From Pre-Loved to Re-Loved: Explor­ing Oulu’s Sec­ond-Hand Scene

With a great empha­sis put on recy­cling across Fin­land, it’s no sur­prise that sec­ond-hand goods are pop­u­lar among res­i­dents. Sec­ond-hand stores offer great qual­i­ty, used items that allow shop­pers to give a new lease of life to items that would oth­er­wise be added into the waste sys­tem. They can also get a bar­gain, with most sec­ond-hand stores offer­ing dis­counts com­pared to buy­ing items brand new.

Sec­ond-hand stores are pop­u­lar also among stu­dents look­ing to fur­nish their rooms or apart­ments. Incom­ing inter­na­tion­al stu­dents in par­tic­u­lar find them a use­ful start­ing point, as they often arrive with­out some key essen­tials like fur­ni­ture or house­wares. Hav­ing some­where to go to look for dis­count­ed items helps them get set up and start to feel more set­tled.

Reflect­ing on their move to Oulu, one stu­dent shared: – Sec­ond-hand stores were an amaz­ing place to get all nec­es­sary things when I moved to Oulu – and some­times even some unnec­es­sary trea­sures too.

Oulu hosts many dif­fer­ent kinds of sec­ond-hand stores, rang­ing from online plat­forms to recy­cling cen­tres, so there is always some new trea­sure wait­ing to be found. Some dif­fer­ent types of sec­ond-hand stores are as fol­lows:

• Flea Mar­kets
  Here indi­vid­u­als rent tables or booths to sell their own items such as clothes, toys, books, house­hold items, and hand­made crafts.
• Recy­cling Cen­tres
  These are places that offer goods that have oth­er­wise been thrown away or donat­ed. They typ­i­cal­ly sell fur­ni­ture, elec­tron­ics, books, kitchen­ware, and sports gear.
• Sec­ond-Hand Depart­ment Stores
  Pro­fes­sion­al­ly run stores, often by char­i­ties, that sell donat­ed goods. They offer a wide selec­tion includ­ing fur­ni­ture, cloth­ing, elec­tron­ics, books, toys, and kitchen­ware.
• Spe­cial­ty Sec­ond-Hand Shops
  Shops that focus on spe­cif­ic cat­e­gories such as vin­tage cloth­ing, design­er items, bicy­cles, or mil­i­tary sur­plus. They often curate their selec­tion for qual­i­ty or unique­ness.
• Online and Com­mu­ni­ty-Based Plat­forms
  Dig­i­tal mar­ket­places or social media groups where indi­vid­u­als can buy and sell sec­ond-hand items direct­ly. Com­mon items include fur­ni­ture, elec­tron­ics, cloth­ing, and col­lectibles.

Here’s a curat­ed list of sec­ond-hand stores in Oulu, organ­ised by type to help you find exact­ly what you need. (Details cor­rect at time of writ­ing)

Flea Mar­kets (kirp­putorit)

Järkikirp­pis
Tehtaankatu 1, Rak­si­la
Mon–Fri: 10:00–18:00 | Sat–Sun: 10:00–15:00

Kirp­pis Aar­rear­kku
Pat­ter­i­tie 7
Mon–Fri: 10:00–18:00 | Sat–Sun: 10:00–15:00

Kirp­putori Timant­ti
Keskuskatu 5
Tue–Fri: 10:00–19:00 | Sat–Sun: 11:00–16:00 | Mon: Closed

Koto-kirp­putori
Laaker­i­tie 9, Rusko
Tue–Fri: 10:00–18:00 | Sat–Sun: 10:00–15:00

Smuk (Self-Ser­vice Fash­ion Kirp­pis)
Kaup­purienkatu 10, (2nd floor, Pekuri)
Mon–Fri: 11:00–19:00 | Sat: 11:00–17:00 | Sun: Closed

Top­pi­la-Cen­ter
Paakakatu 2
Tue–Fri: 10:00–17:00 | Sat–Mon: Closed

Uniq­tori
Kirkkokatu 4
Mon–Fri: 10:00–18:00 | Sat: 10:00–17:00 | Sun: 12:00–16:00

Recy­cling Cen­tres

Hel­lun­taiseu­rakun­nan lähetyskirp­putori
Uusikatu 78
Mon–Fri: 10:00–17:00 | Sat: 10:00–14:00

Likke Kier­rä­tyskeskus
Jääsa­lon­tie 16–18, Limin­gan­tul­li
Mon–Fri: 9:00–18:00 | Sat: 10:00–15:00

Sec­ond-Hand Depart­ment Stores

SPR Kont­ti (Red Cross Sec­ond-Hand Store)
Tyrnävän­tie 14
Mon–Fri: 9:00–19:00 | Sat: 10:00–17:00 | Sun: 11:00–17:00
Home deliv­ery avail­able for 30 €

Spe­cial­ty Sec­ond-Hand Shops

Huonekalumes­ta (Vin­tage Fur­ni­ture Store)
Isokatu 26
Mon–Fri: 11:00–18:00 | Sat: 11:00–17:00 | Sun: 11:00–15:00
Spe­cial­izes in vin­tage and sec­ond-hand fur­ni­ture, art glass, and col­lectibles.

Vadel­matarha (Children’s Sec­ond-Hand Bou­tique)
Kem­peleen­tie 7B
Tue–Fri: 08:00–18:00 | Sat: 10:00–16:00 | Mon: Closed
Focus­es on children’s cloth­ing, toys, and acces­sories.

Cykke­li (Sec­ond-Hand Bike Shop)
Paakakatu 2 (next to Top­pi­la-Cen­ter)
Tue–Fri: 10:00–17:00 | Mon: Closed
Offers refur­bished bicy­cles and basic repair ser­vices.

Pivis (Vin­tage Store)
Online store with pick­up and try-on options at their Tuira Ware­house.
www.pivis.fi
Found­ed in 2010, Pivis is one of Finland’s old­est vin­tage web­shops. Dur­ing sum­mer, pop­up sales events are also held at the ware­house.

Online Sec­ond-Hand Plat­forms

Tori.fi Online Mar­ket­place
Finland’s largest online clas­si­fieds site where indi­vid­u­als can buy and sell every­thing from fur­ni­ture and elec­tron­ics to cloth­ing and vehi­cles. Includes local list­ings for Oulu.

Face­book Mar­ket­place
Peer-to-peer plat­form for buy­ing and sell­ing sec­ond-hand items local­ly. Users can fil­ter by loca­tion (e.g., Oulu) and cat­e­go­ry.

Oulu Sale Point
Eng­lish-speak­ing Face­book ‑com­mu­ni­ty group for buy­ing, sell­ing, and giv­ing away items in Oulu. Pop­u­lar among stu­dents and expats.

Sum­mer­time 2025 Spe­cials

Torin Iltakirp­pis (Evening Flea Mar­ket at the Mar­ket Square)
Oulu Mar­ket Square (Tori)
Every Wednes­day evening dur­ing sum­mer 2025

Man­ner­heim Park Flea Mar­ket
Man­ner­heim Park, Oulu
Every Sat­ur­day 11:00–15:00 until 14 Sep­tem­ber 2025

Do you have any oth­er sec­ond-hand stores you like to vis­it?

If your favourite sec­ond-hand store is miss­ing from our list, send us an email: ihoulu@ouka.fi. Whether you’re fur­nish­ing a new home or just love a good bar­gain, Oulu’s sec­ond-hand scene has some­thing for every­one. Hap­py shop­ping!

Text by: Sophie Platt