Loppemarked

Loppemarked

It was the first of its kind that I have experienced. It wasn’t a fruitful day for me physically. But it was certainly mentally fulfilling. What was that? Discover together with Jiann Chyuan.

I have never been to any loppemarked (flea market) in my life before this. But it was definitely a golden opportunity to have a taste of flea market last weekend. It was the largest flea market in Trondheim which was held just 100 metres away from my living quarter.

It was located at a skole (school) nearby my area. At first I thought it would be some sellers displaying all the second hand (or third or maybe even more) products on a carpet and shouting their heart out to attract passers-by. But it turned out to be completely different to what I’ve imagined, in a better way.

Instead of having seller laying used goods on the ground, there was actually tent set up properly to protect the goods sold from the infamous notorious Trondheim weather. And surprisingly, sellers were seen to be well dressed in their uniform as to distinguish themselves from the swamp of crowds that were absolutely hungry for dirt cheap products.

Well, you don’t really have to wear a full warrior suit to enter the battlefield (the market). But to train your thigh muscles for long distance walking, and arm muscles to carry too much of a once-in-lifetime deals are deemed utmost important.

You may have no idea on the size of this so called biggest flea market in Trondheim, so as I did. Only after visited to the market in the first day then I realised it could be very tempting to not going home empty handed when you were spoilt with such an exaggerating array of second hand goods, which were obviously in good condition.

I must say that the layout of the market was well planned. Items like sofas and huge carpets piling in the front of the entrance for smaller items located at the basketball court and canteen of the skole welcomed every visitor to the market. They were of course not my cup of tea. So I tried it very hard to squeeze myself to the huge sardine container – the clothes and kitchen ‘department’.

It was not exaggerating at all to fit literally the whole basketball court with just clothes and bowls and mugs and candles stand. They just existed in bulk quantities. Due to hygienic concern, I simply dropped the idea of getting myself an extra piece of warm clothe for winter although it was really hard to resist the urge of grabbing one, from the hanger, from the box, or just pick one from the floor.

If clothes were not the goal, one simply couldn’t miss the deal for kitchens stuff. I spent nearly no time to stuff myself with a handful of kitchen accessories like bowls and mugs. They were just so new and in such tip top condition. I just couldn’t figure out a single reason for people to just have got rid of them from their kitchen.

The varieties of this loppemarked were certainly impressive. Clothes, kitchen utensils, living room displays, used leather products, carpets, shoes, handbags, toys for children, pots for plants, skiing equipments, bicycles, sofas and furniture, electrical and electronics which also include a typewriter, all kind of lamps, luggage bags, gym training equipments, etc. It is basically every item you can get from a house after you dismantle it. No exaggeration involved in the previous statement. You name it, they got it, unless it was sold out.

And the good thing was, you were spoilt with choices for almost every product. There was always an option for you to choose from when you were considering buying something.

Of course, the best part of loppemarked was the bargain. It is not common for people to bargain anything in normal transaction, especially in Norway. But in loppemarked, you just simply have been granted the right to bargain, excessively. It was actually one of the processes that I enjoyed the most in this flea market.

If you were thinking only Asians are attracted to this loppemarked, you are indeed wrong! Norwegian visitors (and buyers) to this flea market simply outnumbered Asians by significant margin. And one funny thing was how I noticed almost every Norwegian came to this market equipped themselves with huge garbage bags.

It was definitely not an uncommon scene where you have a Norwegian insanely stuffed the garbage bag with basically everything besides the item you are holding in your hands, when you were leisurely taking your own sweet time to search for your ideal winter clothes.

Well, although temptation was hard to resist, I refrained myself from spending on unnecessary items. So in the end, I only spent 35 kroners for some kitchen utensils.

Caption (from left):
This was the situation when products and buyers fighting for room in co-existence.
The outside, equally amazing as in the inside.
Just another department store of the flea market.