The Market Life: What It’s Really Like Selling Candles at Markets

There’s something about doing a market that you just can’t replicate online. You can have beautiful product photos, a carefully designed website and an Instagram feed that looks great, but none of that compares to watching someone pick up one of your candles, smell it, read the label and then suddenly realise there’s something a little different about it.

For Now Spinning, markets are a chance to put the brand into the real world. People can smell the fragrances, see the packaging up close and, most importantly, discover the music that sits at the heart of the concept. It’s very different from someone finding a candle while scrolling online.

The candle market is a pretty saturated one. There are a LOT of us. Walk into almost any handmade market and you’ll probably find a candle stall, and sometimes there’ll be several, all within a few stalls of each other. I completely understand why. Candles are popular, they make great gifts, people love fragrance and there are so many talented makers creating beautiful products. But from a customer’s perspective, there’s only so many candle stalls you want to walk past in one afternoon.

That’s why I really appreciate market organisers who understand the importance of variety. The best markets I’ve been part of generally don’t have more than one or two candle businesses. It gives each maker room to stand out and means customers aren’t seeing essentially the same category over and over again. Instead, they get a reason to explore the whole market and discover businesses they might not have come across otherwise.

And this is where being different really matters.

At almost every market, I watch people walk past the Now Spinning stall without necessarily stopping. Which is completely understandable. There’s a lot happening at a market and people are taking everything in as they walk around. Then they notice the sign that says “Candles with a soundtrack” and explains that every candle has a curated playlist.

That’s usually when they stop, turn around and say some variation of, “THAT IS SUCH A COOL IDEA!”

And honestly, I never get tired of hearing it.

Because that little moment is exactly what makes the concept work. Yes, they’re candles, but the music is what makes people curious. Suddenly they want to know how the playlists work, what songs are on them, whether they can listen on their preferred streaming platform and, quite often, which candle I would recommend for them.

From there, the conversation usually moves onto fragrance. Someone will pick up Buttered Popcorn and immediately start talking about going to the cinema. Someone else will smell Lost In Kyoto and tell me it reminds them of a holiday. Someone will pick up Cubans & Brandy and suddenly we’re talking about smoky bars, old records and what they like to listen to when they’re having a drink at home.

Those moments are one of my favourite parts of doing markets because fragrance is so personal. A scent can trigger a memory almost instantly, and everyone has a different association with it. You get to see those reactions happen right in front of you, rather than wondering whether someone connected with a product from behind a screen.

You can’t smell a candle through Instagram, after all.

I was at a market on the weekend that really reminded me why I enjoy doing them. The venue itself was one of those seriously funky Melbourne spaces that immediately gave the whole event a personality (shout out to the Quadraphonic Club). It had character, great music and an interesting mix of businesses, and it felt like somewhere people actually wanted to spend time.

That makes such a difference.

A well-run market is about more than putting a group of small businesses in a room and hoping people turn up. The venue matters, the mix of makers matters and the overall experience matters. Good organisers understand that customers are more likely to stick around when there’s plenty to discover, while stallholders benefit from being part of an event that feels considered rather than thrown together.

Of course, sales matter. I’m running a small business, so I’m certainly not going to pretend otherwise. Markets aren't free, some cost $30 to be part of, some cost $500. But one of the most valuable things about markets is seeing what catches people’s attention in real time. It helps me understand what makes someone stop, what makes them curious and what parts of the Now Spinning story people connect with most.

And, more often than not, it starts with those four little words:

Candles with a soundtrack.

So if you see me at a market, come and say hi. Smell the candles, ask about the playlists, tell me what music you’re listening to or just come and have a chat.

Because getting Now Spinning out from behind a screen and into the real world is pretty special.

* Image supplied by Giovanna Coombes