Market Trader Terms and Definitions

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Market Trader Phrase Book

A glossary of commonly used Market Trader words and phrases

APMO: Association of Private Market Operators

Casual: a Market Trader without a regular pitch on a Market

Demmer: a Market Trader who demonstrates their product and how it works (such as carpet cleaner) in order to make a sale

Frontage: the dimension that runs along the front of the pitch

Gaff: slang for a Market

Gear: the products a Market Trader sells

Grafter: A Market Trader who works hard to sell his products, usually by talking or shouting about what they have to offer

Hap: a Scottish and Borders term for tarpaulin

Joint: a Market Stall, typically a Market Trader's own portable Market Stall

Kipper Season: the period of slow retail trade between January and March each year

Line: the type of product a Market Trader sells

Lurker: a Market Trader who observes their Market Stall from a distance, waiting until a customer shows interest in a product

Market Charter: a document giving a market operator, generally a council or local authority, the right to collect rent on a market, normally within 6 and 2/3 miles of a defined point which prevents another market from opening in the same locality

Market Clip: a steel or plastic clip normally used to secure a tarpaulin to a Market Stall frame.

Money Apron: see Money Bag below

Money Bag: a pouch in which a Market Trader keeps their takings, usually secured around the waist or slung over the shoulder

NMTF: National Market Traders' Federation

Overhang: the roof section that extends over the front and/or rear legs of a Market Stall to provide weather protection for products and customers

Pitch: the open space from which a Market Trader sells their products

Pitcher: a Market Trader who works from a raised platform, talking or shouting about the products they have on offer, often in an entertaining way

Private Operator: a private company as opposed to a local authority which is responsible for the operation and upkeep of a Market

Pound Lines: products sold at an attractive price of £1

Punter: a customer or potential customer showing interest in buying a product

Quiet Trader: a Market Trader who waits for customers to approach their stall rather than try and the attract attention of passers by

Regular: a Market Trader with a regular pitch on a Market

Snide: illegal copies of a branded product (counterfeit)

Spieler: a Market Trader who tries to convince a customer in all manner of ways that a product is worth buying

Spook: Spook Erection, a large private market operator based in Worcestershire

Swag: cheap or small products, often referred to by wholesalers as Swag Lines

Toby: the rent for a pitch on a market

Toby Man: the person who collects the rent for a market stall pitch

Town & Country: a large private market operator based in Shropshire