[Big read] Chongqing’s youths embrace thriving second-hand market 

(Photos provided by Edwin Ong unless otherwise stated) 

About a kilometre away from the Chaotianmen bridge that spans across the Yangtze river is the Dongjiaxi flea market. Some say this is the largest second-hand goods market in Chongqing, or even the whole of southwest China. Aside from being the latest attraction in Chongqing, it is also a hotspot for many Chinese youths looking to start second-hand goods businesses or browse such used items.   

The Dongjiaxi flea market was previously known as the Zhongxing Road flea market and was located in Yuzhong district, the heart of Chongqing. In August 2014, the Zhongxing Road flea market was shifted north across the Jialing river to the basement of the Dongjiaxi agricultural produce market near the Guanyin bridge in Jiangbei district. After the number of visitors to the flea market increased sharply, it became a weekend market. 

In May 2022, the flea market was rehoused in a five-storey building at its present address. With the expansion, it shrugged off its original image of being cramped, dirty, messy and of poor quality.     

The first, second and fourth floors of the well-stocked Dongjiaxi flea market are dedicated to air-conditioners, kitchenware, hardware, electrical appliances, furniture and more. On the third floor, the air is thick with nostalgia as clothing, jewellery, ornaments, antiques and other household items from yesteryears are laid out for sale. 

On the afternoon of my weekend visit to Dongjiaxi, almost all the shoppers at the flea market were youths in their 20s or 30s. At the same time, quite a few of the businesses there were managed by young people, indicating that the used goods market is no longer the enclave of just the middle-aged or the elderly. 

Chen Xin, a 20 year-old native of Shaoyang in Hunan studying at a Chongqing university, was exploring the flea market on her own. Chen told Lianhe Zaobao that she would not have thought of buying used goods previously, but as interest in second-hand items grew within her circle of friends and she observed that the old clothes look stylish and were becoming popular on campus, she decided to shop for second-hand items out of curiosity.  

Chen shared that the popular opinion in China is that flea markets are dirty, messy and of poor quality. She admitted that she was afraid of visiting them on her own in the past. She shared, “It is a little scary to go alone, and I would not have dared to try on the clothes.” 

But she was pleasantly surprised by the spaciousness and tidiness of Dongjiaxi. She added, “It lives up to my expectations, there are many interesting and vintage items available, and it is an eye-opener.”  

She was also pleased with her “loot” of a long skirt and several small handbags, all of which cost her 300 RMB (US$41). “These vintage designs are really attractive and their prices are reasonable,” she said. 

Chen also shared that she does not part with her money easily when she shops, saying,“Perhaps I have a penchant for retro items as I am primarily looking for things with emotional value here.”  

Two young women from Enshi in Hubei were also browsing second-hand items at the flea market together. Yang Bing, who is in her fifth year of university, told me that vintage clothing (second-hand or discontinued clothing) has become very popular in Beijing over the last few years. During her holidays, she visits thrift shops in her spare time and has developed an eye for used items. She also invites her close friends to join her at flea markets.   

Yang Li, who has started working, said that today’s youths like to dress up to appear photogenic. At the same time, they do not want to spend a lot on new accessories and luxury goods to do so, instead they would head to flea markets to hunt for treasures, hoping to buy good-quality accessories with classic designs on the cheap.  

On 20 March, the Chinese authorities announced that urban youth unemployment rose slightly in February to 15.3% for those in the labour force aged between 16 and 24, excluding students. This is a 0.7 percentage point increase from the 14.6% in January and 0.4 percentage point increase from the 14.9% in December 2023, indicating that high school graduates are still finding it tough to land jobs. 

Yang Li pointed out that youths face a challenging job market. She said, “Everyone is getting more conscious about saving money. More people are preparing for future risks as their income streams are less stable than before and money is harder to come by nowadays. The knock-on effect is that more are turning to second-hand goods, which are more cost-effective.”

At present, the monthly incomes of many Chongqing youths are still on the low side, typically ranging between 4,000 RMB and 6,000 RMB.  

Both Yang Bing and Yang Li prefer to buy second-hand clothes, jewellery and handbags, but they did not make any purchases on the day of the interview. Initially, they wanted to buy a digital camera, but its price of around 450 RMB was much higher than the 200-300 RMB they saw elsewhere. They shared, “We won’t buy if it is not value for money, that is still our main consideration whether second-hand goods are worth spending money on.”  

