Flea market

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A typical flea market shop, in Germany

"Swap meet" redirects here. For the Nirvana song, see Swap Meet. For the pricing game from The Price Is Right, see Swap Meet (pricing game).

A flea market, also known as a swap meet in the USA, is a place where vendors come to sell or trade their goods. The goods are usually inexpensive and range in quality depending on several factors which might include; urban or rural location, part of the country, or popularity/size of the flea market. Flea market shopping is a popular pastime for many people in the Western world. The car boot sale is similar to a flea market, but is more popular in the United Kingdom.

The vast majority of flea markets in rural areas sell goods that are second hand. Larger selections of newer but usually inexpensive items can be found at some of the larger or more urban flea markets. They have also sometimes been used as an outlet for bootleg movies and music or counterfeit goods. The semi-spontaneous nature and vendor-oriented open-market layouts of flea markets usually differentiate them from thrift stores. Some flea markets offer concerts and carnival-type events to attract shoppers.

Flea markets have analogous specialty counterparts in gun shows and hamfests, both of which offer plenty of new merchandise as well as used goods for gun or ham radio enthusiasts. Like the general flea markets, gun shows and hamfests offer surplus goods.

Many television shows (starting in the late 1990s) focus on the appraisal of second hand goods often found at flea markets that are worth far more than the buyer paid. In the United States the most popular of these shows is Antiques Roadshow.

The original flea market is likely to be the Marché aux puces of Saint-Ouen, Seine-Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris. It is a large, long-established outdoor bazaar, one of four in Paris. They earned their name from the flea-infested clothing and rags sold there. From the late 17th century, the makeshift open-air market in the town of Saint-Ouen began as temporary stalls and benches among the fields and market gardens where ragpickers exchanged their findings for a small sum.

The other Paris Flea market is Marché aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves. It retains its original charm and originality. A large selection of goods awaits on the sidewalks of the avenues of Marc Sangnier and Georges Lafenestre in the fourteenth arrondissement.

In modern days the largest "flea market" for antiques is still that at Saint-Ouen. In the United States, a popular monthly flea market is First Monday Trade Days held in Canton, Texas, east of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Flea Market Montgomery has recently gained fame for the advertisements of owner Sammy Stephens, and his subsequent appearance on Ellen.