A journalist friend is impressed by the PR work being done for the market. But she said the quote: "Most of the 100-plus vendors I saw were craftspeople, young designers and folks selling costly vintage items rather than peddlers of bric-a-brac who would make the appellation “flea” a more fitting one", did the flea vendors no favors.
Few people understand or appreciate how difficult it is to get inexpensive items to NYC markets. Flea market vendors are not magicially immune from inflationary pressures. It ain't the 1970s.
Buying isn't what it used to be, nor is the price of gas or the cost of storage. Prices are going up in thrift stores, estate sales, auctions, and everywhere else vendors do their usual shopping. Maybe its time for someone to write an ariticle about how difficult it is to bring low-cost items to NYC markets while still making a profit. It get's harder every year.
It's true that cheap bric-a-brac markets still exist. But my family spends a few hundred hours a year driving to remote towns and villages, across half a dozen states, to find them. You can still buy a decent $3.50 vintage handbag at the Salvation Army in Western Massachusetts, but if you're from NYC, it will cost you $75 in gas to find it.
Flea markets in NYC are a dying breed. They have gone the way of cheap diners, rent control apartments and the local corner bar with $2.00 beers. If New Yorkers want to preserve the NYC fleamarket, everyone will have to make more of an effort to support them.
Posted by: mballe at May 22, 2008 11:57 AM in response to Yum!
A journalist friend is impressed by the PR work being done for the market. But she said the quote: "Most of the 100-plus vendors I saw were craftspeople, young designers and folks selling costly vintage items rather than peddlers of bric-a-brac who would make the appellation “flea” a more fitting one", did the flea vendors no favors.
Few people understand or appreciate how difficult it is to get inexpensive items to NYC markets. Flea market vendors are not magicially immune from inflationary pressures. It ain't the 1970s.
Buying isn't what it used to be, nor is the price of gas or the cost of storage. Prices are going up in thrift stores, estate sales, auctions, and everywhere else vendors do their usual shopping. Maybe its time for someone to write an ariticle about how difficult it is to bring low-cost items to NYC markets while still making a profit. It get's harder every year.
It's true that cheap bric-a-brac markets still exist. But my family spends a few hundred hours a year driving to remote towns and villages, across half a dozen states, to find them. You can still buy a decent $3.50 vintage handbag at the Salvation Army in Western Massachusetts, but if you're from NYC, it will cost you $75 in gas to find it.
Flea markets in NYC are a dying breed. They have gone the way of cheap diners, rent control apartments and the local corner bar with $2.00 beers. If New Yorkers want to preserve the NYC fleamarket, everyone will have to make more of an effort to support them.
Posted by: mballe at May 22, 2008 11:57 AM in response to Yum!