Since October, the Gratis Market swap corner has been open in Building B. It was founded by Charles University in cooperation with Studentská Hybernská initiative and is primarily intended for students. The project works on the principle of "take what you need, bring what you don't need" and is self-service.
The coordinators of the Gratis Market are Ondra Menoušek and Anička Formánková, students of Charles University, and its operation is paid for by a university grant. The Gratis Market is open every day, except Sundays, from 9AM to 9PM. Those interested can bring anything except food and clothes. Smaller items can be left in the designated drop-off area, and coordinators will then categorize them.
"If someone wants to bring something bigger, it is best they let us know ahead of time so we can find a place for such items," says Anička. "Not everything we have is visible. We primarily use large shelves, but we do keep some things, like office chairs, in storage," adds Ondra.
Students can bring things they no longer want and take out what they need in return. But of course there are also some rules about the operation, for example, people shouldn't bring broken or dirty things. "So far, it's been mostly students who are in Prague for more than one semester that have come to us. But we are looking forward to the end of the semester, when international students who are leaving Prague as well as those who are just coming to study here will find their way to us," says Anička.
In the shelves of the exchange corner, mostly dishes and household items can be found. "We often find household items, decorations, books, we even had a gramophone once," Ondra says. "But the most important thing we try to always point out is that people should only take away what they really need," he adds.
The Gratis Market coordinators themselves brought several things that no longer served them and took what they were looking for. "For example, I took two wine glasses so I wouldn't have to go to Ikea and buy six of them," says Ondra. "I took two deep plates that I didn't have and now I eat from them almost every day. And each one is different, which I think is great," says Anička.
They see the swap corner as one of the effective solutions to the problems of overconsumption and unnecessary purchases. In addition, it helps students save money. "With the price of housing going up, we have to make careful decisions about what we put our money into," says Anička.
The space functions mainly on a community basis, with coordinators serving primarily as supervisors. "We don't want to give strict rules and make a catalogue of things," says Ondra. "We trust people to put thought into each item they take and to ask themselves if they really need it before they take it," he continues. So far, the coordinators have praised the functioning of the Gratis Market and people's behaviour; they say the visitors are behaving responsibly.
Gratis Market has its own Instagram, where the coordinators post a list of things, and they also work on work on e-mail address and phone: +420733734667
"Students can also write to us that they are looking for something specific and we will get back to them as soon as the desired item is in the Gratis Market," Anička adds.
