Packing for a market is a balancing act. Bring too few bags and you're handing customers loose baked goods or apologising for running out by lunchtime. Order too many and your cash flow is sitting in cardboard boxes under the bed until the next event, if there is one.
Most first-time or seasonal stallholders guess their packaging numbers. That guess usually goes one of two ways: an expensive emergency run to a retail shop mid-market, or a garage full of surplus bags that never quite gets used up. Neither is good for margin.
The fix is a simple formula based on expected foot traffic, a realistic conversion rate, and how many items your average customer actually buys. Once you've run the numbers once, reusing the formula for every future market takes minutes, not guesswork.
The Core Packaging Estimation Formula
Step 1: Estimate total event foot traffic
Use the venue's historical attendance if the organiser can share it, or a reasonable estimate based on venue size and past events you've attended. If this is your first time at a particular market, ask other stallholders or the organiser what a typical weekend looks like.
Step 2: Calculate your conversion rate
Not every visitor to the market buys from your stall. Typical market conversion rates sit somewhere between 10 and 20 per cent of total stall visitors, depending on your product, price point, and stall visibility. A stall near the entrance with an eye-catching display will convert higher than one tucked in a back corner.
Step 3: Account for units per transaction (UPT)
Do your customers typically walk away with one item, or three? A jewellery stall might see one item per sale. A bakery stall often sees two or three baked goods bundled into a single bag.
Step 4: Apply the 15 per cent buffer rule
Every event order should include roughly 15 per cent extra on top of your base calculation. This covers unexpected surges in foot traffic, bags damaged in transit or setup, and the extra bag needed when you double-bag something heavy or wet.
Worked example by stall type
Putting it together, here's how that formula plays out for three common stall types:
STALL SCALE / TYPE: Boutique or jewellery (low volume) EXPECTED SALES PER DAY: 30 to 50 transactions BASE BAG COUNT: 50 bags BUFFER (+15%): +8 bags TOTAL ORDER TARGET: 60 bags
STALL SCALE / TYPE: Artisan or apparel (mid volume) EXPECTED SALES PER DAY: 80 to 120 transactions BASE BAG COUNT: 120 bags BUFFER (+15%): +18 bags TOTAL ORDER TARGET: 140 bags
STALL SCALE / TYPE: Bakery or produce (high volume) EXPECTED SALES PER DAY: 200 to 300 transactions BASE BAG COUNT: 300 bags BUFFER (+15%): +45 bags TOTAL ORDER TARGET: 350 bags
These are starting points, not rules. Run your own numbers using your actual conversion rate and UPT once you have a market or two of real data behind you.
The 60/30/10 Bag Size Distribution Ratio
Once you know your total bag count, the next question is what mix of sizes to order. Buying one size for everything either wastes money on oversized bags for small items, or leaves you improvising when something doesn't fit.
A useful starting split for most general stalls is roughly 60/30/10:
The 60 per cent workhorse: medium twisted handle bag
This covers the bulk of general retail items: candles, apparel, books, small homewares, and any multi-item purchase. If you only stock one size from Smartbag's twisted handle bag range, this is the one.
The 30 per cent compact: small bag
Reserved for single cards, small jars, cosmetics, or individual baked goods. Using a small bag instead of defaulting everything to medium saves real money across a full season of markets, since you're not paying for paper you don't need.
The 10 per cent bulk option: large, wide-gusset bag
For hampers, multi-item bundles, or bulkier homewares that won't fit comfortably in a medium bag.
This ratio isn't fixed. A jewellery or small-goods stall might run closer to 80 per cent small bags and barely touch the large size. A produce or bakery stall selling bundled goods might need more medium and large stock and very little small. Check Smartbag's paper bag sizing guide against your actual product catalogue before locking in a ratio, and adjust from there.
A note on minimum order quantities
Smartbag's twisted handle bags (the workhorse size in this ratio) have a low order minimum, which suits the smaller total order sizes in the table above. Simple flat bags without handles or gussets, more suited to bakery goods, cards, or small flat items, generally carry a higher order minimum on Smartbag's site. If your total order for a single market sits well under that minimum, it may be more practical to order a small twisted handle bag instead of a flat bag for this season, and revisit the flat bag option once you're ordering across multiple events or products that would use up a larger batch.
Cash Flow, Bulk Tiers and Storage Realities
Buying packaging for market stalls is a cash flow decision as much as an operational one. A few things are worth knowing before you order.
Pricing at market-stall order sizes
Per-unit pricing on plain stock bags is often flat across the smaller order quantities you'd typically need for a single market (from the minimum order up into the low thousands), rather than dropping in steps as you add more bags to the cart. Genuine bulk discounts on Smartbag's site are generally unlocked by contacting the team directly once you're ordering at higher volumes, typically 5,000 units or more, which is well beyond what most solo stallholders need for a single event.
The 3-market rule
What does change with volume is shipping. Every order is charged freight once, regardless of whether it's 60 bags or 600. This is where the 3-market rule earns its keep: if you're booked for three or more Spring events, ordering your full season's packaging in one combined order means paying for delivery once instead of three separate times, and having your full stock on hand rather than waiting on a delivery between weekends.
Storage between markets
Keep unused stock in its original flat-packed shipping cartons, stored somewhere dry and off the ground. Paper bags absorb moisture readily, and a damp garage floor or an outdoor shed can quietly ruin a box of bags between one weekend and the next. Elevated, dry, and out of direct sun is all it takes.
Event-Day Preparation Sequence
Once your stock has arrived, a simple pre-market routine keeps the day itself running smoothly.
1. Pack your day-pack allocation
Based on your traffic estimate for that specific event, count out the bags you expect to use and pack them into a portable, flat storage tote for the day. Don't bring your entire season's stock to a single market.
2. Pre-bundle your tissue paper
If you use tissue paper for wrapping or lining, count it into packs of 25 sheets ahead of time. This stops staff or helpers from over-grabbing tissue during a rush and running short later in the day.
3. Set aside your emergency reserve
Keep your 15 per cent buffer sealed separately, ideally in a water-tight container in the car, and only bring it out if sales are running ahead of your estimate. Keeping it separate means it stays clean and dry until you actually need it.
4. Run a post-market stock audit
Count what's left as soon as you pack down. This tells you exactly how close your conversion rate and UPT assumptions were, so next weekend's order is a refinement rather than another guess.
Conclusion
Calculating your packaging needs isn't complicated once you've done it once. It's the difference between a stall that runs smoothly all day and one that's either scrambling for bags or storing a surplus it'll never use. A simple formula, a sensible size split, and one properly planned order for the season protects your margin far better than repeated last-minute top-ups.
If you're gearing up for a run of Spring markets, Smartbag's paper bag sizing guide is a good starting point for matching bag dimensions to your actual products, and the wholesale store lets you order your exact quantities directly. Get in touch via smartbag.com.au or call 1300 874 559 if you're ordering at a scale where bulk pricing makes sense.