiting around for the Market Toby (Slang for Inspector) to arrive. When you begin at a market you generally get treated as a 'casual' so you have to wait to be given a slot because someone hasn't turned up. After a month or so trading you are likely to be given a permanent pitch.

It takes about twenty minutes to get the stall up and cover sheets on. It might take longer if it's windy. I tie on 56lb weights to keep the stall on the ground. Usually it's only two but depending on the weather it might be four or six. Then for the next 3-4 hours I set up tables and display the stock. Most traders are much quicker to do this but because I sell jewellery which is lots of small bits it takes ages. I'm a perfectionist, I like the display to look as good as possible with all the colours co-ordinated.

I like to do this because the display is never the same two days running, this means customers will see something different even if they visited the stall the day before at a different site.

I wanted to create the kind of stall I would love to visit and finally after six years of learning and graft I have.

During set up I'll get a coffee. By 6.30 I'm absolutely gasping for one. The first coffee of the day always tastes good.

Later on I'll have a sandwich or some really unhealthy crisps but I wipe away the guilt with excuses to myself that my job is physical enough to work it off!

By 8.30am I'm roughly a quarter through the display and the odd customer will start checking the stall out. By 10.30-11am I'm done and by now will have been interrupted to sell the odd item. I think people like to see you working and feel less pressured to buy if they can see you are distracted. When the last piece goes out I like to have a sit down and another coffee. Other traders chat while we set up, exchanging gossip and having a laugh.

One of the things I love best about market trading is that I get to control the whole display process. I've always been creative and it's a source of great pride to me to create something special for my customers and they really appreciate it which is great!

Sometimes I'm quite busy and other times it's totally dead. You have a rough idea of what the day might be like businesswise because of the weather but on the whole it's pretty unpredictable. It can get boring but I always take a book. I'm careful to look up whenever a customer arrives to let them know they have been acknowledged - it's only polite.

On the whole people are really nice and easy to get on with. My regulars are great and it's always good to catch up with them and have a laugh.

Most markets finish around 3pm. It's the tiring part of the day packing it all up, sometimes it goes quickly and sometimes it seems to take forever. It's a quicker process than setting out but you often get interruptions because people still want to have a browse and it feels a bit rude to carry on putting things away when they are trying to look so generally I stop for a bit.

When it's all loaded I drive home, have a cup of tea, then if I need to I price stock for the next day I do that. Have something to eat, read or watch a bit of telly then go to bed early because before I know it, it's time to get up again.