Setting Up of Flea Market from Scratch

naz.sharief

Hi Guys,

Was wondering if anyone could assist me in a matter. A group of friends and I are planning to have a flea market during the Christmas period this year (2012) and it's supposed to be of a charitable cause. We'd like to set up a location and have vendors sell their stuff (preferably 2nd hand stuff). Sales and proceeds will all be channeled into helping less priviledged families with their groceries or even getting their kids some presents.

We are not tied up to any organization or community whatsoever. Being such, is it possible for individuals to organize and execute such an event in Singapore? Does anyone have any idea?

Any form of assistance or information on this would be of much help to me and my friends. Thank you in advance! =)

Mystech

of course you can, the only problem is that companies have a tendency to rent only to companies. So if you are students, you might want to talk to your school to see if they have a commity service side or something. rental apart, how are you going to raise the money to get the rental space? holiday season is peak period for sales. Unless you talk to the grassroot leaders and ask them to help? and there there is the promotion aspect. printing of phamplets, etc etc. all requires money.

xoxoxo

So the sellers will be yourself and your group of friends? If so, I sure hope you guys are financially strong because as Mystech pointed out, you need $$$ even before you start earning. And IMHO, I don't think you can raise a lot of $$$ selling 2nd hand stuff unless your stuff are truly unique.

It may be better to work with selected organizations but it is important for you all to clearly identify who you want to help... you can't just say "helping less priviledged families with their groceries or even getting their kids some presents." It doesn't matter if you are just helping 1 particular housing estate or 1 particular association but you have to spell out who, otherwise, the general public may get the impression that this is just an excuse for you to clear your second hand stuff.

Try getting sponsorships from companies then at least you guys can save some monies. Try to work out some mutual benefits. For example, get company A to sponsor the pamphlets/flyers printing costs and in return, you help promote A's product by doing free advertisement of A's product in the pamphlets/flyers.

It is not as easy as it seems. Perhaps as a first step, you guys may want to visit some of the local flea markets and see for yourself how tough the retail business is. Only if you guys are ready to do it right, otherwise you will be wasting your own time, $$ and efforts.

naz.sharief

My sincere thanks to both Mystech and xoxoxo for your replies.

The reason for posting this thread is to see how we can start about this idea and of course, to see if I had missed out on any other 'blind spots'. From your replies, I see that we have yet to think about this venture in depth.

1. "So the sellers will be yourself and your group of friends?"
- Not quite. Perhaps I wasn't clear in my description. We'd like to 'host' the event and let other vendors sell their items at our event. Rent out the booths at a minimal price perhaps and use that sales for charity.

2. "And IMHO, I don't think you can raise a lot of $$$ selling 2nd hand stuff unless your stuff are truly unique."
- Duely noted xoxoxo, thanks!

3. "It may be better to work with selected organizations but it is important for you all to clearly identify who you want to help..."
"So if you are students, you might want to talk to your school to see if they have a commuity service side or something."
- Since the beginning of this idea, this has been a main question of ours. We understand the importance of this now. Perhaps we should look into collaborating with an organization and work towards helping them as an aim.

Also, if the idea does somehow work out, does anyone know of what formalities we would have to go through to host this event? What sort of clearance we'd need in terms of paperwork, licensing, permits etc etc?

xoxoxo

mmmmmmmmmm............. if it's a school, you can host the event in the school, this cut down a lot of expenses and paper work, if it's a charitable organization, you can consider hosting the event at CC or HDB void decks near where the charitable organization is located or even in the charitable organization. CC go to CC to make enquiries on the requirements and payments, HDB void decks and common space go to the relevant town council. If it's a one-off non-commercial charitable event, I don't think you need any permit. If you plan to run it like an event organizer and you are out to make a profit going forward (the charity event being an exception), then you run it like any business... set up a company...ACRA etc etc.


Without much info about you guys and what exactly you guys are trying to achieve, it is difficult for other forumers to help you. But in most real life cases, don't we all learn on the job?? So, one step at a time, when you reach the bridge, you cross it.

Mystech

Actually, if it is a charitable event, you will have to follow even more rules.
If you're coming out with all the money on your own, then, most likely its fine. though as xoxoxo says, you need to state everything out, create a paper trail, etc etc else you can be charged for fraud.

xoxoxo

Naz, have a look at this charitable event. Unfortunately it's over, otherwise you guys can hop down and take a look but just looking at this poster and their facebook, will give you a clue was involved for this event. Over $8000 was raised!


