Bargains at Flea Markets.
How to Get Yours.

What are flea markets? How do they work? How do you find them? How do you get the best buy on bargains once you get there? You will find the answers to these questions and more right here.

About Flea Markets

There are thousands of markets in the USA alone with millions of vendors and hundreds of millions in annual sales. They represent the free enterprise system where a person can start a business without having to come up with a lot of cash or make long term commitments.

The most likely origin of the term “flea markets” came from Paris in the 1800’s. Le Marche aux Puces , which means “market of the fleas” ,was a popular market for shopping second hand goods. It got it’s name from the idea that the items were infested with fleas.

Flea markets are sales events that are usually held outdoors but are also held indoors, and sometimes both at the same time and location. It may be a weekly event conducted by a market promoter or an annual event put on by a community, school, church, or a nonprofit organization.

Flea markets are held along roadsides, parking lots, fields, fairgrounds, under tents, and/or inside buildings like warehouses, gymnasiums, and storefronts where market promoters provide space, heating and cooling, electric, and security. The vendor pays a monthly fee to set up a booth.

These are usually more permanent and open almost every day. Money for items may be taken directly from the vendor or the items may be tagged with an identifying number and the money collected by a central cashier and distributed to the vendor.

Most of the vendors at flea markets are running a business and are regulars at the weekly markets. They travel to different markets throughout the week in cars, vans, pickups, and box trucks loaded with items to sell.

The items may be new or used. New products are bought from wholesale companies, liquidators, and/or in bulk at online auctions and resold for profit.

Used items are often obtained from auctions, estate sales, flea markets, garage sales, moving sales, pawn shops, rummage sales, thrift stores, swap meets, and other bargain sources. The displays may be extravagant or items just laid out on the ground.

Some vendors are one timers unloading things they have accumulated over the years or items from a spring clean up. You can find items like lawn and garden equipment, sporting goods, plants, furniture, animals of various sorts (alive or stuffed), records, CDs, DVDs, VHS movies, clothes, jewelry, candy, and food items to name a few.

Flea markets may specialize in categories like antiques (antique shows), collectibles, crafts (craft shows), guns (gun shows), musical instruments (music shows), produce (farmers markets), or something related to a special event (swap meets).

For example the local annual grass drags (which features snowmobiles racing on grass) is always accompanied by a swap meet. There are acres and acres of snowmobiles, motor cycles, parts and accessories. I have gone to these events and not even seen the races as I spent the whole day at the swap meet.

Vendors themselves may specialize in one type of item, or a variety of items, and may be new or used. I once found a bargain on a giant stuffed Mickey Mouse and a lawn mower from the same vendor.

Bargain hunters are usually drawn to flea markets by the efforts of the market owners through various forms of advertising such as flyers, newspaper ads, online flea market website listings, bulletin boards, and signs along the roadside.

At the Flea Markets

Keep your money in a safe place like a money belt or a fanny pack. Bring cash. Not many vendors, if any, take checks or credit cards. Have a lot of small denomination bills. Not all vendors are experienced enough to bring enough cash to make change. Even experienced vendors can run out of change if enough inexperienced buyers give them $100 bills for $1 items.

A back pack may come in handy for carrying small items. It also allows you to keep your hands free to examine other items. Put some plastic bags in it to wrap and cushion breakable items. Not all vendors are experienced enough to bring bags for the items they sell.

Other items that come in handy at markets are a magnifying glass to inspect items for chips or cracks and for reading the fine print (or any size print for some of us) on collectibles. A tape measure for things you need to fit. Price guide books to look up prices on items to see if it is a bargain or not.

Some markets have vendors on site that sell food and drinks but you don’t want to be caught empty handed. You may give out along the way. Bring something to eat and drink if you will be out all day. Don’t forget the wet wipes if you’re a messy eater like me.

Getting there early will give you the best selection although maybe not the best prices. Those usually come closer to closing time. Vendors often buy select items from other vendors as they are unpacking to set up. The early bird gets the worm again. I have heard of markets that charge an early entrance fee. That doesn’t sound bargain friendly to me.

At larger flea markets you may want to take a quick look around for rare and valuable items that may disappear quick. Buy these as you see them as it may be a while before you get back. Don’t wait until the next time around or until right before you leave. Chances are someone else will have bought it by then.

Compare prices on the more common items. Different vendors sometimes carry the same items at different prices. It’s not the best feeling to buy a VHS movie for $2 and then find the same movie a few booths down for 50 cents.

If you buy something big and need to leave it with the vendor for a while make sure you get a receipt and if it is a very large flea market make a note of what you left and where you left it. A note pad also comes in handy for items you see and don’t want to buy right away but that you might want to take a second look at later.

Having a list of things you are looking for and how much you want to spend on them may keep you from impulse buying and going over budget. Know the value of an item if you are looking for a specific item and what your top price is. An experienced smooth talking vendor can get you to pay more if you don’t have a set price.

Ask them if that’s their best price on an item. Don’t be afraid to make an offer. They expect you to. Most vendors set their prices a little higher than what they will take to leave room for bargaining. Avoid making offers so low that you insult them and perhaps make yourself look foolish.

If you can’t get them down to the price you are willing to pay just say its more than you want to pay and move on. Even if the items are new and priced less than retail you should still ask if it’s their best price. If you buy several items from one vendor try to get an overall discount.

Don’t show emotion by saying things like “I’ve been looking for one of those my whole life.”, “That’s just what I’ve been looking for.”, “I had one of those when I was a kid.” or “I’ve got to have it.” The vendor is not going to come down on his price if you “got to have it”.

Most vendors know their merchandise and what it is worth. There are times though when a vendor bought out the end of a garage sale and put a $1 sticker on what he/she thought was a junky old lamp. You know it’s worth a lot more because you know it’s a Tiffany. Don’t get excited. Have some fun. Offer him/her 50 cents for it and save your emotion for the trip back to the car.

Sometimes if the deal is good enough I don’t bother to haggle. Like a 50 pound bag of carrots for the price of a 1 pound bag at the grocery store. They had a lot more flavor than the store bought ones, too. I couldn’t eat them all but my rabbits sure could, and they did. The vendor also had tomatoes and jalapenos for less than I could grow them for.

If you go often , talk to the vendors, get to know them, make friends. Most of them are very nice, interesting people with lots of stories and knowledge to share. You may learn a lot about the collectibles or items you seek and may get better deals in the long run.

If you don’t see what you are looking for ask if they have anything that they haven’t put out or if they can find it for you. They may even have things at home that they didn’t bring.

Most items are non returnable and sold “as is”. Inspect the items closely for rips tears, cracks, chips, missing parts, funky smells, and expiration dates. Ask questions about the history of an item, the age of it, who manufactured it, and who owned it. Don’t feel cheated if you get the item home and it’s not what you thought it was. On the other hand, don’t feel guilty if it turns out to be more than what you thought it was.

Online Flea Markets

With some online flea markets you make the purchase of an item through them by searching item listings or vendor booths, and then placing items in a shopping cart. Payment is usually by credit card or Pay pal. Others simply mediate the transaction by providing seller contact information after you register. Some sites offer trades of items you don’t want for items you do want with no money needed.

Online flea marketers offer their items through a variety of venues such as online auctions, online classifieds, or e-commerce websites. They may even have their own website. Just put online flea markets in your search bar and you’ll find enough to keep you busy for a while. The more popular a site is the more items you will find.

When shopping the online flea markets, use the same standard safety precautions you would when shopping online. For more information about shopping online fraud prevention, click here.

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