Comment: Forget the sales - get your bargains elsewhere in France
Columnist Samantha David notes that savings can continue even though the January sales are ending
Lots of unwanted Christmas presents find their way onto websites such as Leboncoin
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The dates of the sales were printed in my diary, which in itself seems a bit weird. Why is the government setting the dates? Can’t shops just sort it out themselves?
I suppose in the past it was all about fairness and making sure one shop did not do the others down by having sales all year. Whatever.
The point is, the sales will soon finish and I have not been to them yet. Oops, I am clearly failing at consumerism. Must try harder.
But I really don’t need anything. Nothing you can buy in the shops, anyway. I could use world peace, improved social justice, or a more flexible education system, but cut-price clothes are surplus to requirements.
And I cannot guarantee to need something just at the exact moment the sales are on (the next ones start on June 25, in case you were wondering.)
Sales prices are not always that special either, to be honest. I prefer going through the ads on Leboncoin.
Especially right after Christmas, when all those unwanted presents get sold off for just a few euros.
It is prime time for warm socks, random atlases and keep-fit equipment. I also quite enjoy sniffing around shops such as Action and Noz, except that I have the guilty suspicion that most of their stuff comes from China.
That leaves brocantes, which are hopelessly expensive, and dépôts-ventes, which range from the rip-off to the excellent. They sell stuff on behalf of the owners, and in principle the prices decrease each week until an item is sold.
Recycleries and ressourceries seem to be much the same thing: large spaces run by local associations that stock donated goods that have been repaired for resale.
They are also great places for bargain hunting. And there are trocs, which work slightly differently because the owners just buy and sell second-hand stuff. I reckon a lot of it comes from houses that are being cleared after the owner dies.
The other fruitful hunting grounds are vide-greniers, where people attempt to sell off dead Barbies, broken roller skates and serving dishes decorated to look like cabbage leaves. I bought a rocking horse for €10 in a vide-grenier once, and it is still going strong.
Also, I took a load of stuff to sell at a vide-grenier last time I moved, and was amazed when someone insisted on giving me money for a cardboard box of assorted electrical doodads. I do not even know what they were... bits of old stuff I found in the barn.
But my favourite shopping is done at places such as Emmaüs and the Red Cross. The bargains are astounding if you look carefully, and at least the money is going to a good cause.
Do you have any tips to find a bargain in France? Share them with other readers at letters@connexionfrance.com
