Huang Hsiu-yu (黃秀玉), chairwoman of the Yongchun Traditional Market Association, said the space was empty for three years before she came up with the idea in October 2007 to open a flea market there.
It has since grown from five to 180 vendors per week, with many more applicants on the waiting list, she said. The number of vendors has increased to full capacity since the economic downturn hit last autumn, she said.
“For NT$200 a day, anyone can have his or her own business,” she said.
The Yongchun Flea Market, which sells mainly second-hand clothes, shoes, household items, used books, body products and accessories, is the only indoor bazaar in Taiwan and it attracts thousands of people every weekend, Huang Hsiu-yu said.
“When the economy is bad, more people go to flea markets to save money,” she said. “They will not buy anything unless it is a good deal.”
Celine Hu, a tour guide and manager of a travel agency, has been a vendor at the Yongchun flea market for 18 months. She says she sells her bags and clothes, mostly new, at 50 percent to 60 percent off of the original price.
Hu said that although the flea market venture was a hobby and not her primary source of income, she has striven to provide a good service.
“Everything, even if second-hand, can still be of value to someone,” Hu said. “I want to show the best of what I have and satisfy my customers because I take this part-time work seriously.”
A postgraduate student surnamed Chen (陳) who bought a second-hand Louis Vuitton bag at the market for NT$2,000, agreed that “one person’s junk is another person’s treasure.”
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