Markets/ Flea Markets

PAinPalermo

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Hey,

Had a question about Markets/flea markets. What are the best ones, are some better for certain things. Not looking for anything in particular, but would like to do some browsing this weekend. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Paul
 
There is a market at Plaza Francia every weekend that is great.
If you have an afternoon to spare go to the San Telmo market (Last stop on the green line at Catadral) It took me about 3 hours to get through it all.
Good luck!
Geoff
 
San Telmo is one of the best for antiques. Plaza Francia is expensive from my experience and it is geared mainly to tourists. But it is nice to look around.

There is also a big one every Saturday and Sunday at Parque Centenario where you are going to find toys, cds and every day little items that are fairly affordable.
 
I disagree that San Telmo is the best for antiques. You can certainly find antiques there, but they are pretty expensive--well marked up for the tourist set. I'd recommend Mercado de las Pulgas for antiques (furniture, lamps, etc.) at much better prices.

Parque Centenario on the weekends is also sort of like a giant flea market (+used books) as va2ba mentioned. I bought a pretty nice steel german kitchen knife there for $17 pesos, a bed for my cat, and we even bought some decent tools.

Although plaza Serrano, the feria outside of Recoleta cemetary and the San Telmo street fair are very touristy (and prices reflect that sometimes more than others, but there are still deals to be had) but are good places especially to buy gifts or souveniers. Plaza Serrano offers some good prices on clothing, and they all offer selections of purses, jewelry, art, clothing, and random odds and ends (I got some cool ceramic plates at the Recoleta feria, and bought nearly all my gifts for a visit back home in San Telmo).

The feria at Mataderos also offers artesenal items, but more uniquely offers some different food items from out in the provincia such as salami, olive oil, and cheeses.
 
MizzMarr said:
I'd recommend Mercado de las Pulgas for antiques (furniture, lamps, etc.) at much better prices.

Out of curiosity, where and when is the Mercado de las Pulgas. I've never heard of it.
 
The Pulgas is at Dorrego y Niceto Vega, in Palermo Hollywood.
its a fixed market, open 6 days a week, and the vendors have permanent spaces. Its primarily furniture, although there are a few specialists in china and glassware, one lady who has antique textiles, and a couple of knickknack vendors.
The neighborhood around the pulgas has a lot of antique stores as well. And usually they are cheaper than the ones on Defensa.

here is the city web page on ferias-
http://www.buenosaires.gov.ar/areas/cultura/parair/paseos.php?menu_id=11229

It really depends on what you are looking for.

For more unusual, higher end antiques, I do think the San Telmo sunday market is pretty good. The tourists actually only buy cheap crap, mostly- the higher priced stuff is usually sold to Argentine collectors- for instance, there is one dealer who specializes in art deco and 40's jewelry, which is small and subtle. Its a good place to find name designer craft jewelry from the 50's as well- there is a well known Argentine jeweler, I forget her name, who does big chunky modernist sterling silver stuff, very collectible, and there are a couple of dealers at San Telmo who often have it. I collect miniature anvils and pinguinos- and good ones of both are pretty rare, but almost always present at San Telmo. Not Cheap. But where else you gonna find a whole booth of 40's and 50's designer handbags in perfect condition?

I like the Parque Centenario, and the nearby Parque de los Andes ferias, (Parque de los andes is Corrientes y Jorge Newberry, Dorrego stop on the B line) which are on weekends, for more mundane, garage sale stuff- seldom will you see the really killer high end pieces there, but prices are better, and the mix of old and new, trash and kitsch and used heavy metal LPs and new incense and leopard skin G strings is a lot of fun.
I never see tourists at either one, so I kinda doubt they are "tourist priced".

As a 40 year long maker of crafts myself, I gotta say I am less than bowled over by either the plaza Serrano or the Recoleta Cemetary ferias- bad hippy crafts, with the rare innovative quality maker.

There are tiny antique stores everywhere in the city, and, often you find amazing stuff in them. Prices vary, up to a point- but its hard to find somebody who is giving away gold, or diamonds, and most antiques that are actually valuable tend to have baseline prices, and then Recoleta or Defensa multipliers.

Certain antiques in argentina sell for as much, and sometimes even MORE than world prices- Good knives, for example, quality antique fountain pens, and so on. The real deals are on heavier items that tend to not get taken on airplanes- big furniture, chandeliers, stuff like that. But foreign collectors have discovered Argentina- I was at a friend's antique store a year or so ago, and he was packing up a container for a Russian Ogliarch, who had bought an entire castle, unfurnished, in Latvia or Estonia, and was buying huge amounts of antiques here- I heard 30 to 40 glass chandeliers, dozens of chairs and tables, shelves and chests. Every major antique dealer in town was cashing in. By euro standards, that kind of thing, even at the expensive stores, is dirt cheap here.
 
va2ba said:
Out of curiosity, where and when is the Mercado de las Pulgas. I've never heard of it.

I think it's open every day from 10-6 (they have been renovating the old structure for awhile now, not sure if it's complete or if the hours have been affected), and you can find it at Niceto Vega ~200 block, between Dorrego and Concepcion Arenales in Palermo Hollywood :) It's pretty cool! But as Ries said, there isn't necessarily a lot of "high end" stuff, and she's right about the antique jewelry being in San Telmo.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that there is also a weekend feria in San Isidro in the plaza right by the Tren de la Costa stop (sorry, I forget the name) that has some stand-out items (or, did last I was there). I wasn't looking for home items at the time, but remember seeing some beautiful ceramic wear out there for dirt cheap (granted, this was awhile ago [2 years?] but a vase for example that cost $45 pesos out there would cost at least $200 pesos in town--I would wager that since then the values have at least doubled, but even still those vases that I remember would be quite a deal at under $100 pesos each. YMMV and prices have probably changed a lot).

Speaking of antiques, there's also a weekend antiques outdoor "mall" type event with various vendors selling their wares along the TDLC tracks at Barrancas. Varying styles and types of things, some nice, some refurbished, some junk. Fun to wander, regardless.
 
Matadores blows all the other flea markets out of the water as far as Im concerned
 
I am a boy.

The Barrancas market is fun- we took the kids there a couple of years ago, you have to take the Tren de La Costa (well, you dont HAVE to- you could walk a mile or so from the other train, but its easier) and its pretty, quiet, and far from the hustle and bustle of the centro. The vendors are right on the train platform, its shady and peaceful. There is pretty quality stuff there- old movie posters, automobilia, some jewelry and glassware. Its right next to the Peru Beach resort, my kids liked that, they got hamburgers and did some sporty stuff.

I have gotten great deals on things at the Pulgas, but you have to go often, as the good stuff goes fast. Particularly antique furniture. Good mid century modern, for example, has a small but dedicated group of Porteno Collectors- I have had people at my apartment say- "you bought that? I wanted that"- but you have to be quick. I got some wonderful 50's colored glass deco style light fixtures there, the woman had bought out the entire factory samples when it closed- but suddenly, it was all gone. Some things sit there for years, then suddenly vanish. Other things last a day.
They are building an entire new Pulgas right next door- its only about 2 years past its announced opening date now- but most of the vendors will just move right over. I am sure a few will drop out, as no doubt the rents will go up.
I dunno why- the old one is just fine. It doesnt leak.
 
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