Flip through your local event listings, follow your favourite local vintage vendors or peruse our vintage-specific event calendar and you’ll see that there are more vintage markets than ever vying for your business.

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There are so many to choose from that when Alex Ure, founder of Past Lives Thrift in Ottawa, Ont., was first starting out as a market vendor, she booked so many that she burned out.

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Now, she focuses specifically on vending at events where she believes her ideal customers are.

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For Past Lives Thrift, that tends to be markets attended by young, urban trendy people who love vintage clothing and accessories especially from the ’90s: staples like baggy boyfriend jeans, leather jackets and long maxi skirts, as well as timeless patterns, muted colours and neutrals that easily mix and match.

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Alex sells on her website and is a frequent pop-up shop collaborator — she recently wrapped up a months-long pop-up in a shared space in Ottawa — but says she loves markets and swaps because they allow her to meet lots of people, turn over inventory and make new connections.

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“Markets are a good way to move stuff really quickly,” Alex says. “I like pricing it a bit lower and moving it quicker rather than holding onto it forever.”

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Becoming a better vendor

In 2022, Alex was a co-organizer of the Second Life Vintage Market series in Ottawa, giving her valuable insight into the role of market host and the work that goes into staging an event.

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While she doesn’t plan to organize markets again in the near future, Alex says the experience of managing relationships with vendors has made her a better one herself.

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Booking a market doesn’t guarantee great sales, she says. Bringing through the doors is a two-way relationship between market organizer and market vendor.

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While vendors pay for booth space at a market and some exposure to a potential audience through the market’s promotion, it’s not solely up to the organizer to fill the venue with buyers.

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Vendors need to put in the work to bring potential and existing customers to the event — and once there, to attract them into their booths.

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“One hundred people could show up to a market or 1,000, but if you’re not bringing the energy and you’re not selling, it doesn’t matter. That has nothing to do with the organizers,” Alex says.

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“Think of it from the point of view like you’re renting a store. You wouldn’t rent a store at a mall and then do nothing to promote it.”

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Market vendor tips

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Between being a former market organizer and a perennial market vendor, Alex has a lot of advice to share on selling at markets.

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She gives us some of her best market booth setup, floor plan, marketing and networking advice in a FREE downloadable six-page tip sheet called Market Vendor Guide.

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Download it now!

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Looking for more vintage-market selling tips? Check out our article Going to a vintage market? Top tips for sellers and shoppers

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