JOAN SERRA MINGOT

 

Are you tired of that jacket you hardly wear? Do you have books that are gathering dust on the shelf? Did anyone give you a pair of shoes that you will never put on? Do not throw them away. Take them to the Flea Market of Barcelona. This innovative concept of street market is for the sale and exchange of clothing and other second-hand goods. Social networks and word-of-mouth are the main media of this vintage street market that is continually gaining more and more followers.

 

Every Sunday, Barcelona becomes a "market town". Old coins and stamps in the Royal Square, comics and movies in Sant Antoni’s Market, trains and vintage toys in Sagrera... On the seventh day of the week a different market invades every corner of the city. One of the most anticipated and awaited by fashion enthusiasts and bargain hunters is the Flea Market, held once a month at a different location.

 

Under the slogan One Man's Garbage is Another Man's Gold the street market attracted both the curious and those who knew what they wanted, with an atmosphere of party and carnival. Unlike other more conventional markets, the Flea never ceases to amaze: Oriental coats, ancient editions of novels by Jack Kerouac, Burberry blazers and even coloured wigs. And no trinkets, everything was second-hand but good-quality, with prices that did not exceed 5 euros. The Flea Market has just one rule: it cannot sell new never-used products, whether they are manufactured or handcrafted.

 

 HOW DOES THE FLEA MARKET WORK?                                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every month, through its Facebook page, Flea organizers put a date and a concrete location for setting up the market and attract both buyers and sellers. Thus, both its Facebook page as the effective word-of-mouth are the best communication platforms in order to be advertised. But in the Flea Market those who hesitate are lost, as the places to get a stand run out quickly, and usually there is no room for all the applicants.

 

 MORE VARIETY                                                                                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But being part of the large group that forms the Flea Market is not so easy. Due to high demands for variety and the multitude of applications that want to sell women's clothing and accessories, organizers decided to give priority to those who did not only bring clothes but original items such as old books, records or objects of decoration . Others who obtained a preferential treatment were male stallholders and those who had already been trying to get one of the precious stands for months. And the fight does not end here because once the application is accepted, sellers must pay 20 euros per place. According to organizers the fee has increased because "setting up the street market in this new place costs much more work, effort and investment than before". Besides, if stallholders do not have a table to put and sell their own products, they can rent a table at the Flea paying 5 euros more. However, in order to make it easier and more economical for the sellers, two of them may share the same table.

 

 

 

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