MARKETS

[suein56]

Our local market on a Sunday has veg/fruit grown by the sellers themselves so the freshness and quality are guaranteed and at good prices .. This does mean no imported stuff, no wholesale vegs.
The fish is locally caught and the cheeses either locally produced or from very close by ..

[Pathca]

I think I live in a different France to you

It’s a huge country with a vast variety,I think a lot of people’s Frances’ will be different

[L Austin France]

French markets are like French cars.
Certain folk moan about 'em & say they're rubbish yet millions buy/visit them & have done for yonks. They're still going strong & as popular as ever so they can't be that bad

[exile]

I think I live in a different France to you

So it would seem. Here people are very much communards and perhaps less interested in screwing the public but as said, France is a big, big country and every corner has its quirks.

[rsm]

Ive been to some really good markets, two in particuler in Lyon where you pick the veg and fruit ,not chosen by the retailer, so the choice is yours with the opportunity to haggle.Thats a proper market.
By the way buying the goods from the same wholesaler doesn't mean the same price because the overheads for each seller is different,when all the prices are within a centime of each other thats price fixing.

[Hotrodder]

French markets are like French cars.
Certain folk moan about 'em & say they're rubbish yet millions buy/visit them & have done for yonks. They're still going strong & as popular as ever so they can't be that bad

A very good point. I never owned a French car in UK. Apart from them looking more than a little weird, I was hearing all the negative comments about them and Jeremy the arrogant Clarkson constantly slagging them (and the French) off quoting their low standings in the customer satisfaction surveys every year. Moving to France I figured it would make sense to buy one thinking spares and servicing would be easier. As it happens I ended up buying spares from UK because they were cheaper there (pre-Brexit) and have done all repairs and servicing myself. To my surprise I find them perfectly reliable and the economy of a diesel was a real bonus. I have come to believe the bad customer satisfaction reports were due to the poor standard of training in the French dealerships in UK.

[exile]

Ive been to some really good markets, two in particuler in Lyon where you pick the veg and fruit ,not chosen by the retailer, so the choice is yours with the opportunity to haggle.Thats a proper market.

That seems to be similar to the case here except that haggling would only occur if you were buying a box or crate of goods rather than half a kilo.

By the way buying the goods from the same wholesaler doesn't mean the same price because the overheads for each seller is different,when all the prices are within a centime of each other thats price fixing.

Where do you think these massive differences in overheads occur? Round here these traders are family affairs - just occasionally with an employed hand. They have similar sized stalls (so similar costs for the pitch). They all tend to run what look like high mileage vans. Although occasionally a newer one appears (never seen a new one), this has to be depreciated over a similar time scale to the competitors. They all tend to appear at the same local markets so travel distances must be similar. I doubt that any have more than a big lock up area as a property given that they are constantly on the move.

So where do the big differences in overheads come from that are going to give you a 50c/kg difference in price or even more than the odd cent?

[rsm]

There's a difference in staff numbers , pitch sizes ,. number of vehicules ,size of business.

[exile]

Your markets are different to ours then.

[Loup-garou]

The market I mentioned in the OP surprised me as there was a sewing machine repair stall which would also do small alterations and repairs to garments etc while you did your shopping. There were two separate stalls offering repair work to rattan chairs etc. There was even one fella who sold small examples of minerals and fossils. Oh yes! Knickers and socks stalls.

An interesting walk around.