Zhang Xueyi, a third-year university student in Chongqing, said when interviewed that these days flea markets selling second-hand daily necessities and books are also popular in universities and higher-learning institutions. Zhang, who is majoring in literature, shared that she is currently drawn towards buying second-hand books and browsing for reading materials from the Republican era. She said, “I still find paper books more attractive than e-books.”    

Zhang also feels that today’s youths are more broad-minded and mindful about protecting the environment. Some online bloggers are also repurposing old furniture and used items to encourage the reusing of old stuff. At the same time, older generations of electrical appliances tend to be of better quality and are more robust, so more young people are motivated to find such products in flea markets.  

However, Zhang also candidly said that tighter finances is the main reason driving more Chinese youths towards buying used goods as job-finding challenges and the squeeze on their incomes force them to be more prudent with their spending. The current generation of college students is not very affluent, so “they are more particular about cost-effective spending”. 

She also observed that while university students find it trendy to shop at second-hand markets now, most of her friends go there to browse rather than to buy.

During the interview, an attractive coffee-coloured vintage backpack in a shop caught her attention. Even though it is a rare item, she decided not to buy it after much consideration as the shop owner wanted 120 RMB for it. She said, “We are unwilling to pay a lot for second-hand goods and they are seriously overpriced at the moment.”

According to a report published in 2021 by the US consultancy Frost & Sullivan, China’s second-hand goods market grew from 300 billion RMB in 2015 to more than 1 trillion RMB in 2020, and is expected to exceed 3 trillion RMB by 2025.   

Optimism in the prospects of the used goods market has also attracted more youths to set up second-hand goods stores at flea markets. 

Lou Xinyue, a 26-year-old from Shenyang, Liaoning, started her second-hand clothing store at the Dongjiaxi flea market half a year ago. Prior to this, she worked in the apparel industry for six years. She told Lianhe Zaobao that she started selling clothes online while attending university in Chongqing. After she graduated with her bachelor’s degree, she was unable to further her studies abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so she continued selling clothes through live streaming and social media. 

When I visited her shop, there were a number of young women who were leisurely browsing the vintage clothing on display. Most of the vintage items in Lou’s shop are rare pieces selling for between 80 RMB and 100 RMB each, and her main clientele are young people in their 20s.   

Lou feels that youths are looking at second-hand items to find pieces that match their styles and convey a certain fashion sense. “When they purchase a unique item very much to their liking, they will feel very blessed and fulfilled,” she added.   

Youngsters generally spend less than 200 RMB on average in Lou’s shop. She revealed that in the last six months, her business takings have varied according to the weather and festive occasions. She said, “It is very cold in winter, so fewer people come here then. The cold also deters youths from trying on the clothes, so sales would also slide.”  

Lou highlighted that second-hand goods is still a niche market right now, and most of the young people who visit her shop do so out of curiosity. “Only women who are very familiar with and are long-term admirers of vintage wear will buy without hesitation,” she shared.

Lou’s considerable overhead means that her entrepreneurial journey has not been easy as she pays over 10,000 RMB each month to rent her capacious shop. Since she sources her goods both domestically and overseas from places such as Europe, the US and Thailand, her logistical costs are also hefty. She said, “We focus on sales volume, and our profit margin is not high.” 

Fang Lei, a 35-year-old from Jilin, has been a second-hand-goods enthusiast for many years. Two years ago, Fang’s wish came true when he took over his friend’s cultural and creative store in Dongjiaxi, to start his thrift store, Weiwu Zhuyi (唯物主义). Fang’s store is stocked with a variety of special ornaments to create a colourful space steeped in nostalgia, and attracts many young people. 

When interviewed, Fang said that in the past, used goods were more popular with the middle-aged and the elderly. Nowadays, the young people who come into his shop “greatly outnumber the elderly and it is especially apparent at the moment”.

Fang also feels that the fast pace of social and technological developments is also driving more youths towards second-hand goods. He said, “Current technologies such as artificial intelligence and ChatGPT may give people a sense that everything is within reach, yet it also creates a sense of instability and uncertainty towards our future.”

He observed that more Chinese youths started seeking inner peace amid the pandemic and technological wave, and learnt that “while the future is uncertain, they can find warmth and strength from old objects”.

Fang also pointed out that many Chinese youths were already interested in collecting limited edition sneakers. Subsequently, their interests expanded to include second-hand goods as they started collecting products such as Coca-Cola cans and bottles, and Kodak cameras.  

