5 tips to get the most out of your Brimfield Flea Market shopping trip

Ever since my family moved about 20 minutes away from Brimfield when I was 12 years old, I have been a Brimfield Flea Market aficionado.

I go at least once a year, but some years to all three shows. When I briefly lived in Florida, I planned my vacations home around the Brimfield shows. I’ve bought multiple pieces of furniture, clothes (both vintage and remade), jewelry, mid-century pottery, glassware, taxidermy, plants and so much more while wandering the fields of Brimfield. I’ve shopped for new apartments, my first house, presents, my wedding and fun. If you can shop for it at Brimfield, I probably have.

The only person I know who goes more than me is not Martha Stewart but my mother, who typically goes with me but also often goes separately on her own. For the July show, she literally went every day (she likes Thursdays and Fridays best, and Saturdays are better than Sundays if you’re going on the weekend).

Over the past two decades, we’ve picked up some advice. Some common – wear good footwear (particularly if it has rained recently as some of the fields have bad drainage), carry cash, be willing to haggle – and some less common.

This week, Sept. 2-7, is the last show of 2025 Brimfield season. If you’re thinking about going and want to have the best time possible, here’s my advice.

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1. Buy something small early from a ‘nice’ vendor

Attitude matters at Brimfield. You want to feel lucky, and buying something small early in your shopping day from a vendor who you like will make you feel like you got off on the right foot. My mom and I often pick up something small, like a Blendo pitcher, a vintage book, a vase, or once an $8 fencing sword (which has since been confiscated by my dad). Typically, we’ve scouted out a vendor who already has prices that we think are reasonable, whom we’ve heard chatting with someone or chatted with ourselves and they don’t sound grumpy, and we look for items under $15 and only haggle off a few dollars.

The first purchase “for luck” does two things. It breaks the ice for you. Now, you’ve practiced talking to a vendor, tested out your haggling skills and (assuming you stuck to the advice to talk to someone who isn’t grumpy) learned that it’s not that hard to talk to vendors. You’re in the zone.

The second thing is, now vendors see you carrying around your purchase and know that you are a buyer, not just a looker. I have no concrete proof of this except decades of going to Brimfield, but I genuinely believe this makes the vendors you encounter for the rest of the day nicer when they talk to you and more willing to offer deals.

2. Shop the unexpected booth for the best deals

My favorite Brimfield purchase I ever made is my dining room table. It’s a vintage tulip-style table that used to be in a school building that I found right when I was furnishing my first apartment after college. It was the only piece of furniture at an art booth, and I didn’t think the seller would sell it to me at first because he clearly needed the table space. But, I asked and he shocked me with a starting price of $50. It was the end of the day and I literally only had $45 in cash left, so he sold it to me for $45. I’ve moved this table to five different places since then and still love it.

Now, if I tried to buy this same table from a dealer who specializes in mid-century furniture, there is absolutely no way I would have found that table at that price. The best deals often come when you’re shopping outside a seller’s specialty. If you want taxidermy, it’s going to be cheaper at a booth that doesn’t have all taxidermy. If you’re looking for vintage clothing, it’s going to be cheaper at a spot where someone hasn’t already identified, washed and cleaned it for you. Be prepared to find the thing you want at an unusual place.

3. If you’re looking for something hard to find, try shopping speciality booths

The inverse of the “shop unexpected booth for the best deals” advice is for when you’re willing to pay a higher price if they have the exact thing you’ve been looking for without success for a long time in good condition. Sometimes vintage shopping is not about the price, but the find after all.

If, for example, you’re looking for a rare piece of vintage Pyrex, there are several booths that specialize in Pyrex and they’re the most likely to have it. Just remember when you look at the price, you’re not just paying for the thing, you’re paying the vendor for having found the thing, taken care of the things, and being willing to part with the thing.

4. Be prepared to buy the thing you want to buy

One of my mom’s biggest flea market regrets is over a heavy cast iron garden gnome that was at a rock bottom price. She wanted it, but didn’t have a good way to carry the very heavy piece, so she passed on it. Then she slept on it, realized she really did want the garden gnome, went back the next day with a dolly, and it was gone. As they say, nothing haunts you like the vintage you didn’t buy.

Now, she keeps a dolly in her car when we go Brimfield (though she also maybe could have asked the vendor for some help, sometimes they will). But there are other ways to be prepared. If you know you want to buy a rug, have the measurements for your space on a note in your phone – same for any furniture you’re considering buying. Don’t just know the measurements of your house though, also know the measurements for what fits in your car.

And it’s not just furniture to prepare for. If you’re looking at buying clothing, while some places do have dressing rooms, consider wearing clothing tight enough that you can slip clothing you want to try on over it.

5. Be nice to the vendors

Magic happens when you’re nice to the vendors. Think of it from their perspective from a minute: they sit in a tent that’s often hot, damp, or some other type of uncomfortable all day; they’ve had to pack up and move everything there; and while I’m sure you, dear reader, are a gem of shopper, other people are taking advice like “don’t be too enthusiastic,” “point out the flaws” or consistently scoffing at the lowest price the vendor is offering even if it’s only $5. It gets old.

My experience, being enthuastic goes a long way. I let the vendors overhear me tell my mom about why I like things. I chat with them about how they collected things. I share stories about my collections or what I’m planning to do with the thing, etc. And, typically, the vendors give me really good prices.

One time, on one particularly magical shopping trip when my mom was charmed by a taxidermy pheasant, she showed so much enthusiasm that the vendor gave it to her for free after she told him where it was going in the house and named it after him. I don’t know if such magic could ever be repeated – it would have to feel really genuine – but I take it as a sign that aloof isn’t the only way to bargain.

Bonus tip: Parking on the west side is cheaper

Most people approach Brimfield from the east, and take the first parking spot they find close to the show, but the secret is that parking is much, much cheaper if you drive through the show and park on the west side. The parking lot I always park in is typically $5 parking compared to the $20 on the east side. That difference in price is where the money can come from to buy that first small thing from a nice vendor.

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