Mind Your Own Business - The Story Behind My Selling Career.

Its too wet for outdoor shots today and as the house is in utter chaos from our festival packing I thought I'd share some photos from last Saturday's Street Food & Flea Market.

The location was the Light House Media Centre in Wolverhampton, former premises of Chubb Locks, in Victorian times the sole supplier of locks to the Post Office and HM Prison Service and designers for a safe case for the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the Great Exhibition.

Despite the atrocious weather (typically the sun came out at closing time) the crowds flocked in and took more money in the first half-hour than we've made all day at some fairs.

We even got papped by the press HERE (they changed my surname and married me off to Jon, blinkin' cheek!)

Just to prove I'm no bandwagon jumper here I am with Mum back in 1991 selling second hand clothes from our market stall.

As a teen I'd go to jumble sales & junk shops and spend my pocket money on period clothes (vintage wasn't a term used then). I built up a huge collection, selling to a lady with a shop in Nottingham who'd advertised in the local paper, making enough money to put a deposit on a flat, open a savings account and leave home.

As a student I supplemented my grant by selling Tootal scarves, tab collared shirts and suede fronted 1960s cardigans to the mods who drank in the pub I worked at. My mum shared my passion for second-hand stuff and we regularly rented a market stall or did indoor car boot sales.

Not too long after I started my corporate hell of a career, jumble sales and charity shops soon took a back seat, I simply didn't the time for second hand shopping, but once I quit I soon got my life (and my shopping habits) back on track. 

In 2001 I was working in an office and had usually completed my workload by mid-morning. Bored, I took to surfing the Internet and one day discovered eBay. One lunchtime I found a Chanel soap dish complete with its original bar of soap for 55p in a charity shop. Back at home I listed it on eBay promptly making a profit of £26. From then on I was hooked.

I spent my spare time scouring the charity shops, trawling the car boot sales and listing everything interesting I could lay my hands on. The money went straight into a savings account. Within six months I could afford two return flights to India.

In 2004 I landed a managerial role in a private health care clinic and, with my impressive CV, was able to negotiate a four day working week with every December off. This enabled me to continue with my eBay selling and to spend four weeks a year in India where I'd buy handmade hippy clothes, bags and jewellery from the markets, ship them home and sell them to my colleagues and on-line. 

In 2006 I had a total hip replacement. I ended up off work for six months, receiving the minimum statuary sick pay. By this time we'd paid off our mortgage and, after doing the maths, realised we could afford to live quite well without the restriction of paid employment so, in 2007, I handed in my notice and became self employed.

For five years I sold exclusively on eBay along with the occasional car boot sale. At first it was fabulous, I earnt more than I did as an employee and the days were my own but eBay started to get harder what with unscrupulous buyers, incessant trips to the Post Office and rising sellers fees.  In 2012 I was offered a pitch at a local vintage fair and we absolutely loved it. Customers could try clothes on there and then - no returns or refunds or things going missing in transit - and they were more than happy to pay the price on the tag. As someone who'd always worked front of house being able to talk to people was what I've always excelled at.

In 2013 we decided to give selling at festivals a go. We've been festival goers for years and it seemed like the ideal way to combine our passions - live music, having a laugh, all day drinking, meeting like-minded people and making a bit of cash from vintage clothes as well - its being paid for having fun. 

Kinky Melon will never make us rich - I cut my own hair and shop at Lidl, my wardrobe is 99.9% second hand, I don't own a single designer handbag and I've bought one new pair of shoes in five years but we have no debt and are having the time of our lives. 

Isn't that all that matters? 

Check out our friend's site - Wayne Fox Photography. He's the talent behind most of the photos.

Right, I'm off to pack my festival bag!

See you on the other side.