Getting Free at the Really Really Free Market
Image courtesy of The Market Crew
Last October, seeing a need in our community, a group of local friends decided to create a temporary space where people could access resources they needed without paying money or asking the state for help. By starting the Really Really Free Market (RRFM) in Wheeling, we were carrying on a modern-day anarchist tradition that many diverse communities have engaged in over the past twenty years.
The first Really Really Free Markets were held by anti-globalization activists in the early 2000s. They were a response to politicians and think tanks saying “free market” capitalism would be the solution to all our economic woes. Activists said, “we don’t need freer markets, we need freer people with the power to solve our own problems.” They organized the first Really Really Free Markets as spaces with practical, political, and social purpose.They put resources directly into the hands of people who needed them. At the same time, they encouraged conversations about why our society has both so much waste and so much poverty.
Before our first local Really Really Free Market, our group of friends was having many of those same conversations. We saw our neighbors struggling to survive and were struggling ourselves. We felt that the problems we were facing were enormous, and we didn’t know where to start. When the idea of a Really Really Free Market came up, it seemed like a small event that might be able to do some good while encouraging people to connect and have critical conversations about social issues. It seemed like a manageable step towards improving lives within our community. We picked a time and date and a public space and said, “Let’s meet here and share what we’ve got and ask others to share what they’ve got. Let’s see what happens!”
Our first free market in October 2025 had a very small crowd, but it gave us a taste of the potential impact this event could have! People brought clothing, books, and knick-knacks. We painted pumpkins as a fun fall craft activity. The weather was dreary and rainy, but we still had fun and felt a sense of community we hadn’t found in other spaces.
Since that first market, we’ve organized five more, and each one has been a little bigger than the last. Neighbors have shared poetry, art, literature, and music. They’ve mended clothing and repaired phones. We’re made new friends, and every month, new people want to get involved.
We only have a couple simple rules.
First and foremost, this is a positive community event. We expect respect among participants and a welcoming attitude towards all of our community neighbors during the market. While this is a place of resistance against structures that harm our community, it is not a place to disrespect the individuals participating in the market.
The next rule is that people cannot sell anything or ask for donations at the market since that defeats the purpose of the market being really REALLY free!
We also ask that people not just drop off donations and leave since this is a shared event rather than a sponsored event. There are volunteers helping keep the event organized, but their purpose is not to manage people’s possessions. This expectation makes the market logistically manageable and helps ensure that people are bringing items others may actually use since they do have to take unclaimed items back home with them. We prefer people bring quality items over quantity, and we ask that all items be clean and safe for their next home.
On the topic of bringing items to the market, one of our most important goals for the market is breaking down the distinction between giver and receiver, helper and helped. We are not a charity or an NGO, and we are also not “the deserving poor” or “the needy.” We are hoping to create a space that lowers these barriers between people instead of reinforcing them. In this space, we can all give and receive and have our needs met within a caring community regardless of how much or little we may need.
All of us have things we can contribute – if not material things, then skills, talents, conversation, perspective, and presence. All of us have things we need – if not material things, then social and spiritual. When you come to the Really Really Free Market, the one thing we ask is that you try to connect with some neighbors who are a little different from yourself to nourish our budding community.
Most of our organizers and volunteers are members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and we come from all walks of life and social and economic backgrounds. We encourage diverse people to join us for the market. We want the community to realize that the market is for ALL – whether you are unhoused or living with more means than you need, you are welcome here; whether you are transgender or cisgender, you are welcome here. Through compassion and empathy, we seek to build humanity and lift up our community members, like our unhoused and trans neighbors, who have been slandered and dehumanized by many media outlets, politicians, and religious leaders. The Really Really Free Market is a place where we can oppose dehumanization and lies that are told about us by existing in a friendlier community with all of our neighbors.
The next Really Really Free Market will be Saturday, August 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Plaza on Market St. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend and to become a part of this welcoming community!
See you at the market!
Image courtesy of The Market Crew