THE FRENCH TRANSCRIPTION CAN BE FOUND BELOW THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Hi everyone,

Welcome to “Learn French, Become Français” with Ruben! Welcome, almost-French . Before we begin, I want to thank all my listeners. Thank you!

The transcript for this episode is in the description.

In this episode, we're going to talk about second-hand shopping in France! What is “second-hand”? A second-hand or used item is an item that is not new!

I think that in every country in the world, people buy used bikes, used cars, and even used clothes!

In France, it's very common to buy second-hand. Everyone buys second-hand, even people who are financially well-off, people who don't have money problems.

Where can you buy used items in France? It depends on what you want! There are stores that specialize in second-hand items, and they usually sell a lot of clothes. These stores are called “friperies,” and I like to buy pants at friperies. For antiques and very old items, you can go to an antique dealer! Or you can go to flea markets and garage sales! A flea market is like a market but only with second-hand items. Garage sales are almost the same thing. A garage sale is often a way to sell items you no longer need in your home. A garage sale is used to empty the attic (to empty the ceiling). At my house, we don't store anything in the attic haha! When I was little, my little brother sold a lot of Pokémon cards at the yard sale in our small village. There is usually one yard sale per year per village.

You can find everything at yard sales. You can buy dishes such as plates and mugs. There is also furniture, video games, and even clothes. Recently, over the last few years, I've noticed that there are fewer and fewer clothes at garage sales. Now people buy a lot of second-hand clothes on the internet. They use Vinted!

Vinted is a website and app where you can sell and buy clothes and shoes. I really like using Vinted for shopping! I often buy several items of clothing from the same seller! Why?

Why do I buy several items of clothing from the same seller? On Vinted, sellers send packages directly to buyers. If I buy from several sellers, that means several packages and therefore more shipping costs. Shipping costs are what you pay to send a package. On Vinted, it's usually between €2.50 and €10. It depends on the size of the package and the distance between the seller and the buyer. If I buy from a seller in France, it's not very expensive. But if the seller is in Lithuania, it will cost me a little more. If you live in France or plan to live in France one day, you can download Vinted from the App Store or Play Store. The app is really great.

Vinted specializes in clothing and is relatively new! Leboncoin is older and is also a website and app. There is also clothing on Leboncoin, but much less. You can buy anything on Leboncoin. My mother's friend said the other day: if you can think of an item, it's bound to be on Leboncoin, and she's so right! My parents sold their old car in 2008 on Leboncoin, which has been around for a really long time! I've already bought a bag, skateboards, and other items! When I no longer need certain items, I sell them on Vinted and Leboncoin, even if I bought them second-hand. Sometimes I also donate to Emmaüs, a charity thrift store.

CHARITY: A charity is an organization that helps poor people, immigrants, or others in need.

In English: a charity.

You can listen to the podcast from the beginning to see if you understand it better!

Do many people in your country buy second-hand items? Tell me in the comments or send me an email.

Thanks for listening, see you for a new episode, stay tuned, kisses!