Benjamin 1 Azizah Benjamin Prof. Arnowitz Hum 102 April 18, 2016 Garage Sale-Flea Market Flea market comes from the French term "marché aux puces," a name initially given to a market in Paris that specialized in shabby second-hand goods of the kind that might contain fleas. A flea market (or swap meet) is a bazaar that rents space to people who want to sell or barter merchandise. Used goods, low-quality items, and high-quality items such as collectibles and antiques are commonly sold. Many markets offer fresh produce, baked goods, vintage clothes, and plants from local farms. It may be indoors, in a warehouse, outdoors, or a field or parking lot. Flea markets can be held annually or semiannually, and others may be conducted monthly, on weekends, or daily. Renters of the flea market tables are called vendors. 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 scouts who roam the region buying items from garage sales and other flea markets. Albert Lafarge writes that one of the first American flea markets was the Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas, which began in 1873 as a place where people would go to buy horses. Later they brought their goods to sell or trade. Other towns quickly adopted this pattern of trade, but the modern flea market was supposedly the brainchild of Russell Carrell, an east-coast antique show organizer. As an auctioneer in Connecticut, Carrell thought to run an antique show like an outdoor auction, only forgoing the tent because fire hazards were too expensive to insure. Carrell's 1956 Hartford open-air antiques market was claimed to be the first modern incarnation of the flea market. Benjamin 2 A garage sale (also known as a yard sale) is a casual event for the sale of used goods by private individuals, in which sellers are not required to obtain business licenses or collect sales tax. Typically, goods in a garage sale are unwanted items from the household with its owners conducting the sale. Some items are offered for sale because the owner does not want or need the item or raise funds. Popular motivations for a garage sale are spring cleaning, moving, or earning extra money. The seller's items are displayed to the passers-by or those responding to signs, flyers, or newspaper ads. The place at which the sale is conducted is typically a garage; other sales are shown in a driveway, front yard, or inside a house. Some vendors, known as "squatters," will set up in a high-traffic area rather than on their property. Items typically sold at garage sales include old clothing, books, toys, household decorations, lawn and garden tools, sports equipment, and board games. More oversized items like furniture and occasionally home appliances are also sold. Garage sales occur most frequently in suburban areas on weekends with good weather conditions and usually have designated sales hours. Buyers who arrive before the hours of the sale to review the items are known as "early birds" and are often professional restorers or resellers. Such sales also attract people searching for bargains or rare and unusual items. Some people buy goods from these sales to restore them for resale. I remember attending Flea Markets with my parents and grandparents when I was younger. I remember them setting up tables and people coming to the table and buying goods. I also remember walking around the market with my mother and my brother. My father and mother sold t-shirts, incense, oils, bean pies, small toys, candy, and bubble blowers. My grandmother had her table where she sold soap, gel candles, and bathing oils that she made herself. I interviewed both my parents and my grandmother. Benjamin 3 Q: What was your main selling audience? A: Our main buyers were young to middle age. Majority were African American. Q: Where have you sold your good? A: New York City, Buffalo, Brooklyn, Newark, East Orange, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Q: What is the usual season or time you attended flea markets? A: Usually spring or summer time, sometimes large winter markets. Q: Why did you sell those specific items? A: They were cheap to buy, easier to store and transport. “Low overhead, fast turnaround.” Q: How many costumers would you get on average? A: For the whole length of the flea market, 70-200 people.
