Exchanges always have more than economic significance: values circulate through the exchanges, and the encounters become institutionalized. Exploring the changing meanings of the circulation of second-hand goods from the Renaissance until today, this volume examines the blurring of boundaries between market, gifts, and charity. It describes the actors of the market - official actors such as corporations, recognized professions, and established markets - but also the subterranean circulation that develops around the need for money and that provides for numerous intermediaries, as well as for the many men and women who use these circulations in countless occasions either as sellers or as buyers.