I learned a curious thing recently. Individuals may participate in vide-greniers/brocantes only twice a year. Otherwise they are considered professional brocanteurs. I always thought that participating in one was a great way to get rid of your unwanted things though my experience of brocantes have always been on the buyer side and only once on the seller side. You rent a stand, bring your table and things then spend the whole day trying to sell them. Most of the people will try to bargain down your already rock bottom prices, but that’s part of the fun. And for the most part, your co-brocanteurs are a friendly lot. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of a professional brocanteurs. I suppose they are the modern equivalent of the itinerant peddlars of yore. They spend their days buying up people’s old things and then selling them at various parts of the city. In the really major brocantes, like the Bastille and Chatou, you have brocanteurs coming from all over France, some as far as the South of France. I don’t think that it’s an easy life, but everyone I’ve talked to seem to enjoy it and can’t imagine being tied down to a store. That said, there are some brocanteurs who are professional and properly accredited antique dealers whose wares often carry hefty price tags.
