Market traders sell goods like food or clothing, or services like mobile phone repairs, from market or street stalls.
44 to 46 variable
in your own business managing your own hours
You can get into this job through:
You could do a college course, which may help if you're setting up your own business. Courses include:
There are no set entry requirements for this route.
You could start by working on a stall part time or at car boot sales. You'll learn on the job from experienced traders, sharing their knowledge and watching their sales methods. Once you've got experience, you could apply to set up your own stall.
You can contact your local council for information on how they let their market stalls, licensing requirements and how to apply. For example, you may have to rent a stall on a casual basis before you can apply for a permanent pitch.
Do your research on what sells well. You may have an advantage if you're offering something different from other traders.
You could join the National Market Traders Federation for advice and training to support your business.
You can get more advice about becoming a market trader and setting up your business through the National Market Traders Federation.
You'll need:
You'll need to:
Depending on where you work, you’ll need to apply to your local council for:
If you're selling food, you'll need to:
You'll usually need a driving licence and your own car or van.
On a typical day you might:
You could work on a market stall.
Your working environment may be physically demanding and outdoors in all weathers.
You could expand your business by taking on staff and starting up new stalls.
You could also move into market management.
We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a market trader right now.
The Find an apprenticeship service can help you with your search, send alerts when new apprenticeships become available and has advice on how to apply.
Are you interested in becoming a market trader?
Search for training courses near you.
The Find a job service can help you with your search for jobs and send alerts when new jobs become available.
Take an assessment to learn more about your skills and the careers that might suit you.
Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you for your feedback. Click here if you'd like to let us know how we can improve the service.