The short answer
- Before your first market, check two permissions: a pitch from the market operator, and, if you trade on the street in England or Wales, a street trading licence from the local council. Trading without one can mean a fine of up to £1,000.
- Keep a cash-up sheet for every market: float, cash sales, card sales, cash paid out, cash counted, difference.
- Count your stock out and back. Units sold times price is what you should have taken; units sold times cost is what those sales cost you.
- That count gives you margin per product, which is rarely what your gut says.
- Keep your records: HMRC expects them for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline, and in the US every card payment you take can show up on a Form 1099-K.
Before your first market: pitches and licences
Most markets are run by a council, a private operator or a farmers’ market association. You apply to them for a pitch, agree to their rules (setup times, gazebo size, waste, insurance) and pay a pitch fee. Many ask for public liability insurance and, for food, proof that you’re registered with the local authority. Read the rules before you book, not the morning you arrive.
Trading on the street is different. In England and Wales, GOV.UK says you may need a street trading licence from the council for the area. You may have to say where and when you want to trade, provide photos and pay a fee, and the council can refuse, give you fewer days than you asked for, or put you on a waiting list. Trading without a licence, or breaking its conditions, can bring a fine of up to £1,000. A pedlar’s certificate may mean you don’t need one; the council will tell you.
In the US, the rules are set by states, counties and cities. Expect some mix of a business license, a sales tax permit (in states that have a sales tax) and a temporary vendor or health permit for food. The market manager is usually the fastest way to find out which apply to your stall.
- Pitch booked and market rules read
- Street trading licence checked with the council, if you trade on the street
- Public liability insurance in place
- Food registration or health permit, if you sell food
- Float counted into small change
- Stock list for what you’re loading
- Blank cash-up sheet
Regular pitch or casual trader
Most markets have two kinds of trader. Regular (or permanent) traders keep the same pitch week after week, often on a monthly or yearly arrangement. Casual traders book or turn up for a single day and get whatever pitch is free.
- Starting casual costs less and lets you test several markets before committing. The downside: your spot moves, and on busy days there may be none.
- Going regular gives customers a place to find you every week. It’s a fixed cost you pay even when it pours.
- Ask how the switch works. Many markets let casual traders apply for a regular pitch after a set number of attendances.
Whatever you pay, log the pitch fee as a cost of that day, just like fuel. It’s part of what a market really costs you.
The daily cash-up sheet
At the end of a market day you want to know two things: how much did I sell, and is the cash right? To answer that, separate what is a sale from what isn’t.
Your float isn’t a sale. It’s the change you brought to start the day. Cash paid out (the pitch fee paid in cash, a roll of paper bags bought on site) isn’t missing sales, it’s spending. And card payments never touch the cash box: they’re on your card reader’s report.
So the formula is:
cash sales = cash counted − float + cash paid out
Take Priya, who sells hot sauce, chutney, spice mixes and gift boxes at a Saturday market in Bristol. Here’s her sheet, with example figures.
CASH-UP SHEET — Saturday, city centre market
Float (morning) £100.00
Cash paid out
Pitch fee (example) £35.00
Parking £4.50
Total paid out £39.50
Cash counted (close) £283.50
Cash sales = 283.50 − 100.00 + 39.50 = £223.00
Card sales (card reader report) £388.00
TOTAL TAKEN £611.00
Expected sales from stock count £613.00
Difference −£2.00
A £2 difference isn’t a disaster: a coin given back twice, a price rounded down, a sample jar. What matters is that you write it down and watch for a pattern. A shortfall that shows up every week, always in the same direction, is worth investigating: a wrong price label, change given too quickly, or theft.
Count stock out and back: margin per product
The “expected sales” line comes from one habit: count what you load in the morning and what you bring home. The difference is what sold (or got damaged). Multiply it by the selling price and you get what you should have taken. Multiply it by the cost price and you get what those goods cost you.
Here is Priya’s day, product by product:
| Product | Price | Cost | Out | Back | Sold | Sales | Cost of sales | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot sauce | £7.00 | £2.80 | 48 | 19 | 29 | £203.00 | £81.20 | £121.80 |
| Chutney | £5.50 | £2.20 | 36 | 12 | 24 | £132.00 | £52.80 | £79.20 |
| Spice mix | £4.00 | £1.40 | 60 | 22 | 38 | £152.00 | £53.20 | £98.80 |
| Gift box | £18.00 | £11.50 | 12 | 5 | 7 | £126.00 | £80.50 | £45.50 |
| Total | £613.00 | £267.70 | £345.30 |
Hot sauce
Price£7.00
Cost£2.80
Out48
Back19
Sold29
Sales£203.00
Cost of sales£81.20
Margin£121.80
Chutney
Price£5.50
Cost£2.20
Out36
Back12
Sold24
Sales£132.00
Cost of sales£52.80
Margin£79.20
Spice mix
Price£4.00
Cost£1.40
Out60
Back22
Sold38
Sales£152.00
Cost of sales£53.20
Margin£98.80
Gift box
Price£18.00
Cost£11.50
Out12
Back5
Sold7
Sales£126.00
Cost of sales£80.50
Margin£45.50
Total
Price
Cost
Out
Back
Sold
Sales£613.00
Cost of sales£267.70
Margin£345.30
This table shows things the cash box never will:
- The gift box is the priciest item and feels like the star, but it keeps only 36% of its price (45.50 ÷ 126). Twelve boxes loaded means £138 of stock on the table.
