The Brimfield Antique Show and Flea Market is a magical and amazing place, and if you’re lucky enough to live within driving distance it’s well worth the trip. Since it’s coming up next week (Sep 6- 11), we thought we’d share a few tips we’ve learned from our various trips there (read more about those here and here) in case it’s helpful. And if you have any tips of your own, please add in the comments section!
1) The first field (near church, big yellow tent at corner) is our favorite and best for affordable furniture. Don’t rush through it thinking that the rest will be just as good — take your time here.
2) Each field is different. If you go into one and the first row of shops isn’t the vibe you want, don’t press on — head to another one. You won’t run out of stuff to see so you might as well optimize by seeing the best stuff. There are some strange things at Brimfield, and it’s okay to move right along — for instance if you’re not in the market for a giant lizard:
Or headless sewing forms:
3) The best food is from some food trucks about halfway down the main stretch. Don’t think you need to eat a boring burger or sandwich just because that is what you see in the first few fields. If you keep going down the road there are good options like BBQ or a health food truck (falafel, salad) that won’t weigh you down. Also, there’s ice cream.
4) Bring and wear sunscreen. There’s like zero shade.
5) Give your name to Flea Market Flip producers and they might make you a reality TV star. But if hypothetically they did, you wouldn’t be able to talk about it on your hypothetical blog yet. Hypothetically.
6) If you like something, invest time to chat with the vendor — they’re usually doing this for the love of it and can be emotionally swayed to give good deals. We both hate negotiating, but it’s expected and welcomed at Brimfield.
7) Also, ask the vendor for the story behind what you’re buying. The guy who we bought these awesome chairs from told us all about how he’d bought ninety of them from a hotel that was closing for about $23 a pop. We bought two, fixed them up (with new webbing and furniture polish), and now one lives in Sage’s living room and we sold the other for a nice profit. Knowing the story behind them was so helpful when we turned around to make our own sale!
So those are our main tips for shopping Brimfield. We’re bummed that we can’t go next week, but we’d love to live vicariously through you so if you make it there tell us what you find and share any tips you have for a successful trip!
Darn. I was hoping you were going so I could experience it again vicariously through YOU!
I’m nowhere near Brimfield, but anyway that week I’ll be in a retro yellow cottage on an island in Georgia! My first vacation in decades, and I just hope it doesn’t hurricane.
Have fun!!!! Even if it’s indoors cozying up with a good book!
Could you have hung those too tall windows horizontally?
I’m sure they could be hung horizontally, but neither of us have a stretch of wall (or window) quite that long either — these are for houses on a very different scale than ours 🙂