Tips to Trade Second-Hand in Czechia: It’s Better Than You Think

Did you just move into your new home and have a lot of stuff on your shopping list? Maybe a new table, a reading lamp, a cooking wok or a comfortable chair? Or vice versa, you are going to move out, and you need to get rid of everything in your flat. Or you are one of those people who care about the planet and try to reduce their carbon footprint.

No matter what thought is in your mind, as long as you read until here, I am sure you must have thought about selling or buying used items. Using two-third, or even half of the original price to buy something with just a few traces of use, what a great deal! But the question is where. Today I would like to share with you my favourite places to deal with second-hand stuff.

Local flea markets

I prefer to ask locals if there is any regular flea market in the city. Normally, in every city, there will be at least one held every weekend or every month. If you cannot find any local to turn to, then search on Facebook events with the keyword “flea market” or “bleší trh” (in Czech) and you can always find something.

Second-hand shops

If you have already been in Brno even just for several days, you must have noticed this Genesis shop with the pink logo since there are many of them all over the city. If you are new here, you may wonder what these shops exactly are. But now you must know. Yes, they are second-hand shops. They sell mostly clothes, partly also shoes, accessories, household and even books.

You can buy second hand at Genesis shop with really low price.

However, due to the coronavirus and its consequences and the lockdown specifically, the above two approaches to buy or sell second-hand things are not currently possible. But hold on, don’t feel sad yet. What I am going to tell you next will definitely cheer you up.

Bazos

Bazos (Bazoš in Czech) is an online forum or a platform that people can advertise for free. You can publish advertisements for your second-hand stuff there without paying anything, meanwhile, you can also get contact with the one who is selling your dream chair, for example. This platform is widely used in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. You can find almost everything there.

What needs to be also pointed out are the disadvantages of it. Firstly, the website is only in Czech or Slovak language. You can, of course, translate the page by using Google Chrome, but sometimes there will be some little errors after the page has been translated. The second disadvantage is there are often not many items listed in your local area. It means, many times, you need to arrange the delivery by post with the seller. The platform doesn’t provide services of delivery or money transfer. In this case, to make sure both the money and the goods will be safe, the commonly used way is, the buyer transfers the amount of money to the seller to cover the postage before sending out the goods. Then the buyer sends out the goods with the service of cash on delivery. It is never too much to be cautious.

As for my personal experience with Bazos, it usually takes days or weeks until you can find a buyer. And the users on Bazos don’t prefer using English in general. So, it’s better if you understand some Czech or Slovak language, or you can find someone for help.

You can also trade used items online.

Facebook Marketplace

The last one – my favourite one – is the Marketplace on Facebook. Many of you may already know about it, but still, many others told me that they cannot even find it on Facebook. Well, let me tell you. Taking the Facebook App on the phone as an example, you go to the last tab on the bottom right corner, which is the symbol of three strips. Then you can find “Marketplace” in one of those rectangle blocks. If still not, go a little bit lower and click “See More”.

The best thing about Facebook Marketplace is, you can find almost everything you want in your local area thanks to the huge user basis of Facebook. Therefore, you don’t need to pay extra for delivery and you can check the item personally before you pay. Moreover, Facebook offers translation for the posts on Marketplace, so you don’t need to worry about the language.

My experience with Marketplace was great, especially in Brno. I tried to sell my things and they were all sold within a single day! I was literally shocked. I also bought a couple of things through Marketplace. Most of the sellers are young and easy to communicate with in English.

Facebook groups

There are many Facebook groups where you can post your items or find something in your area. For sellers, your items will be seen by more people when you post them in the groups. For buyers, the posts in some groups are required to be written in English so you can make sure that the communication with the sellers will go smoothly. Just to name a few groups that are English speaker friendly, there are Buy & Sell in Brno, Buy, Sell and Swap in Brno and Buy and Sell Brno. If you are not in Brno, simply just search “second hand” to discover Facebook groups in your city.

Is there any other way of selling and buying second-hand stuff? Please, share it with me! And hope you can find treasures during your second-hand hunt.

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Source of images: pixabay.com