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Through the analysis of the vocabulary of sale in classical Greece, this article aims to point out the extent to which trade involved certain conceptual categories (showing, disposing) and certain skills that come under the heading of performance within the framework of specific spaces: such as the deigma in the port, and the temporary installations known as skenai in the agora. The accumulation and spatial arrangement of things influence the perception of goods as well as the behaviour of buyers. The ephemeral nature of the installations and exhibitions puts the emphasis on performance and representation on the part of both the sellers and their customers. Merchant spaces thus show a contiguity with several other knowledges and skills of the city: from the art of commerce to rhetoric and theatricality. They are thus the places where a public image and social respectability are built.