the.com/flea market
Capitalism's lost and found, where other people's regrets become your treasures.
means An open-air or indoor market selling secondhand goods, antiques, and odd bric-a-brac, usually cheap and haggled over.
from Almost certainly a direct translation of the French marché aux puces ('market of fleas'), a name recorded for Paris markets selling old, worn secondhand goods and used furniture — the kind of castoffs likely to carry fleas in their upholstery and seams. The French term spread to other languages (German Flohmarkt, Spanish mercado de pulgas) and into English by the early 20th century, carrying the joke along with it.
- name origin
- French marché aux puces, literally flea-infested secondhand goods
- haggling rule
- asking price is opening bid, not final offer
- best time
- last hour, when sellers would rather sell than haul back
- hidden economy
- many vendors are dealers reselling estate sale finds