Flea Markets Flourishing
With people’s belts well and truly tightened, Oulu’s flea markets are seeing a big rise in trade.
Vuokko Ryytty, of the Oulu-Kontti flea market, is convinced that the ‘economic crisis’ is behind the apparent rise in turnover.
‘That’s when people tend to come and find stuff at a flea market. And they find that it’s a much fairer and more reasonable price,’ she told Kaleva.
Janne Hyvönen, of Jarkkikirppis, explained that the popularity of flea markets has also grown in tandem with positive attitudes to recycling.
‘People’s enthusiasm for recycling is growing all the time and people are essentially recycling their goods. Money is not always the main motivation.’
Oulu’s flea markets charge a flat rate per week for a table. Sellers then set out their wares on a stall, marking them with specially coded prices-tags so that the fleamarket can keep a record of how much money the seller has made. The seller can price their items as high or low as they want and they keep whatever profit they make after their sales period is up.
Karjasilta’s Paljekirppis charges 23, 29 or 35 euros for a table for seven days, the price depending on the prominence of the table within the store. Price tag sheets – which include 50 tags – are charged at an additional 50 cents each. The store bans the selling of food, tobacco, weapons, pornography, and pirated CDs and DVDs.
