When I lived in the UK I spent nearly all my spare time thrifting and selling online. So when I moved to Barcelona, I knew I would have to find a similar outlet... I soon discovered that opportunity for thrift presents itself in totally different ways here. For starters, they do not have charity shops or car boot sales. Ebay and Etsy certainly do not have the same success and the main problem that I am still struggling with it the postage... it's unbelievably expensive here.
So, while I am still finding ways to overcome this obstacle, I have been investigating treasures and sourcing things from wherever I can when I have the spare time and coping with extremely limited funds now that my ebay selling has almost ground to a halt.
The great thing about Barcelona are the street finds. This involves taking to the streets and rummaging near the bins for goods that have been dumped... if you're not careful, you can sometimes run into trouble as there are a lot of people who do the same thing, and a lot of them do not like to share their territory. I once got chased by a small man with a leopard print rug thrown over his shoulder. Usually now I take Rob Roy with me for protection... or I stick to well-lit areas.
Mostly there is a lot of junk, but my best finds have been a small, vintage orange cabinet with ornate gold handles, a stack of 1960s and 70s craft magazines and an old rusty sewing machine. There is also always an abundance of clothes and I have brought home some beautiful blouses that sold nicely on Ebay and at the Vintage Market.
My favourite place for treasure is Encants Flea Market, which is held a few times a week. I am slowly building up a collection of things and developing quite a haggling technique... although the weekend just gone by was embarrassing when a seller decided to show me up in front of everyone else by shouting 'Look at the pretty blonde girl! She's so tough! She's so hard! She wants something for nothing!'... in the end I won though, ha ha. Suck on that Mr Hot Shot Junk Seller!
My plan is to collect up enough things to start a little Etsy shop.. although I am having trouble creating the perfect banner. Also, I intend to fly a lot of things back to England at the end of the month to post with my trusty old friends at the Post Office, with their reasonable prices.#
Mostly there is a lot of junk, but my best finds have been a small, vintage orange cabinet with ornate gold handles, a stack of 1960s and 70s craft magazines and an old rusty sewing machine. There is also always an abundance of clothes and I have brought home some beautiful blouses that sold nicely on Ebay and at the Vintage Market.
My favourite place for treasure is Encants Flea Market, which is held a few times a week. I am slowly building up a collection of things and developing quite a haggling technique... although the weekend just gone by was embarrassing when a seller decided to show me up in front of everyone else by shouting 'Look at the pretty blonde girl! She's so tough! She's so hard! She wants something for nothing!'... in the end I won though, ha ha. Suck on that Mr Hot Shot Junk Seller!
My plan is to collect up enough things to start a little Etsy shop.. although I am having trouble creating the perfect banner. Also, I intend to fly a lot of things back to England at the end of the month to post with my trusty old friends at the Post Office, with their reasonable prices.#
