7 Lessons learned from a flea market

April 30 in the Netherlands is a national holiday called Queen’s Day, in honor of the queen’s birthday.  The reigning Queen Beatrix’s birthday is actually on January 31, but since it is too cold to be out with the folks and celebrate on the streets in January, the queen holds the celebration on April 30, which is her late mother’s birthday.

It could also have been called the national Flea Market Day.  People set up booths and stalls on streets all over the country to sell items they no longer need like children’s clothes, toys, gadgets, books and the like.

Since we live on a major shopping street where we have one of the biggest flea markets this side of town, we decided to join and turn it into a family event with the in-laws this year.

As I walked up and down checking and browsing through what everyone else was selling and getting rid of, one can glean a lot of insights from observing things and people in this activity.  Here are my seven takes on it:

1)   We really buy more than we ever need.

How is it possible to have twenty or fifty handbags in our closet when in reality, we really only use two or three alternately?  And yet when we see something that catches our fancy, we can’t help but buy it.  And what is it with women and shoes?  Fifty pairs are never enough.  I think all women are born with the same compulsion Imelda Marcos had when it comes to shoes.  The only difference is that she has so much more stolen money and probably lesser self-control.

2)   Much of one’s character can be discovered by how one deals with a child.

A woman was selling Barbie dolls with a Barbie Volvo car for €5.00.  A little girl, about four years of age, was negotiating with her if she could have it for €3.00.  The woman countered with €3.50. The little girl said all she had was €3.00.  The woman folded her arms and rudely said, “Oh well, if you’re short fifty cents you can’t have it!”  The little girl dropped her head and looked devastated.

What kind of person would rather have fifty cents more of an item she doesn’t need anymore in exchange for the chance to make another child happy and see that priceless look of delight on her face?

3)   Flea markets are good for the environment.

We should do flea markets more often.  We get to recycle a lot of stuff!  It is a good venue for us to get rid of things we don’t need anymore, and it is a good chance for other people to acquire things they want or need at a lesser price.  Books, toys, gadgets, small furniture and plenty of other items were bought and sold on this day.

No production costs, no labor costs, no waste of new resources and raw materials – and lesser trash.

4)   There is cash lying around in your unused stuff in storage.

That old china tea service set you inherited from your grandmother which you don’t use because its so old fashioned and want to get rid of could be actually worth lots of money to an antique buyer!

5)   Companies should re-think their Christmas giveaways policy.

It is a common practice among companies to give their employees Christmas gifts.  These come in an assortment of items packed in a Christmas box or basket and distributed to each employee.  The other option is that each employee receives a log-in code and password to an online shop chosen by the company.  The choices however are limited and mostly crappy and useless.

70% of what we and other members in our stall were trying to get rid of were things we received or had to choose from the Christmas online shop! If I were a company’s purchasing department, I would pay attention.

6)   Don’t fall for all that hype to have the latest tech gadget on the market.

Think twice before you buy that extra keyboard for your computer, or the latest portable multi-charger, multi-purpose, multimedia gadget.  You can be certain that a year from now, that will be considered obsolete.  So stick with whatever you have that works.  It’s kind of like not buying the latest Blackberry because all you really use your mobile phone for is calling and the occasional texting.

7)   Flea markets are a great way to socialize and get to know your neighbors.

How well do you know your neighbors?  How often have you invited them into your house for coffee or the other way around in the number of years you’ve lived in your neighborhood?

This year, because we had a stall in front of our house and they also had one in front of theirs, they came around and introduced themselves and made some chit chat.  And we did the same.

We also got to talk to the other sellers coming from all over The Hague and surrounding areas.

It felt like a community.