The flea market is really deserving of its own post. We seem to end up going every few months mostly to offload kids clothes that have been out grown but lately I’ve been trying to pare down the amount of ’stuff’ we have in our lives. Of course if we had a basement or a garage (imagine!) I’d probably be less inclined to pitch and sort.

There are two types of flea marketers over here: 1) The Professional flea marketer and 2) your average run-of-the-mill family who is either moving or just looking to get rid of the overflow in their lives. If you are a professional you are generally a vietnam-era retired military male. And generally you are fairly out of touch with what is ‘in’ and subsequently have a large pile, of what amounts to trash, spilling out from your trunk. And by trash I mean old light fixtures, a crapped out shop vac, a lone captains chair from a fishing boat, perhaps some old records etc. And over the course of the flea market you sell a few items (which boggles the mind) but you aren’t raking in a huge profit. Im fairly sure that a large portion of what the professionals come to sell is stuff they find on the curb on trash day and then go try and pawn it off to the Japanese.

The gates open for “set up” one hour before the flea market starts. The problem is that its not a very efficient set-up and it took us 45 minutes just to get through the line and I HATE when we dont have time to set up. There are a few flea market trolls that come right up to your car as you pull up. No exaggeration- yesterday as I opened our trunk a lady came up and started unloading bags out of the back pawing through them. She started pulling out baby clothes and asking how much and I told her everything was $3. She scoffed at that and I reminded her that the gates hadn’t opened yet and we haven’t even unloaded…..$3 take it or leave it. She took it.

The flea markets are a big deal for the Japanese because they can get American goods (which they like) and brands for a fraction of what they would pay. The scene on the other side of the fence reminds me of what the US Embassy in Vietnam looked like at the end of the war….faces pressed up against the fence, clogs of people…..and then when the gates open all hell breaks loose. Im surprised no one has ever been trampled because they sprint through the gates the way people do on Black Friday at Wal-Mart. Its insane. Im guessing flea markets in the US are not like this Bethtastic?

When we went this weekend it was mostly clothes that we got rid of. And I used to make my pricing all complicated (onesies are one price, dresses another, a complete outfit another etc.) and now it was just 200Y per item and in the long run it would all even out. And usually the “professional” flea market shoppers wear me down by standing in my face haggling over and over and over until I finally just give in. Not this time. It was 200Y per item or I just took the stack from them and threw it back in the pile. Take that.

I’m also HIGHLY amused by the things the Japanese find interesting. I’m mildly embarrassed to admit that I took Nathan’s old underpants. NOW WAIT- in my defense he had never had ANY ACCIDENTS in them. Some of them were just extras that I kept at his school in the event a change was needed. It was also my plan to just throw them away but I lumped them in the pile anyway. And the Japanese grabbed them right up. I didn’t charge people for them if they were buying other things (they were “dozo’s”) and the one lady who bought just one pair– I only charged 10 cents. Coffee mugs were a big deal, stuffed animals, any type of electronic, pens, an ugly cloth bag I’d gotten for free, half used bottles of perfume…..look, before you judge me understand that it PAINS me to be wasteful. I HATE throwing things away so if some nice Japanese lady wants the second half of my bottle of perfume, thats better than the landfill getting it.

All totaled we made about $360….we plan to use that to buy a patio set. An overpriced patio set at the BX that, in Okinawa, is just going to get all rusted out from the salty air in about two weeks anyway. And then we’ll take that to the flea market and the cycle will just continue….

Filed under: Smile and Nod