Albuquerque flea markets... (Santa Fe: rental, how much, to buy)

[rustic35]

What do people usually sell at an Albuquerque or Santa Fe flea market???

[rybert]

ABQ Flea Market: Cell phone accessories, XL t-shirts, misc. Sometimes you'll find a few treasures.

[ABQConvict]

I check out the flea market for antique hand-tools.

ABQConvict

[yukon]

I used to go to buy beads & jewelery, but the last few times I went, it was all made in China garbage. I hit the jewelery supply stores now (better stuff and prices anyway).

[berncohomes]

Originally Posted by yukon

I used to go to buy beads & jewelery, but the last few times I went, it was all made in China garbage. I hit the jewelery supply stores now (better stuff and prices anyway).

You should check out the auctions every now and then. Last month I saw a pallet of jewelery supplies including turquoise and polished rocks and all kinds of goodies. I think it went real cheap too.

[fatwhale]

people sell clothes too, like socks. yeah... white socks

[DOUBLE H]

I've gone to Albuquerque's flea market a few dozen times since the mid 70's. Sadly, the prime space has a lot of the "Target crap", as I call it. Years ago there were some natives from the Acoma tribe selling their wares; good prices, good stuff.

But you can still find some cool stuff there if you pursue it; most of the clean out the closet type sellers are in the northwest corner of the setup, just on the other side of the concessions. You have to dig more, but I still enjoy going there when I am passing through there.

A long time ago,in the mid 70's, the parking lot was 80% gravel, thankfully they paved it later. Back then, admission was free and sellers paid $4 for a 10 foot space.

[rustic35]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

I've gone to Albuquerque's flea market a few dozen times since the mid 70's. Sadly, the prime space has a lot of the "Target crap", as I call it. Years ago there were some natives from the Acoma tribe selling their wares; good prices, good stuff.

But you can still find some cool stuff there if you pursue it; most of the clean out the closet type sellers are in the northwest corner of the setup, just on the other side of the concessions. You have to dig more, but I still enjoy going there when I am passing through there.

A long time ago,in the mid 70's, the parking lot was 80% gravel, thankfully they paved it later. Back then, admission was free and sellers paid $4 for a 10 foot space.

and how much are they charging now for rental space? does it depend on what you want to sell?

[burquelady]

I love abq's flea markets. The people are so nice.

[ziaAirmac]

Santa Fe's flea market used to be located on Cerillos Road where the Jackalope Pottery is now. It was run by this guy named "Trader Jack" and his wife. She used to take the fees and dish out frito pies and cokes out of a caboose. I'm pretty sure they were from Texas. He was always in boots and a cowboy hat and she was his beautiful cowgirl. It was literally just a dirt field fenced by high trees and split into lanes with those ubiquitous green 'T' posts. China Mart hadn't weighed in on the product supplies, so the pro resellers (if they've got fifty identical boxes filled with a variety of new items you'd never want...) were non-existent back then. It was just a bunch of folks throwing a blanket out the back of their vehicle and selling stuff they found around the house. Bartering was popular. My dad kept his various hobbies fleshed out (especially fishing and photography) and my sister and I always found a great deal on books or toys. He had a Harley XLCR (Harley's attempt at a Cafe racer) in those days. Just about every weekend we'd hit Trader Jack's. On the weekends my sister didn't want to go we'd take the Harley.

I still look for the feel of Trader Jack's every time I hit a flea market, but have never found it since. I'm sure I've put some shine on it in retrospect, but my dad really did pick up some exceptional camera equipment over the years, and the music instruments you'd see there were the real deal. Now, it seems like everything I pick up is just...not valuable.

People don't even know what to do with a nice item. I brought a fairly nice acoustic guitar to Albuquerque's flea market last year. I knew I was going to the flea market, so I priced appropriately. The thing would set you back $600 if you bought it retail, I was asking $175 in mint condition. Just getting an extra out of the fold. I spent all day defending the price against people making offers like $50. They were acting like it was a disgrace to even show up with the thing. And the sad part wasn't that they didn't think the price was right for that particular guitar. The sad part was I began to realize that they couldn't imagine something that valuable being there.

Now Santa Fe's flea market sits up on the hill on the north side of town out by the Opera. To me, it's not a flea market, it's a bazaar. Most of the vendors have spaces they return to each weekend. They have infrastructure like walls and ledges already in place. They operate just like a store, with an easily replaceable stock of items. Nothing wrong with that. Some people like a bazaar. I just miss Trader Jack's.