Buying and Selling at Finland’s Flea Markets

Episode 5

I speak to Henna about the significance of the Kirppis in Finland. We attend an event to sell some clothes and I then visit a few other types of Kirpputorit in Seinäjoki to compare & contrast.

Guest: Henna Rantasaari

Download an MP3 file of Buying and Selling at Finland’s Flea Markets

Show Notes

It’s late-Autumn 2014, the time of year when the children start to need pricey, new winter clothes, equipment and boots, this year I decided to try to cash-in on some of the old gear that we have piling up in our home. It’s easy for us to pass-on girls clothes, there are cousins in our family who are slightly younger than my daughter Evie, but there are fewer options for boys, so that is where we often have a surplus.

In this episode, I speak to my sister-in-law, Henna, who explains the basics about Finland’s Kirpputorit, the Flea Markets. You can hear her tell me about the tradition of buying and selling at the Kirppis and we discuss why these may be more widely used in Finland than other countries. Henna also tells me about the different types of Kirppis’;

The daily commercial operations where anyone can rent space for a week and leave their items to be sold
The occasional events where you rent a table and attend in person to sell your things
The charity shops that collect donated clothes, homewares, furniture etc. with the proceeds raising funds for charity – during this show I visited the local Red Cross shop

Henna had plans to attend a one-off event at Rytmikorjaamo in Seinäjoki, with Mrs W, so I saw my chance to tag along. I’d organized a large bag of winter boots to sell at the Kirppis along with Henna and Leena’s clothes. Henna shared one of her sales tactics; you can hear on the show about how we got on and why certain items sold better than others!

In summing up our day, Henna also mentioned Facebook groups where people also buy & sell, such as this one for the Seinäjoki area, bringing the old Flea Market ideology right into the 21st Century!