Not Flea Markets, Fleece Markets

Something about the flea markets in KL strike me as odd. I found several definitions of flea market on Dictionary.com:

flea marketn.
A market, usually held outdoors, where antiques, used household goods, and curios are sold.

flea market
n : an open-air street market for inexpensive or secondhand articles

Why is it then that the flea markets here usually do not carry the characteristics of flea markets around the world? From Tokyo to London to USA flea markets all over feature used, antique or inexpensive goods. Even the regular markets in other Southeast Asian countries stock inexpensive goods.

Somehow the concept seems to be lost on Malaysians. As hubby said, “The markets here are not flea markets, they are small-time retailers.” The only market that can be considered a true flea market is the one on weekends at Amcorp Mall. Only there can you find used or antique goods at dirt-cheap prices.

All this came about as I made the rounds at the weekend market at The Curve. I have not been to the ones in Mont Kiara nor Bangsar Shopping Centre in a while, but I know they are similar to the one at The Curve.

The items on display are mostly clothes, accessories, jewellery or household items brought in from other Southeast Asian countries. Not only are they not used, they are pricey!! A dressy top in jersey can go for as much as RM69!! No doubt, you can bargain however, don’t expect to knock off prices by anything more than 15%. And then the proprietor will whisper conspiratorially that they will be having a sale next week, but for you only, she will give a discount this week.

Bags go for as much as RM40-50. Earrings, which are unimaginatively also imported from one of the SE Asian countries are sold at normal shop prices of RM10 for 3 pairs. Or pricier. There will be stalls upon stalls selling clothes and accessories from other SE Asian countries; after a brief walk you wonder what’s the differentiation. Almost everything looks the same. The stalls where handmade crafts are sold are few. I count baked goods as one of them and found only one of these rare gems at The Curve.

I really might as well fly AirAsia to Bangkok and head to Jatujak Market or Suan Lum Market.

Everyone, it seems, thinks that they can fly out to another country, bring in the goods and sell them at a margin for profit. For a person who is well traveled enough, why would you pay RM40 for a pair of slippers you know costs only RM10 or RM15 in Bangkok? Far from being entrepreneurial, I think these people think they can make a quick buck from the layman. I always walk away from these fairs feeling like the stall operators are out to con me. And when I do end up buying something other than food that is homemade, I end up asking myself why I was so stupid to buy the stuff when it’s not anything I can’t find in the stores.

Hubby said we should start our own flea market where we fix a ceiling rate for all products sold. I doubt if we could get stall operators to be interested since they want to see sizeable returns on their goods.

It’s a good thing these weekend retailers are operating here in Malaysia. They’d die a fast and instant death anywhere else in Southeast Asia.