As a street market trader at Portobello market, London, I thought the trader’s perspective might be of interest regarding your article (Barter, bid and bag a bargain! Vintage experts on 21 ways to buy secondhand treasures, 13 February).
Your guide is spot-on with the tip that, if you are a buyer, being polite and friendly is always the way to go. Also, if you find a good seller, become a regular customer – I give huge discounts to my regulars without them asking.
A few points. If you are a seller at a market and you know buyers are “bidding” prices down then you will always price your stuff higher so there’s some wiggle room. Continuously bidding down prices on stuff just leads to price inflation.
Second, a lowball offer is only likely to annoy the trader – so don’t go too low, be respectful. Third, my perspective is that someone will always buy at the price I want. It’s then just a waiting game. I say no all the time and, like most traders, I judge my income over a year, not on one sale.
Finally, not everyone has the time to find the £1 bargain at a car‑boot. It can take years of 5am starts to eventually get that bargain. And generally the only people who have that time are people who have the kind of wealth to afford to pay more.
Most market traders charge a fair price, many live on low incomes and we save you that time of finding and authenticating a rare piece. Focusing on quality rather than price is a better strategy for a buyer, and a guide on how to recognise that quality – and rarity – would have been of more interest. Perhaps you could publish one of those.
You buy the right piece, even at what might be considered a high price, and in a year it can have doubled in value.
Andrew Spooner
Portobello market, London
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