I was riding on the Berlin U-Bahn (subway) recently and noticed an advertisement from a very well-known auction website on the wall of the subway car that read Trödel mehr als der M41. This use of the verb trödeln had me puzzled, though I knew it was related to the noun der Trödelmarkt:

Also, hier gibt es auch viele Secondhand- und Trödelläden.

So, there are also many secondhand and junk shops here.

Caption 26, Jonathan Johnson - Kreuzberg, Berlin

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The noun der Trödelladen has a similar meaning to der Trödelmarkt, just as der Laden has a similar meaning to der Markt. I knew that trödeln means "to sell things at a junk shop or flea market," but what does this have to do with the Berlin M41 bus line? It turns out the slang and most common usage of trödeln is "to go slowly" or "to waste time," but also "to move slowly without a fixed destination," thus "to wander," "to amble," or "to meander." The auction website ad translates approximately to "Wander around (alternately: go shopping for secondhand goods) more than the M41 bus," so it's a play on words on the fact that the M41 is a long, meandering bus line and that you can use the auction site to shop for good deals.

The noun der Trödel, which is also short for der Trödelmarkt, has taken on the slang meaning of "useless, worthless things, especially clothing, furniture and household articles," just as you expect to see in a junk shop or flea market, the latter of which translates directly to German as der Flohmarkt, by the way.

Junk shops and flea markets are numerous in Berlin and range from places filled literally to the ceiling with useless, broken junk to something much closer to fine antique shops. Those people who are too poor to shop anywhere but at Trödelläden and Flohmärkte can take comfort in the wise words of Piggeldy and Frederick: 

„Schätze kann man nicht essen, bloß verkaufen.

"You can't eat treasures, [you can] only sell [them].

Caption 13, Piggeldy und Frederick - Arm

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„Reich ist, wer was verkaufen kann."

"Rich are those who have something to sell."

Caption 16, Piggeldy und Frederick - Arm

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Further Learning
Go to the German Duden dictionary and see the various meanings of der Trödelmarkt, der Trödel, and trödeln, and then see if you can guess the meanings of this list of words relating related to trödeln. Then you can go to Yabla German to find other real-world examples of the words related to shopping in German.

Adjectives and adverbs describing the cost or quality of an item in English can have positive or negative connotations, depending on the context. In German however, the words on this topic tend to be a bit more defined. In most contexts, the adjective/adverb billig has negative connotations, such as when a wife finds out her ex-Stasi* agent husband is having an illicit affair with a woman he once interrogated: 

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Das ist so billig.

That is so cheap.

Caption 2, 12 heißt: Ich liebe dich - Kapitel 5: Versuch der Verdrängung

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On a more positive note, you can use the adjective/adverb preiswert: 

Sie können bei uns Getränke umsonst haben

With us they can have drinks for free

und noch preiswert fliegen.

and still fly inexpensively.

Captions 32-33, Fluglinien - Niki Air

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And on an even more positive note, the adjective/adverb günstig: 

Er hat sich ein günstiges Gerät gekauft,

He bought himself an inexpensive device,

Caption 15, Flipperautomaten - Kunstwerke für flinke Kugeln

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Auch aufgrund der Mietpreise, die hier sehr günstig sind.

Also because of the rent prices, which are very reasonable here.

Caption 20, Jonathan Johnson - Kreuzberg, Berlin

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Die Gerichte sind günstig.

The meals are reasonably priced.

Caption 12, Universität - Karlsruhe

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Günstig may also be translated as "affordable" or "low-priced" or even "cheap," but it's important to remember here that it's usually meant positively, and never to indicate that something was of poor quality like the word billig. Günstig also has quite a different meaning in other contexts: 

Das Wetter ist hier sehr günstig, es ist einfach schön.

The weather here is very favorable, it's simply nice.

Caption 22, Konstantin - ein Freiwilliger in Israel

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It's pretty unlikely that weather would be described as "cheap." In this sense, günstig may also be used to describe situations that are fortunate, beneficial, providential, auspicious or merely convenient. A very favorable word indeed!

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Further Learning
To conclude: billig is usually "cheap" in a negative sense, preiswert is "inexpensive" in a more positive sense, and günstig is "reasonable" in the most positive sense. Günstig also has additional positive meanings. Go to Yabla German to find more examples of all three words used in a real world context and see if you can find some other German words that can also mean "cheap" or "inexpensive."

*Stasi is an acronym for der Staatssicherheitsdienst, the secret police in the former German Democratic Republic.

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