- The spice mix keeps 65% of its price (98.80 ÷ 152). It’s cheap, it sells, and it earns more in total than the chutney.
- Hot sauce and chutney both keep 60%.
The day’s result isn’t the margin yet. Take off the day’s costs: 345.30 − 35.00 − 4.50 = £305.80, before fuel, card fees and tax. For the formulas behind those percentages, see our guide to markup vs margin, which also has a market-stall example with waste.
The records you’re expected to keep
UK. If your gross trading income for the tax year is £1,000 or less, the trading allowance may mean you don’t need to tell HMRC, although there are cases where you still must register for Self Assessment, and you must keep records of that income either way. Above £1,000 you’re self-employed in the usual sense: register for Self Assessment and keep records of sales and expenses. HMRC says to keep them for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year. So a 2025 to 2026 return filed by 31 January 2027 means keeping records until at least the end of January 2032.
US. All business income is taxable, whether or not you get a form for it. Card processors report card payments on Form 1099-K with no minimum: the IRS says even one cent of card payments can generate one. For payment apps and other third-party networks, the One Big Beautiful Bill restored the old threshold, so they report only when you receive more than $20,000 across more than 200 transactions in a year. Your cash-up sheets are what reconcile those forms with what you actually earned.
In both countries, keep supplier invoices too: they prove your costs and they’re where your cost prices come from. If your personal money and your stall money share a wallet, read our guide on how to separate personal and business finances.
Getting ready for the week: stock, change and cash flow
A market is prepared the day before. Three things are enough.
- The loading list. Base it on the last few weeks of sales, not on hope. If half the gift boxes come home every Saturday, load fewer and keep the cash. Our guide to inventory management for a small business shows how to set a reorder point.
- The float. Always the same amount, in small change, counted in advance. A fixed float makes the cash-up sheet easier.
- Cash flow. Saturday’s takings have to pay Tuesday’s supplier. Bank cash regularly rather than keeping it in the van, and log each deposit as a transfer, not a sale.
Logging the day with Binome360
The real problem is timing. At the stall you’re busy; at night you’re tired. In Binome360 you type or say the day in one message on your phone, and your assistant drafts the entries. Nothing is saved until you confirm.
Market today: £223 cash, £388 card, pitch £35, parking £4.50. Back: 19 hot sauce, 12 chutney, 22 spice, 5 gift boxes.
Here’s the draft in your “Stall” assistant: £611.00 of sales (cash and card kept separate), £39.50 of costs, and stock out: 29 hot sauce, 24 chutney, 38 spice mix, 7 gift boxes. At your prices those sales come to £613.00, so the cash is £2.00 short. Save it?
Confirm it, or fix a line first.
Try Binome360 for freeA card for each product with cost and price, stock movements logged in a sentence, and margin product by product.
- Cash and card sales logged to separate accounts you keep by hand
- Stock out and back, so the day’s sales add up
- Margin per product, so you can see what really pays
- A separate “Stall” assistant, apart from your personal money
- A recurring reminder for Tuesday’s supplier order
Binome360 doesn’t connect to your bank or your card reader: you type in the card total from the reader’s report. It isn’t a till system either. It keeps your books and your stock straight.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a licence to sell at a farmers market?
In many cases the market operator’s permission (your pitch) is what you need, because the operator handles the market’s own licensing or the site is private land. Street trading licences apply when you trade on the street. Food sellers typically also need to be registered with their local authority. When in doubt, ask the council and the market manager.
How much float should I bring?
Enough to give change for your most common sale all morning. If most sales are £4 to £7, coins and £5 notes matter more than £20s. Pick one amount and bring the same float every time; it makes the cash-up quicker and errors easier to spot.
Do I have to record every single sale?
Not one by one on a busy stall. What you need is a reliable daily total for cash and for card, backed up by your cash-up sheet and card reader report, plus records of your costs. Larger sales, or sales to businesses, are worth recording individually with a receipt.
How do I know which products to keep?
Look at margin in pounds or dollars per market day and at how much stock you have to carry to earn it, not just at sales. A cheap best-seller can pay for the pitch; a pricey item that comes home every week ties up cash. Two or three months of sheets will show the trend.
Should I give customers a receipt?
Offer one when asked, and always for larger or business purchases. Our receipt template shows what to include.
In short
Selling at markets takes permission to trade (a pitch, and a street trading licence where one applies) and three habits: a fixed float, a cash-up sheet for every market, and a stock count out and back. With those, you know each evening what you sold, whether the cash is right and which products really make your margin.
First step: before your next market, write down how many of each product you load. When you get home, count what came back.
Sources
- GOV.UK, “Street trading licence (England and Wales)”: gov.uk.
- HM Revenue & Customs, “Tax-free allowances on property and trading income”, last updated 8 May 2019: gov.uk.
- GOV.UK, “Business records if you’re self-employed: how long to keep your records”: gov.uk.
- Internal Revenue Service, “IRS issues FAQs on Form 1099-K threshold under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill; dollar limit reverts to $20,000”, 2025: irs.gov.
- Internal Revenue Service, “Form 1099-K FAQs: General information”: irs.gov.
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