1. The organizer is Le Flea Boutique.

2. There is a sponsor & a location - Talent Cafe. (The amount of publicity and the event itself will also benefit Talent Cafe)

3. There is an identified beneficiary - Action for Aids.

4. The products are pre-loved and vintage designer labels, high street fashions and the like, not just any 2nd hand stuff.

5. There's a $5 entry donation, meaning that even if people step in and dont buy anything, they would still have contributed $5, this together with 100% sale proceeds go to AFA.

6. The event and location was set for Jun but their gumtree posting (calling for donation of clothes) appears as early as Apr. Planning is important!

7. Publicity is everything. They appeared in Yahoo Entertainment and plussixfive.com, city nomads. Ad posting in Gumtree and Facebook. And I'm sure there are many more which I didn't know.

8. Have a look at their facebook and you will realized there was even a lucky draw with attractive sponsored prizes. They know how to pull in the crowd and keep them coming back in future events.

A lot of work involved, can't tell how much expenses were being incurred but with all the sponsorship I hope they didn't incur much. If it's for charity, and being able to raise over $8000, I think it is all worth it.

Way to go! Naz, hope this will be useful for you guys. You guys have taken the first step, don't give up halfway. There's always a first time!

meinteel

All charitable events in Singapore (unless it is a private collection confined to friends and relatives) should be carried out by a full or associate member of the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) or the Community Chest with the written approval from the Chief Executive Officer of the NCSS.

If you are not a full/associate member, then an application for licence has to be done with the Singapore Police Force. If the "charitable event" proceeds without the license, the organisers maybe charged with fraud.

Should food and beverage be involved, you would need a "No objections" letter from NEA. For lucky/donation draws to be conducted, an additional license would need to be applied as well. Should live entertainment, music cds/bands be present different forms of public entertainment licenses is required (even for once off events).

Despite all the red tapes and difficulties, i think that your initial start of point is great. A little polishing and help would bring this idea a long way. Do note that sponsorships from corporates is possible but that will need a full and detailed proposal at least 4 months before the event. Identify a (or a list of) beneficiaries and talk to them. Most of them have a usual corporate sponsor that might be more than willing to assist you on the event.

I would highly encourage you to walk to the nearest Community centre and talk to them about it. There are several executive committees (youth executive committee, women executive committee, malay executive committee, indian executive committee, senior citizen executive committee, cc management committee) in each CC which have the venue, money, connections and manpower to assist you with the project. It would make licensing a much easier task as well. Otherwise, they may refer you to bigger committees like the CDC or CCC (citizens consultative committee). These committees are all run by volunteers and funded by the government.

Good luck with your journey ahead!

naz.sharief

Mystech: We're learning more and more about the required paperwork, thank you so much Mystech!

xoxoxo: xoxoxo, you have no idea how helpful your tip off on Le Flea Boutique's event is to me and my team! It's really such a pity that we couldn't make it down for their event to have a look around, but still, knowing about it itself is so helpful! We have a rough idea on what we would want to do, which organization we would wanna represent etc but your assistance in this matter has really made the smoke clear out a little more! We're going to see if we can get in contact with Le Flea Boutique, to speak to them and ask for tips on bringing our idea to life. MY GOODNESS, THANK YOU SO MUCH XOXOXO!

meinteel: Your insight on this matter has been really enlightening to me and my team. Especially the bit about writing in to NCSS for their approval and such. We will heed your advise on visiting a nearby CC and speaking with an executive there before we spearhead into the event any further. Our heartfelt thanks for coming forward with your helpful reply, we appreciate it!

We're learning more everyday with regards to all the procedures that is gonna be required for this event to come to life. You guys have no idea how helpful all your comments/replies/insights have been so far. We request that replies keep coming in (it can be with regards to anything that you think we should consider or something you think that we've missed out on)!

Thank you!

xoxoxo

Naz, this christmas gonna be different, right? All the best!

And I tell you what, once you guys have come up with something more concrete, slowly release the info right here in Pushcart Forum so that those interested can continue to contribute ideas and suggestions...