Currently, youths who visit flea markets can be grouped into the two main categories: avid hobbyists and pragmatic consumers. Fang told me that the hobbyists will do thorough research online before buying a collectible, so they have an exact idea of what they are looking for and its price. Fang said, “They would normally bargain with the store owner, and they would snatch it up immediately if the price is very low.”

But a greater number of young people are looking for practical items in the second-hand market. Fang pointed out that China’s stuttering economic recovery means that youth unemployment is very high and job security is low. “Since personal finances are tighter now, more people are likely to go for used items that are practical, good-looking and cost-effective,” he said.

The second-hand cultural and creative ornaments he sells range from several RMB to tens of thousands of RMB, and his business performance has been stable. He shared, “A strange phenomenon in our industry is that no one has much cash in hand. We use the money earned to buy more goods, so none of the shops here have shrunk with time, instead everyone’s inventory just keeps growing.”

However, Fang was also frank in saying that as more newcomers join the second-hand goods industry, there is a palpable sense that it has become more “involuted” over the last year or two as competition intensifies, and rental as well as other costs continue to rise. He also highlighted that customers have also become more discerning and demanding. He said, “If our ornaments, glassware or porcelain pieces are even slightly defective, they may not be as easy to sell as before, so we take greater care in purchasing and handling our goods now.”  

Even though there is an increasing risk of his industry falling into decline without peaking, Fang remains optimistic about his passion. He said, “Our philosophy is that everything in the world will eventually become second-hand.” He added that for the owners of second-hand goods stores, sourcing for stocks “brings much more pleasure than selling them”.  

“3Re Closet” located in Daijia Alley is the first second-hand clothing recycling shop in Chongqing, and it is popular with netizens. Located on the cliff beside Hongyadong, the shop is on the second floor of a residential building. With a floor space of around 165 square metres, it comprises two rooms filled with hundreds of pieces of second-hand clothing, headwear, small handicrafts and more that are priced below 200 RMB on average. 

The shop owner is 27-year-old Deng Qingqing, who is from Luzhou, Sichuan. She told me that she started her business because during her studies at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology prior to the pandemic, she witnessed the rise and subsequent rapid growth of thrift shops in Beijing as vintage clothing stores sprouted like mushrooms after a rain. Deng, who worked part-time at a charity thrift shop during her university days, then started to identify with the idea of conserving the environment through vintage fashion.  

Facing intense competition for employment, Deng decided a month before graduating to start her own business closer to home instead. She transplanted the approach of recycling used goods, more commonly seen in Beijing, into southwest China. She said, “At that time, my consideration was that there were fewer thrift shops in Chongqing, and none that specialises in recycling second-hand, unwanted clothes, so I decided to give it a try here.”   

In August 2022, Deng set up the first clothing-recycling store in Chongqing at Daijia Alley. She hopes to share about environmental conservation as well as encourage sustainable and zero-waste consumerism through her physical store. Every month, Deng also organises a used-goods fair in her shop for customers to sell, buy and trade unwanted items.

She revealed that after her shop’s opening, business grew every month, but three months later, Chongqing was locked down for a few months due to the pandemic, and business activities came to a standstill. Even though the lockdown ended at the start of 2023, marking the beginning of the post-pandemic era, the number of thrift shops in Chongqing also grew sharply from three or four to more than 20, and Deng’s business did not experience the rapid growth of before again.  

China’s economic downturn means that consumers have become visibly more cautious with their spending, even when it comes to buying second-hand goods. Deng said, “There is an obvious consumption downgrade as people become more sensible. Overall consumption levels were higher when the economy was doing well, while spending power seems to be weaker this year as compared with the previous year, and it feels like fewer customers are coming into my shop.”

Even though more young people are buying used goods in recent times, it has not yet become commonplace. Deng said that those who visit thrift shops can be loosely grouped into two types, “those who can browse for an hour or two, and those who leave within a minute, it is that extreme.”  

At the moment, Deng is focusing more on live streaming in the hopes of maintaining the interest in second-hand, unwanted goods. “Now, I am not 100% sure that I made the right decision to enter this industry, but my customers have given me plenty of motivation since I started. They own quite a lot of clothes and need a space like this for recycling.” 

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “中国二手市场旺热 年轻人创业淘货乐园”. 

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