What is a flea market?
An online flea market is the modern-day rendition of traditional community flea markets. Traditionally, flea markets are community events that involve various vendors who have unique items they’re looking to part with, a large set up space, and eager buyers searching for a new treasure.
With the world of online shopping growing in popularity, traditional flea markets have slowly been seeing their dying day. However, they’ve made a comeback with the development of online flea markets.
Online flea markets are much the same as their traditional counterparts, but are more easily accessible and convenient to attend – all you have to do is click a few buttons and you can be browsing pages of unique, vintage, and rare items.
Why use one?
Most flea market goers have switched to online flea markets because of how convenient they are. They can be accessed from any device that can connect to the Internet, are easy to navigate, and don’t require any special planning or coordination with friends before attending.
In addition, shoppers can spend as long as they want browsing the virtual booths and discovering fun new things.
10 of the Best Online Flea Markets
Etsy
Etsy is, by all accounts, one of the most well-known online flea markets. The site caters to crafters and artisans mainly but it also has its fair share of sellers with vintage items, household staples, and home-related gadgets, too. Etsy has over 50 million listed products and 2 million dedicated sellers, with both these numbers growing each year.
Sellers can sign up, start their own shop, and sell their goods to customers all over the world. Or, they can opt to limit their sales to customers within their own country or region. For buyers, it’s easy to spend hours browsing the virtual shops, as Etsy is full of creative shops and novelty items. Browsing items is a breeze, as products show up in a never-ending grid of available listings with prices, shipping charges, and other important information carefully labeled and laid out.
If you have an account on Etsy, the marketplace will keep track of items you have clicked on, using that information to curate suggestions for next time you log in.
When buying on Etsy, it’s important to remember that customs and important fees may be applied if you’re buying from a foreign seller. Additionally, the currency exchange can render your total bill a bit more expensive, depending on the exchange rate between your country and the seller’s country.
Sign up for Etsy through this link and get 40 free listings.
Poshmark
While not a flea market in the traditional sellers-set-prices-and-buyers-pay-them sense, Poshmark does match the description in its other aspects. What sets Poshmark apart in the first sense we mentioned is that it gives buyers the chance to send sellers an offer. If the seller likes your offer, you can buy the item.
But what does Poshmark sell? Most sellers provide clothing, accessories, and vintage fashion items that have been gently used or are brand new with tags. The brand new items are usually marked by a caption that says something like “NWT”.
Poshmark is used by people all over the world and you can find some pretty neat stuff on there if you spend some time looking. Since sellers decide on their prices, shipping is also up to their discretion, which makes it critical to pay attention to shipping fees before hitting the checkout button. Generally, though, shipping fees are affordable.
Ruby Lane
Founded in 1988, Ruby Lane is a true vintage goldmine. In comparison to Etsy or other onlien giants, it is a small online market but its fans are dedicated and loyal. Ruby Lane deals exclusively with collectible, vintage, and antique items, hosting listings for half a million products at any given time. Before tems can be sold on the platform, they must meet strict quality standards that ensure their integrity, quality, and authenticity.
When it comes to vintage, Ruby Lane offers a ton of vintage fashion, while the other categories are mostly made up of old furniture, lighting, and home decor. Thanks to the quality standards put in place, the shopping experience is worry-free, as you can rest assured that all of the products have been thoroughly scrutinized and checked over.
The general audience is more affluent than other marketplaces, but the prices are still relatively reasonable despite the high-quality of the items being sold. Most customers are from Canada and the US, with some also joining from the UK, Germany, and Australia.
Zibbet
Zibbet is a fairly small marketplace. It is based out of Australia, but has a large number of both sellers and buyers from the US. Like Etsy, Zibbet focuses on handmade items and small business owners, with most sellers being independent shop owners who work from home. While Zibbet has a large category of vintage items, it sells a lot of small things such as jewelry and accessories as opposed to the large, bulky vintage items like furniture and decor.
Zibbet has a minimalist approach to how things are laid out, with product details set out in a manner that is easy to read and navigate. Product categories are arranged along the side under simple headings and subheadings.
As a seller, Zibbet gives you the option to create your own web shop with a dedicated website. This, for many sellers, is what makes Zibbet such a worthwhile feat, as it enables them to promote their products and take control of their sales.
Zulily
Zulily is another great flea market-esque marketplace. The marketplace is most popular in North America, but has its loyal following in Europe, as well. Zulily is a one-stop-shop for everything fashion, home, family, and fun, offering a wide variety of categories to browse. You’ll find everything from gardening supplies to high-quality fashion, high-end jewelry, and stylish home decor.
Zulily has an exciting layout that is decked out with vibrant colors and gives off a care-free vibe. One thing Zulily is known for is its ever-changing deals. Upon signing up, buyers are rewarded with some form of discount or special promotion. Then, everyday, certain shops are discounted up to 70%.
