Cars and busses dust the people as they rummage through the piled up products. Framed by broken wooden bars, sales partitions are buried in a narrow alley of one of Cairo’s cemeteries.
In Souq Al-Gomaa (The Friday Market), a variety of second-hand products are sold, ranging from toys, books, cassette tapes and antiques to heavy machinery, furniture and household equipment.
Prices of most products are the conclusion of long negotiations between the salesperson and the buyers. These negotiations, however, end up offering the client a deal for half the price he would normally pay. TV sets, for example, are sold for an average of EGP700-1,000, while similar sets are sold in shops for an average between EGP 2,000-6,000. Other parts of the market sell clothing and pets.
“We have been here forever – maybe 15 years, maybe more,” said Abo Eid, one of the salespeople in Souq Al-Gomaa. “Every Friday you come, you will find different things.”
Photos by Marwa Morgan
