Silverlake Flea

Hipsters, influencers or homeless people. Who's who? lol jk jk

I've been here before. I also frequent other flea markets, swapmeets, thrift stores.

Anyway, a lot of cool finds. I usually go for retro/throwback/vintage toys, hats, memorabilia and rare finds. Plus: free parking, variety, rare items and good deals. Cons: overpriced items, ig kids.

I always have a good time. I take my time and dig through bins and bargain if I can. I just really dislike what instagram and tik tok did to this scene. They blow it up and the price goes up because of hype. A bunch of cool people, vibes, music, weirdos (like me), a bit of everything. Good way to pass time.

I just uploaded photos for y'all to get a glimpse of what it's like. I definitely suggest you check it out. Never mind my sarcasm lol

VENDORS BEWARE - We booked a booth with silverlake flea over a month ago. We were told we'd receive an email with loads in instructions the day before. We did not receive said email, so i called in and no one answered. I left a voicemail and sent an email but got no reply. I called in again, and was told that they had a dedicated coffee vendor the whole time, and that we can't vend. We had already spent tons of money on supplies and started brewing coffee. Our business name is Witch Craft Coffee, and they claimed that they didn't notice until that point that we sold coffee.
They then told lies about us online, and tried to make us out to be aggressors for posting what happened. They acted as if we should have known that they already had a coffee vendor, and started telling people that they had planned to offer us a free booth if we hadn't started in with "cancel culture bullshit" AKA, just holding them accountable for screwing over a small vendor with their carelessness.
The whole thing was obviously a lie though, because they never said anything about this to us, and only started bringing it up to try to make us look bad to others calling them out, but if they wouldnt allow us to use a space wed paid for, why would they suddenly offer us a free one?
The entire saga has been nothing but blatant gaslighting and lies on their behalf, littered with insults on our character for just telling people what they did. These people are scary and exhibit major abuser behavior. We are not the first ones to report this type of thing, as you can see from other yelp comments! Watch out!!!

Ain't nothin like a free flea my friend!

Silverlake Flea Markets been around for a good portion of over 17 years? I've only ever stopped by on Saturday or Sundays that too "when in Rome", that being said I'm no "nubi" to the thrift game!

Lately, Silverlake Flea's been hit or miss, the latter winning by a landslide sadly. I SAY THIS OUT OF LOVE (constructive criticism or a forewarning if you will) because a lot goes on behind the scenes to bring an event to fruition and as an event becomes established such as this one, it requires less of a boots on the ground approach from coordinators (and rightly so). Unless of course something in the pipeline is compromised...

In this case, the primary glue holding the event together are the vendors. The last few years the vendors have been peddling low quality clothing, however last Sunday was NO BUENO. 2-3 booths had multiple Salvation Army and Goodwill REJECT items. Yaknow...items likely deemed "unfit to sell" due to the EXTREME tears at the seams? Looks like "hanging on by a thread" has a new meaning. I'm not talking about a slight tear, little fading or lost button here. The leather jacket's lining is exposed and stuffing is spilling out from it. Gigantic gashes like did this BELONG to Freddy Krueger or did it just lose in a fight against him? (Mind you, this wasn't a booth selling horror items either.) If you offered this and similar pieces for free to the patrons they'd think it's a prank.

"One can only give from what they have" thus such products being sold means the vendor quality itself has declined. Thing about that is many vendors are neither here nor there, especially if they aren't branded and thus have the benefit of anonymity, relying on the flea markets' attendance to sell but what about when that love isn't reciprocated and the vendor brings trash to your lot? Does that not put the reputation of a beloved and long standing flea at stake? Uhhh huh.

Let's clear the air, I ain't uppity. It's a moral obligation to call it out now because:

1) Vendors like this typically give thrifting, second hand or upcycling a bad name.

2) Event producers and coordinators deserve respect, but a few vendors risk bringing down the flea market's reputation.

3) Dear vendors (you know who you are)...Either it's an "honest mistake" and you just need to be more cognizant by stepping up your purchasing game. OR you're being lazy / think your slick tryna "pass" pieces with 0% purchase value and please beaux it's not quaint or "cute" it's old and beyond new ownership, so do the material justice and put it in the recycling caddy where it belongs so it can be shredded and the material can be reused bruh.

Either the coordinators will take a back seat on the matter, practice the "free market" and or defend the booths or their process. This would be a short term attempt at saving the brand reputation. Or they may realize the only way to keep the flea from having to salvage its name in the next 2 years is through preventative measures. Idk what that looks like for them but no honorable booth should have an issue if the flea writes in some sort of quality control & assurance clause in the vendor agreement that states the clothing being sold "must be acceptable" and definitely define the terms of acceptability more precisely.

Interested to see what action may or may not be implemented by the organizers. I'll likely pop by again once more during the year and one more time next year to report any positive changes. If there isn't an update, it's likely there wasn't any change.

PS. Besides the booths that disappoint you can find a few good local jewelry artisans, and even 2-3 local clothing brands that obviously sell quality pieces since their brand is at stake. Grab a cup of coffee and take a stroll IF you're around.

Lots of different vendors at this huge market but it's very difficult to find anything good because of the overwhelming options. Very very few vendors (if any) have changing rooms which also makes it quite difficult to shop.

Street parking is ample but you may have to walk a bit.

So so soooo many cute items be resold at this location. It's open for the weekend so you have multiple chances to visit. I would say that the prices are sort of steep for items that are thrifted for a low price. However it is nice to see that the vendors have $10 racks with decent items for sale. There is a plethora of styles available and I was able to grab a few rad items from different vendors. The service is definitely worth visiting at the end of the day.

If you're looking for something trendy and expensive, this is the spot for you. Otherwise, it's best to hit the thrift shops.

Such a wide variety of mens and women's clothing options plus the cutest trinkets!! 5 stars to all the vendors who I met and all so hard working, loads of local artist, go support!

If I could give 0 stars, I would. Unfortunately, the owner treats the vendors so poorly.
No need to be rude or a bully to young woman who are trying to make a living.

go check out some other flea markets the area. Don't support a rude owner.

Every time we stop by, we find something interesting.
Love the Silverlake Flea Market , so much of unique mix of vintage clothing, accessories, art, jewelry. Fantastic place with lots of gems.
If you are flea market lover -- you'll want to add this place to your regular circuit of stops.
Highly recommended!!!!

I stopped by this flea on a whim since it's free admission, which is always a plus! I estimate maybe around no more than 25ish vendors on this day, which was fine but there was not much variety. 90% of stalls sold clothes, most of which were faded, worn out, and seemed to be overpriced goodwill items. A couple stalls sold jewelry which was refreshing, and 1-2 coffee/food vendors. The vendors that I interacted with were friendly, but overall I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to come here.