Flea Markets in Saudi Arabia

Flea Markets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are public shopping spaces facilitating transactions between companies and consumers or directly between consumers without brokerage. The goods exchanged in these markets may be new or used to varying degrees. These markets serve as auction spaces for various goods, whether wholesale or retail, often competing with modern shopping malls, particularly in terms of product prices, which are usually lower in flea markets.

Flea markets in the Kingdom are an extension of traditional popular markets, differing from them in the variety of offered goods, which include foodstuffs, apparel, handicrafts, utensils, and furnishings. Traditional popular markets often include specific heritage products, usually sought by tourists and heritage enthusiasts.

Province municipalities in the Kingdom organize several flea markets at specific locations and times. Such markets often target goods produced in each province, such as fruits and vegetables. One of these markets is the date flea market held in Unaizah Governorate, Qassim Province.

Markets such as 'Bin Qasim' flea market in the capital, Riyadh, 'al-Sawarikh' flea market in Jeddah City, 'al-Muaissem' flea market in Makkah al-Mukarramah, and date flea market in Unaizah attract a significant number of consumers during certain seasons.

The profession of Delalah is one of the recognized professions in the Kingdom’s flea markets. A person who works in this field is called a Dallal, who is often an expert in buying and selling a specific category of goods. The Dallal acts as a field broker between sellers and buyers.

Some flea markets in various regions of the Kingdom are considered cultural spaces, and their activities may include entertainment programs. For example, "Zaman Village", one of the entertainment zones of Riyadh Season 2021, organized an event titled "al-Haraj Basta" (flea market stall), which revived the lifestyles and market experiences of the past in the souq area. The event simulated the culture of buying and selling in the neighborhoods of old Riyadh Province during the 1960s.

Most province municipalities in the Kingdom regulate flea markets. During the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated closures of markets as part of precautionary measures to prevent virus spread, Jeddah Governorate Municipality reopened the central vegetable flea market in 2021, according to approved preventive measures to ensure that precautionary measures are applied.

In 2020, al-Madinah al-Munawwarah Province Municipality regulated the operating hours of the flea market and restructured the scrap flea market by implementing several organizational measures, including restructuring entry and exit movements, and setting specific times for trading activities. These measures extended to the flea markets for vegetables, fruits, fish, camels, and sheep, in line with preventive and precautionary measures.

Methods for buying and selling in the Kingdom's flea markets have evolved, moving to online platforms that serve as intermediaries between consumers and sellers. The Saudi Haraj website is one of the most prominent online platforms that has served as a virtual market for selling goods in the Kingdom. Sellers on these websites incur fees for listing their goods, with a limited number of free listings. Additional fees or separate charges apply when goods are sold for the benefit of the website’s management.