This article was adapted from Yesilist.com.
Don’t you just adore the colorful display windows of second-hand shops? Even more so, the quest for second-hand treasures in the depths of those vintage gold-mines? Lucky you — Yesilist is launching Istanbul’s first second-hand shopping guide.
Second-hand shopping is one of those win-win situations: it is fun, cheap and sustainable. There is something definitively gratifying about discovering something unique after rummaging through heaps of stuff. Better yet, you can give your wardrobe a makeover for a fraction of the money you would need if you were to go a mall. And to top it off, you’re not doing any harm to the environment. Indeed, you’re just reusing perfectly good-looking, wearable (and oftentimes quite fashionable) clothes.
In 2012, a group of young people roamed the streets of Beyoglu and Kadikoy searching for second-hand shops. They asked around, took pictures and simply had a whole lot of fun uncovering second-hand treasures. You can read their story here. The outcome of their efforts was a second-hand shopping guide covering second-hand shops in Beyoglu and Kadikoy. In June 2012 these same individuals joined forces with Yesilist and organized a walking tour covering the best of the best of Beyoglu’s second-hand shops.
Now, Yesilist has published this second-hand shopping guide on an easy-to-use online platform. Check it out here. It is the first-ever extensive and focused second-hand shopping guide in Istanbul. What immediately strikes you is the variety of shops listed in the guide. There are shops selling clothes; there are entire (indoor) corridors selling second-hand books; there are festive second-hand markets and even a good range of second-hand furniture and shops selling decorative household items.
The straightforward, user-friendly format allows you to filter through the shops according to their categories and then locate each shop on a detailed map. Each shop is accompanied by a brief description of what to expect, an indication of the price level ranges and other useful details, such as location, opening hours, address and phone number.
And, this is only the start! Yesilist wants you to add more shops to the database! In this way we can cover all neighborhoods in and around Istanbul, not just Kadikoy and Beyoglu. Do you know of any second-hand shop that deserves to be featured? Send an email to info@yesilist.com and hazal.oztetikler@gmail.com with the details of the shop, including its name, address, phone number, price category, and a short description. Istanbul and its second-hand addicts will be forever grateful!
Rose Baudoncq and Joris Depouillon
