Every weekend, tons of of 1000’s of individuals of all ages set out on treasure hunts within the coronary heart of Seoul. Locals and vacationers alike, many are in search of bargains on garments, watches, jewellery, license plates, surplus meals, decades-old packs of cigarettes and varied “sold only on TV items” one sees on late-night commercials.
There’s lots of floor to cowl. This expansive, unofficial open-air flea market fills over three and a half miles of streets — about 30 blocks plus varied facet streets and alleys — within the South Korean capital nearly each weekend, year-round, irrespective of the climate. But the busiest day for discount hunters is Sunday, when essentially the most sellers come out.
Goods spill out of outlets onto sidewalks and visitors islands, the place sellers dump piles of garments, kitchenware, devices and even skincare and fragrances, new and used, for treasure hunters to rummage by way of.
Regulars have arrange discussion groups to share their discoveries with others, whereas trend designers come to get inspiration from the patrons.
Authorities run vans by way of the world with loudspeaker bulletins telling unauthorized sellers to clear the streets — they’re purported to have permits — however acknowledge the recognition of the Sunday treasure hunt is simply too excessive for something however momentary management.
The market’s roots lie within the Sinseol-dong neighborhood, residence to the Seoul Folk Flea Market — a 54,422-square-foot house full of 868 shops. A former college, it was remodeled right into a market by town in 2008, when sellers had been moved from one other space of Seoul throughout a restoration mission.
The Seoul Folk Flea Market quickly started providing out of doors gross sales on Sundays. Seeing the crowds these occasions drew, sellers on neighboring streets opened up their very own impromptu sidewalk retailers, finally spilling into adjoining neighborhoods to type the massive street market that guests expertise at the moment.
Though this explicit buying vacation spot is lower than 20 years outdated, Seoul’s street sale tradition dates again to the Nineteen Sixties. After the Korean War, many struggled to earn cash and started promoting their belongings to make ends meet. Some started establishing stalls to promote used items, with distributors transferring by way of totally different elements of the South Korean capital as areas redeveloped over the a long time.
Changhoon Han runs a secondhand store on the sides of the street market in Sinseol-dong.
On a current Sunday morning, he’s positioned some featured gadgets on the street exterior, cautious to not allow them to spill onto the street itself and convey the eye of authorities.
There’s an eclectic mixture of issues on show: watches, art work, sculptures, a taxi roof signal — and cigarettes?
Han says the decades-old cartons of smokes aren’t for lighting up however for amassing. It was fairly the craze amongst older adults a number of years in the past, he says, when the packs from the mid-Twentieth century would promote out nearly as quickly as they had been displayed.
An indication hanging at Han’s store explains so much. “We buy everything,” it reads.
Once-avid collectors of all kinds have offered him their collections, he says. Interest fades, gadgets are offered and new collectors and tendencies take their place.
“It’s a cycle,” Han says.
Just about 10 steps from the “everything shop” is a facet street with a useless finish, busy with buyers going by way of packing containers full of random issues together with wires, clocks, nail polish, an electrical kettle and a few bottles of bee pollen. But largely instruments and provides.
This place doesn’t have a reputation, however individuals comprehend it by the spot, one store employee says. The heat of the vendor is what retains the shoppers visiting.
“He would say, ‘treat yourself with a cup of coffee with this dollar,’ while giving back a bill the customer used for paying a two-dollar product,” says the person.
Another customer, Si Hwa Lee, has been coming to the flea market each Sunday after church for 10 years.
“I never get tired of coming here,” he says. “It’s addicting and exciting to see what unexpected things you could find every week.”
Lee has arrange a bunch chat with some buddies he made on the market, the place they share the stunning gadgets they purchased and organize meetups for meals.
He says some prospects use the street sale as a option to earn additional pocket cash, shopping for gadgets then reselling them on-line. Search lengthy sufficient and also you’ll come throughout high-value gadgets offered at heavily-discounted costs — like audio gear value $650 on sale for $20, he says.
And it’s attainable to seek out stuff with quirky histories, like props from film or video shoots introduced by celebrities who didn’t know the place else to eliminate them.