Each shop is operated by an independent seller, with many of the products being home, made, hand-sewn, or otherwise crafted with care and patience. Shipping costs are different by seller, so they range from shop to shop. Most of the time, shipping is less expensive when you buy multiple items from the same seller.
ThredUp
ThredUp is a fashion-focused secondhand marketplace. It doesn’t technically fit the flea market description, as it doesn’t allow independent sellers to make sales, but it does accept gently used secondhand clothing and accessories. These items are then sold for a fraction of their original cost by the ThredUp team.
ThredUp is unique because it allows people to donate their old clothing. The site sends interested parties a special box that they can fill with good-quality second hand clothing and accessories. The party then sends the box, free of charge, back to ThredUp. Once the items are posted and sold, the original party gets a payout.
The payout can be in the form of cash or store credit that can be used on the site. If you opt to “donate”, $5 will be donated to a charity of your choice. Prices on ThredUp, as mentioned, are heavily discounted. Brands like Adidas and other high-end names can sell for as low as $7.99.
Before items are sold, ThredUp team members check them over carefully. Items with holes, stains, or other majorly noticeable flaws will not be accepted or sold. Normal wear and tear such as minimal fading or the occasional instance of pilling may be accepted, however, and sold for a low cost.
Selency
Selency was created in 2014 by two passionate vintage furniture enthusiasts. It caters mostly to the European market, but still has a decent following in other countries. Selency specializes in the resale of vintage, pre-owned and Scandinavian mid-century modern furniture, as well as home decor.
Each and every piece found on the site has been scouted and hand picked by Selency’s dedicated team of shoppers and curators. The backgrounds, authenticity, and quality of each item has been combed through with a fine-tooth comb.
The site pays vendors directly to their bank account and allows buyers to use Paypal or credit card to make purchases, keeping the entire process safe and secure. When it comes to delivery, Selency can offer its customers a variety of straight-to-door delivery options.
Bonanza
Much like Ebay, Bonanza is a great place to find second-hand items and handsome discounts. Bonanza has a fanbase that is primarily American, with over 50,000 sellers and 23 million products up for grabs.
This being said, Bonanza isn’t the best place to find vintage or true antique items. It is, though, a one-stop-shop for great prices on modern second-hand items like housewares, art, jewelry, garden supplies, and fashion.
Although you won’t find your next favorite vintage treasure, it’s easy to find yourself spending hours browsing through the site’s listing. There are so many categories and double the number of subcategories, with every one offering something interesting.
Like Selency, buyers can use Paypal or credit card – whichever makes them feel the most secure.One thing that is different, though, is that sellers can choose to sell their items for a set price or open the price up for debate. When the price is left open, potential buyers can send the seller a price proposal; the proposal will have to be accepted before you can buy the item.
Ebay
No good fleamarket list would be complete without the addition of Ebay. Ebay is a classic flea market-style market place where sellers from all over the world can sell their gently used and new items.
Here, you’ll find everything from collectibles and signed memorabilia, vintage clothes and antiques, games and toys, house wares, and decor. Ebay is great because of its wide array of items.
Ebay uses a bidding system for some items. Users can sign up, bid, and then monitor their desired item. They can bid more than once in an attempt to be the highest bidder, or relent and let someone else take the prize, should the bids get too high. Others items are sold with fixed rates.
Where it lacks, though, is in terms of price. Why? Well, the prices of items are generally quite fair but shipping can really tack on the extra cash.
Fleatique
Fleatique is like the perfect combination of vintage shop and dollar store. The site hosts a wide variety of unique vintage items and second-hand goods that have surprisingly small pcie tags. In fact, a lot of items in the garage sale section cost less than a dollar!
On Fleatique, you can be guaranteed that you’ll find items that you won’t find anywhere else. What makes this even better is that they are easy to find, as the site is laid out in specific categories that are easy to navigate.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to navigate through pages of products, you can use the personal shopper feature. This allows you to enter a keyword and conduct a quick search, the site returning items that you may have been thinking of.
FAQ
Do online flea markets ship internationally?
While we can’t say for sure that all online flea markets do, most have international shipping as an option. However, it will generally cost a bit more.
How long will my items take to come in?
This depends on the location your item is coming from and the shipping you choose at checkout. For example, if you choose basic ground shipping and are ordering an item from the other side of the world, it will probably take a decent chunk of time to arrive.
If you opt for expedited shipping, which usually costs a bit extra, your item will usually arrive in a shorter period of time regardless of where you’re located.
How much does shipping cost?
Again, this depends on the seller. It also depends on how heavy the item is and where it’s being shipped from and to. The best way to figure out shipping costs is by checking out the website you’re buying from for information or sending a direct inquiry.
Are flea market items clean?
Most online flea markets won’t accept items that are dirty. If the market sells clothing, they usually require them to be cleaned before being donated or are washed on site before being sold.
If you’re buying items like common cutlery, plates, and other kitchen or bathroom items, it’s still a good idea to give them a wash before use. Just to be safe!
