Barbara, France is very complicated. Politically it is almost indefinable. By reputation it is a liberal democracy. In 1946 when Charles de Gaulle led the government that wrote a new constitution that established the Fourth Republic the country saw a period of government by coalitions. The die was cast then when the volatile nature of those coalitions and the subsequent lack of agreement on how to deal with colonies demanding independence that led to wars in Indochina and Algeria brought about a series of cabinet crises and rapid changes of government. Since then no government has actually got it 'right'. So history does not suggest an easy solution.
A financial solution is part of an economic question and is subject to the politics that have 'developed' (or not, as the case may be) under the present constitution. That constitution, if you bother to read it, is far from the notion of liberté, égalité, fraternité that one is always told is the foundation of this republic. The constitution says nothing about citizens and their rights, including their economic rights, but is purely about how France is administered. Thus said, France can stagger on and fail very easily.
At present fingers are pointing at France and accusing socialism of the situation it is in and figure headed by Hollande to boot. Neither Hollande nor the PS are at all 'socialist' but are a strange kind of post-Keynesian proto-capitalist party that have eschewed the Mitterand social and economic programme that Chirac brought to an abrupt halt. Chirac then cast the die with the economic reforms and austerity required for France to turn round the economy, especially stubbornly high unemployment that had persisted more or less since WWII ended. It has been continued by each party or coalition since, usually through taxation and whilst Sarko certainly saw a period of relative prosperity, crippling taxes and the death of small businesses was the price. Talk to local people about the shops and other local businesses that have gone under over recent decades. Look around villages, towns and cities and there are plenty of unoccupied premises, take note of 'houses' that are so clearly converted shops, cafés, restaurants, small hotels and so on. The economy does not support that and the constitution provides no real political protection for enterprising citizens (or other individuals).
Auctions? The vide greniers are, as a friend who buys and sells regularly from spring through to autumn says, are virtually an industry. Then there are the vide maisons, brocantes and all the rest of the public used and second hand markets. There are, indeed, lots of unwanted goods but to auction them? My OH bought a pair of unused Levis for €2 recently, I found a fairly new panel radiator for €4 that I saw on the leboncoin for an average of €80 and new is about €100. How on earth will auctions fare? Not only do you need insurance, but the taxes will sting you and using your barn for a commercial purpose will drive up your taxe foncière.
My OH and I are both AE. Because of health reasons I have done little work. Probably lots of idle threats are made, but it would be fiscally suicidal to abolish the status, so unlikely. Think of what else we can do in a country where its own people are struggling? This is France, not a prosperous SE England county. Plain facts of life like the constitution, economics, fiscality and the very varied nature of the French themselves (it is actually a country with five or six languages alone, let alone varied dialects, cultures, traditions and all else). On Thursday whilst my daughter was having a riding class, I was listening to two men from the local farming community waiting for their granddaughters. They were talking, using Perigourdine scattered with Occitan, about how much worse the French are than the foreigners. They especially spoke critically about Parisians. What they were doing was referring to people from neither Aquitaine and more specifically from the Perigord in this country who they consider 'foreign' and the context used to refer to people such as ourselves who they do not mind as much was far more positive. What they were talking about was how the 'French' are taking every cent out of this region and using it in Paris to pay corrupt and uncaring politicians to misrule us. One was talking about his grandson with a master's degree who earns €16 an hour as a junior clinical psychologist, therefore commutes an hour each way to and from work because he cannot afford a place of his own. Taxes and travel mean he has nothing left to save or go out for a beer with friends. How, he was asking, will he ever meet a 'girl' and settle down.
That is the economy we live in. We chose it. If we don't like it we can pack up and go. However, reality is that for many of us the odds are stacked against making the kind of contribution to the economy you are suggesting.