While Seoul’s Sinseol-dong space appears to have a modicum of management over the street gross sales, journey west towards the Dongmyo space and issues get extra raucous and even overwhelming. This neighborhood, the place two key subway traces intersect, is legendary for its secondhand flea market. The total vibe is chaotic and dusty, including to the frenetic treasure-hunt vitality that flows by way of the streets.
Just selecting which street to show down right here could be a problem, with corners and intersections overflowing with piles of stuff to root by way of to seek out that nugget that can make a treasure hunt a hit.
And hesitation could possibly be your downfall.
One shopper on a current go to spent 10 minutes trying over a luxurious model watch. “Real or fake?” the patron asks the vendor.
“Can’t say, don’t have any paperwork,” the vendor says, however he notes his asking worth is manner, manner beneath what this watch would price at retail.
“I’ll come back later,” the possible purchaser says. And once they do, 20 minutes later, the watch vendor is dropping the timepiece right into a plastic bag, the brand new purchaser sporting a sly smile on his face.
Besides the loopy combine of products accessible, sellers aren’t shy with their gross sales pitches.
One hawker says what he’s providing will carry pleasure within the bed room. Another says he’s received the right merchandise to maintain your calf muscle mass toned.
Robert Kim sells small patches of leather-based — and he’s singing the Beatles’ hit “Love Me Do” to make buyers cease and look.
Kim says he has been singing for six years at his store, simply because he likes to. The Covid-19 pandemic made him suppose, “I should do whatever I want, because you only live once.”
Pop songs from the Seventies make up most of his playlist, as he goals to sing music buyers are accustomed to, and most of them are in an older age vary, he says.
While which may be true for leather-based crafters, the Dongmyo space of the street market attracts guests of all ages, many for its huge choice of classic clothes.
A 22-year-old college scholar who would solely give the title Park says he got here to Dongmyo for a camouflage sample hunt, opting to go to the world due to its function in sparking the classic pattern that’s sweeping by way of Seoul, and since he was satisfied by Instagram reels displaying a few of the treasures buyers had discovered there.
For occasion, the camouflage pattern in all probability began with many older locals sporting army clothes round Dongmyo and Dongdaemun, Park says.
In truth, it was the older adults’ model that caught the attention of famous Bulgarian clothier Kiko Kostadinov in 2018. He posted Instagram tales and posts, calling it the “best street in the world.”
A couple of years later he launched 2024 collections with Prada and Asics, which some trend watchers say had been impressed by the types he noticed within the streets of Dongmyo.
While these streets might assist set tendencies, in addition they go in opposition to them, in a minimum of one respect. There’s a lot to see — and a lot to overlook with inattention — that few individuals have their eyes on their telephones as they stroll by way of the world.
As night falls on a current Sunday night, two teenage boys spend minutes scooping by way of a mountain of watch dials and straps with their smartphone flashlight on, in search of a Louis Vuitton timepiece — a real piece of treasure.
Two younger girls of their early 20s are additionally crouched down, trying by way of the 1000’s of watches.
“These are for men, these are for women, I’m not explaining it again,” the proprietor loudly explains, as the ladies giggle.
Things may even be a bit dramatic at instances.
Shoppers may battle over gadgets, and sellers may conflict with prospects.
Tae-sung Ha has handled loads of impolite prospects. When a buyer chucks a single-use vape again onto the bottom throughout NCS’s go to, he stops him. “Hey, you do not throw others’ belongings. Do not make me mad,” he says because the buyer stomps away.
But good manners beget bargains. One lady even manages to haggle down the value on an egg frying pan, simply by asking properly.
Nearby, a tattooed bike rider stops to ask Ha the value of an enormous axe, large enough for use as a weapon in a Viking conflict.
Ha’s merchandise sums up the spirit of this Seoul Sunday phenomenon — a single-use vape, a frying pan and a six-foot-tall axe. It can be laborious to conjure up a extra random mixture of wares that you simply may discover at one single stall. But that’s what makes this Seoul Sunday phenomenon considered one of a sort.