Flohmarkt Berkersheim in Germany
Wolff's Flea Market in the United States
A
flea market or
swap meet is a type of
bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent. The flea market vendors may range from a family that is renting a table for the first time to sell a few unwanted household items to a commercial operation including a large variety of used merchandise, scouts who rove the region buying items for sale from garage sales and other flea markets, and several staff watching the stalls. Flea markets are held in every state in the USA and depending on the weather can be seasonal to year round. They also take place in many locations in Europe.
Many flea markets have food vendors who sell snacks and drinks to the patrons, and may be associated with carnivals or concerts. Some have become infamous as outlets for
bootleg movies and music or
knockoff brand clothing, accessories, or fragrances.
The origins of the term are disputed, but some have observed that buyers and sellers may be as active as
fleas, or that the original people and goods were infested. According to
Word and Phrase Origins, the term was derived from the "Vallie Market" of Manhattan.
The original flea market may be the
Marché aux puces ("market with fleas" in French) 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. 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.
Some
television shows focus on the appraisal of second hand goods often found at flea markets that are worth far more than the buyer paid. The most popular of these shows is
Antiques Roadshow in the United Kingdom, which led to
American,
Canadian,
Dutch,
German and
Swedish versions of the show.
See also
