Brocante o Vide Grenier? Do you know the difference?

The term brocante literally means ‘trade of antiques’. It is a term of French origin and today it is very used to indicate all objects and furnishings of recovery or production not contemporary.

What dates back to before 1900 is an antique object.

Brocante means a place where a single retailer or several retailers come together to sell old items.

The objects of the brocante are usually intended for wholesalers, professionals or an expert public.

The exhibited articles are in theory already selected by the second-hand dealers and prices are always higher than Vide Grenier.

There may be occasional brocante sellers who sell in the markets and brocante ‘fixed’ selling their items in stores.

As for the Vide Grenier – empty floors – these are markets where hobbyists, individuals or second-hand sell objects, fabrics and small furnishings very cheap. As the term indicates, objects are ‘pulled out’ from the floors.

They are usually sold on occasional Sunday morning markets and the prices are very cheap (2-5 euros).

I love buying in Vide Grenier because I always find unusual, unique objects. Lightning strikes usually arise in Vide Grenier.