Too Many Fleamarkets/bazaars in S'pore?
 

My New Year resolution is to visit more fleamarkets/bazaars so as to find out which ones are suitable for my stuff. I did some online research and was quite surprised there were at least 20 of these events in January. Okay a few of them are gearing for the Chinese New Year but quite a few are regular like Scape, Tanglin Mall, SAFRA and many CC has their monthly bazaars. Even NUS & NUH hosted their own bazaars.
Last Saturday, I went to the Chong Pang Bazaar and there were not many stalls nor the crowd like last year. So I was wondering if there are too many fleamarkets/bazaars in Singapore? Are they drawing the same crowd?
Maybe we should have more specialised events like for instance the Farmer's Market in Loewen Gardens for food, 2ndhand clothing in Tanglin Mall Bazaar while Scape is more for the younger crowd. That way they could draw a different crowd every weekend.
So why do you think?

Re: Too Many Fleamarkets/bazaars in S'pore?
 

I have finished compiling February fleamarkets and again there are more than 20 including a megaflea at the outdoor space beside Compass Point for 3 weekends starting from 5th Feb to 20th Feb. I am really interested to get some feedback on all these fleas either from those attending them as sellers or buyers.

Re: Too Many Fleamarkets/bazaars in S'pore?
 

There are indeed too many fleas and bazaars in January as well as February. Recently, attended some events whereby there are more vendors than customers. Wonder if it is due to the bad weather that turn customers away or due to lack of information thru the mass media. Hope all turn out better in the year of the Bunny!

Re: Too Many Fleamarkets/bazaars in S'pore?
 

Just Hobby, were you referring to the Singapore river market bazaar when you were talking about the bad weather? I did share previously to avoid this bazaar cos the weather forecast mention that it will be a raining month. Think a lot of people lost their capital during the last week of January. I guess should concentrate on indoor fleas since there are so many choices nowadays.

Re: Too Many Fleamarkets/bazaars in S'pore?
 

I do agree that there are a lot of Fleamarkets and Bazaars (FAB) in Singapore currently. But if you do search and do some survey, you will be able to categorise them to a few different sections and based on this sections, you should ask yourself which one is suitable for your products :

1) FAB that sells mostly 2nd hand items.
2) FAB that sells mostly handmade items
3) FAB that sells mainly teenagers and students stuffs
4) FAB that sells mainly new and imported products

Do take note also of the rental prices as well as whether it's indoor or outdoor. A lot of people who are new might want to try doing outdoor FAB but do take note that you will need to be prepared in the event that it rains. There are some FAB that states that it is a rain or shine event so you will need to be prepared especially if you are selling items that needs time to pack up when it rains.

Anyway, I have been to almost all of the FAB in Singapore. If anyone needs an opinion of the organiser as well as the location of the FAB, do let me know. Will try my best to give my honest opinion. Good Luck!

Re: Too Many Fleamarkets/bazaars in S'pore?
 

Hi Ding Dong, It is so nice of u to offer us an advice or two. Have u been to United Square @ Novena Bazaar? Do u find the publicity given by Eventz organizer been adequate? Been to their twice at home club & West Mall, hv yet to find any prominent sign board or publicity there...

Re: Too Many Fleamarkets/bazaars in S'pore?
 

Dear Ding Dong, thanks for taking care of us vendors and offering your valued advice. It was rather complacent of me to miss out on the weather forcast as well as your message which would have prevented us much anguish! Btw, is it a good idea to join the bazaar in Feb at Read Bridge, Clarke Quay now that the weather is better? Plse advise

Re: Too Many Fleamarkets/bazaars in S'pore?
 

Sunshine,

Publicity by the organiser is important but the most important thing is the location because an organiser always promise lots of publicity to get vendors in but at the end of the day, if the publicity is insufficient, there is nothing we can all do. On the other hand, if the location is good, you will not need much publicity as the traffic and crowd is good enough for business.

If you are selling brand new items or also kids products, trying out at United Square is good as there is a reasonable good crowd during the weekends. There are a few tuition centres, music school at this place and most of the family who send their kids there are mainly upper middle class so if you are selling new items and children products, it should be good business for you. Furthermore, if I'm not mistaken, this time the bazaar is at the Atrium area so the crowd traffic should also be good.

If you are selling new items and want to earn slightly more, in future, pls try to avoid Home Club. I have nothing against them but the crowd here is mainly students and teenagers. If you are selling 2nd clothes and teenagers stuffs, then Home Club is a place you can consider. Good Luck!

Re: Too Many Fleamarkets/bazaars in S'pore?
 

Just Hobby,
I cannot predict whether will it rain for the coming 2 bazaars at Clarke Quay Read Bridge or not. You can try to see if the weather forecast is favourable or not. But pls take note of certain things.
Firstly, this organiser is not the same as the organiser for the Singapore River Market although the location is very near to each other. This Read Bridge organiser do not provide any power supply so if you are selling accessories or items that will need spotlight to highlite your product, pls do remember to bring your own battery powered lights. There is only one bulb light for every tent and in my opinion, is not sufficient if you are selling items like ladies accessories.
Secondly, the booth is a 3m X 3m tent but every tent will be shared by 2 vendors so the space might be a bit tight. If you are selling items that need extra space, I suggest you check out with the organiser in advance before making any payment. The organiser is weekends and they mainly organise flea markets at Scape so the majority of their vendors are students. I'm not sure what is the reason that they postpone the bazaar in January to Feb. One reason is that they could not get enough vendors and thus have to postpone it. I also do know that they have engaged Blogshop Asia to help them source for vendors. Most importantly, check with the organiser on the spacing as I believe that this organiser is very strict with their bazaar space.
The good thing bout this bazaar is that if everything is fine with you and it does not rain on that weekend, sales should be good as this place have a good reasonable amount of tourist crowd. Also, if your eyes can stand it, you can even be there until about 1am. Good Luck!

Re: Too Many Fleamarkets/bazaars in S'pore?
 

Thanks Ding Dong5770 for making the extended help and efforts to advise us! I m considering this coming weekend Bazaar at United Square. Hopefully, sales goes ok even on middle of CNY season..

Good Luck to yr business too !!