Started in 2020 by Andres Vega, the 562 Flea market was initially located in Whittier and moved locations multiple times before settling in Long Beach in September. This year, 562 Flea was voted as the best place to drip for less.
The most recent event on Nov. 6 at Long Beach City College’s Pacific Coast Campus featured over 150 vendors selling vintage clothes, collectibles, shoes and jewelry.
There were also food and drink vendors and raffles hosted by Vega for items like a Nintendo Switch and cash to spend at the flea.
“I want to grow and I want all my vendors to grow, and I think this is a good place for that,” Vega said.
Ensuring a path to growth has been part of the reason why vendors like Chelsey Lopez who sells handpicked pieces from the 1990s and 2000s have continued selling at 562 for more than a year.
“The community is super amazing which brings many of us to 562,” Lopez said. “You meet the coolest people who all support each other.”
Beginning as a way for Vega to get rid of extra clothes, the 562 Flea Market has exploded in popularity and is nearing 72,000 Instagram followers.
“The first event went really well and we just kept going. Then the second event we had new articles from Cal State Fullerton and other places,” Vega said. “I was always afraid of, like, if I stopped I was going to lose the momentum, so I just kept doing it.”
562 Flea hosts between two to three events monthly and the occasional themed event where admission is free if attendees wear certain themed attire.
All of the events in Long Beach have been free to this point, although that hasn’t prevented them from still doing attire-based raffles.
Vega has taken a step back from selling clothes and is now focused on building its brand. The 562 Flea has their own booth where they sell branded hats, t-shirts and totes.
Vintage clothing isn’t always affordable but 562 Flea and its vendors do their best to offer fashion-savvy consumers an opportunity to strike some deals, even if that means haggling.
One perk of the digital age is that many of the vendors at 562 Flea accept alternative forms of payment such as Venmo, PayPal and Apple Pay. Carrying large amounts of cash is not necessary to hunt down some vintage acquisitions.
Clothing vendors have three options for the size of their lot with a 10×10 space costing $100, a 10×20 at $145 and a 10×30 at $170.
The 562 Flea markets itself is a safe place and prioritizes finding sellers who identify as women, LGBTQ+, and POC. According to Vega, the market is “by POC for POC.”
“This is a progressive bunch of workers who created a fashion scene from the ground up since the beginning of the pandemic,” frequent vendor Reginald Samilin said.
Samilin, like Lopez, has continued to work with 562 because of the connections he has built. Each event is an opportunity for the vintage seller to run into old customers and friends.
Events dates and locations can be found on the 562 Flea’s Instagram. This includes day events from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and night events from 2 a.m. to 9 p.m.
