Jack and Jill Markets

   I was very impressed with the Jack and Jill market I attended in Grangemouth a few weeks back (http://www.jackandjillmarket.co.uk/). There were at least 40 stalls and 300+ punters. A market like this would be a great place to sell Kiddies sticker books. They seem to be happening all the time at the moment (there are 3 across Central Scotland this Sunday). The only downside I can see is that it is £23 per stall so you'd have to sell a good few sticker books at 50p profit a piece to break even. Also note that it says on the website that stalls are not sold to businesses.
   On another note these markets a great example of why people like Richard Booth and Mary Portas are on the right wavelength. The little guys have to find niches and think outside the box to get ahead. By aggregating 50 grot stalls into something worth visiting AND even paying a pound to get in. I'm sure touring markets for other products could also be successful.

Richard Booth - My Kingdom of Books

   I recently sold my copy of Richard Booth's "My Kingdom of Books" on Amazon. As I wrapped it up to send I was reminded what an absolutely fascinating life is described within its pages.

   In a nutshell Richard Booth started selling the dusty tomes from his family's bookshelves in the backwater (and I can say that as a regular visitor) of Hay and Wye in the Welsh Marches. As his business grew he started to go far and wide buying job lots of books. His ever increasing stock pile meant he had to find more premises and he even invented the "Honesty Bookshop" where books are stacked up outside with a tin box for donations alongside. Over time other booksellers gravitated towards Hay. Today it is a thriving rural community - and an excellent place to visit. Richard began to know as much about developing rural towns as he did about selling books. Many of the views he puts forward in the book are the same sort of things that Mary Portas tells the government and big firms (for a fee) nowadays. Keep it local, keep it friendly but professional, bigger doesn't always mean better.

  I'd recommend this book to anyone looking to get started in the second hand book business or even anyone interested in how business can thrive away from the crack-riddled drug dens of the inner M25.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Booth