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Flea Markets

Flea markets are big business. You may not think of them as such, but according to the National Flea Market Association (NFMA), there are over 1,100 flea markets that occur in the United States each year, with 2.25 million vendors generating over $30 billion in sales annually.

This gigantic turnover takes place for several reasons. For one thing, they can open both indoors and outdoors. They might be held in a school cafeteria or gym, or they might be held on a ball field or in a parking lot. They might even be held on cordoned-off city streets. Thus, you can almost always find a flea market going on somewhere nearby.

There is also an almost limitless array of items sold at flea markets. Antiques—bric-a-brac—unique handmade products—old clothes—unwanted household items—expensive items typically deeply discounted—there is almost no end.

A hodgepodge of time durations also contributes to the plethora of flea markets that take place at any given time. Flea markets can be held year-round, such as Chelsea Market in New York City, which seems to always be teeming with visitors. They might be seasonal or monthly, on weekends or daily, ongoing or one-off.

No matter where, how often, how long, and what type of products are being sold, the formats of flea markets are generally the same: There is a marketplace set up, and vendors are able to rent booths within the market from which to sell their goods. Booth and set-up fees are so variable, from as low as $5 a day to well ...