It’s flea market season. Across the country, vintage shoppers and sellers await this time of year when the weather warms up but isn’t too hot yet. The sun is out and the last of the winter gloom is behind us. Flea market season has begun.
Sellers bring out the hordes that have been filling up basements, attics, dens, and storage sheds since late summer. The shoppers are geared up with lists and ideas they’ve been dreaming of since Christmas. The yard sales, garage sales and flea markets are in full force. Many a weekend will soon be spent getting up early, standing in line and searching for that special find. Sellers bring out their best in hopes of making enough to tide them over through the next chilly winter.
Of course, many folks buy and sell online all year long. But there is something special about getting out, being able to wander through aisles of vintage goods, tools, kitchen items, clothing and who knows what else in person. Nothing beats being able to pick up and examine your next great find before laying out money.
Here in Southern California, we are a privileged bunch. Flea market season is all year long. There are multiple large flea markets each weekend and smaller local ones held throughout the week. This is both an advantage and a drawback.
The ability to shop flea markets all year allows for easy access to myriad vintage, while also creating higher prices and more competition. As sellers, it’s much more difficult to source unusual goods at reasonable prices in order to make a profit. As buyers, pickings can be slim as there are fewer untouched vintage caches to be picked through. The vision of an old farmhouse with untouched outbuildings is a rare sight. The urban and transient nature of our sprawling cities means little goes untouched for long. When it does, you can bet the savvy sellers will be there first.
The reality though, is that there is more than enough for everyone. Our economy runs on ever greater production meaning there is no shortage of stuff to be had. Millennials and Gen Z folks are scooping up and reusing items Boomers and Gen X have lived with and discarded. There will always be a new generation of flea market shoppers searching for the nostalgia of their youth in second hand and vintage items.
Grab your tote bags, water bottle, hat, and sunscreen and head out this weekend to the local flea market. After all, it’s flea market season and you never know what you may find.
For a list of up-to-date Los Angeles area flea markets, click here.
