Young Writers Society

So I've thought of this great underground market as a setting. But the question is, what the heck is supposed to go in it? It's not really you're traditional "Black Market" where extreme guns and harvested organs are sold. But that's about all the vibes it's giving me right now. Anyone have any ideas, even if it's just to tell me to let it sit for a while?

Just for more information, this setting was kind of inspired by Chelsea Market in NYC, but a darker slightly more twisted version.

Thanks so much for any input you have!
Block

The Black Market is literally just a place where things are sold after-market, meaning either they've been bought or stolen, then resold.

The closest comparison to the black market that you're gonna find in the public eye is EBay. Literally anything can be sold there, which is the appeal. I'd take your inspiration from that. You haven't given us a whole lot of information to work with, so that's the best I can do with the info presented.

There would be a lot of hand-crafted stuff there, likely. You'd also be able to find things there that wouldn't normally find in retail stores. Weapons, illegal drugs, military and law enforcement technology...

You could also use the Pike's Place Market in Seattle, Washington as a good inspiration. Parts of it are underground in the literal sense.

I'm going to try my hand at this.

A black market, in my understanding, is usually a place where the goods sold aren't reported to the government. Anything can be sold there - illegal or legal. Usually, they're either way more expensive, or cheaper, than they should be.

Why?

If it's cheaper, it could be because they don't pay any taxes, or have lower production costs (pirated DvDs, fake bags, etc.) If it's more expensive, it's probably because whatever is being bought/sold is difficult to obtain (drugs, harvested organs, etc.). There won't be any receipts or guarantees, usually.

Like Ego said, there will likely be handcrafted items there, and stuff you normally wouldn't find in a legal market. There'd be imitation products - it looks like an iPhone, works like an iPhone (with a minor difference), but it isn't an iPhone. You get me?

It's a bit messy, and loud, and you can bargain with the vendors there, I think.

In addition to the ones Ego mentioned, you might want to google Carbon, Cebu, and Divisoria, in Manila. There's nothing too illegal there (I think? o0), but it should give you a good feel of what a market with little government control looks like. =]