shipshewana flea market

I am by no stretch of imagination a shopper, much less a flea market shopper. But I was so impressed by the offerings and prices here I had to make a trip to the ATM to refill my wallet and my wife had to keep making trips back to our truck to stow our purchases. We only got thru 1/2 of it before my knees gave out. They are only open a few days a week....

Take a glimpse into the Amish and Mennonite ways of life. You can walk around town the storesare close to each other. Sit down and have a family style dinner. Take a horsedrawn buggy ride. Watch how hard the Amish work. There are farms in the area that you can visit and learn about the Amish farms. The flea market has rows and rows of goods for sale. If you look up Shipshewana,Indiana they have calendar of events so you can make your plans.

This flea market is so large that I just saw about 1/3 of it. There were many booths that were selling new products. It was not the type of flea market that I enjoy looking for good buys on used items.

We visited this past Oct 2014 as we had in the past years. First bad sign - Prepared with parking money in hand there was no one there to collect sign. Second bad sign - nearly all the stall vendors were selling chink junk. Third bad sign - virtually no one at the auction barn. We bought some Amish groceries and left. We won't be returning!

I have been to a million swap meets all over the world over the last fifty years. This great swap meet is the only one that I am aware of that takes place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the summer with the exception that it is open for holiday weekends at specific times, check their website for those dates. I LOVE Junk. There is a small part of this swap meet that has junk and collectibles, but is predominantly new clothing, new everything else. I buy my jeweled sweatshirts here for about $15 each that zip up the front. There are clever sayings on them and none like them anywhere else I have ever gone. There are new kitchen items and shoes, but again, very little of what I collect which is antiques and collectible junk. There are vendors selling food, vegetables, house plants, gardening stuff, dressesoutdoor flags and yard stuff. Some of the prices are not swap meet prices but if you shop around, you can find what you want reasonable. What really is interesting is the Wednesday auction! They sell anything and everything at auction with about 12 auctions going under the same roof at one time. I usually choose Weds. to go. Over all, not that much collectible junk in the flea market but definitely inside the auction. SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE!

This is the best flea market I have ever been to. Have been 2 times and not disappointed either time, Always find something, and everything I am looking for. Be prepared to spend the whole day, it is worth it.

We visited last summer when we were already in the area visiting my extended family. I thought there was a good mix of vendors, food and non-food, old and new, clothes and household. In my hometown (Virginia Beach, VA) we have several out door festivals. I found similar items at the Shipshe flea market (dresses, jewelry, bags, etc) that the vendors at the festivals back home sell, but at much more reasonable prices. It was definitely a neat place to explore and walk around.

It was not really a flea market. I was expecting home made goods from local vendors, hopefully some antiques or old junk from the area. Instead it was the world's largest dollar store with new junk made in China. I read that this was the best flea market in the midwest. We heard from some folks in South Bend that this used to be a lot better in past years than it is now,I live fairly close to Amish Country in Pennsylvania, was hoping the Amish area in Indiana would be similar. Sadly, Shipshewana is not anything like Lancaster. A disappointing stop on our midwest roadtrip

We visit the flea market about every other year. It's still a fun experience. You have to visit in spring or September when the kids are in school (otherwise the place is mobbed). Summer is hot and dusty. Sept you find some great deals on fruits and veges. The market itself has some repeats when it comes to the vendors, but it's still a neat day trip. If you plan it right, you can also hit some of the fun shops in Shipshewana, and find a nice lunch or supper. It's worth the trip!

The flea market was closed the day we went. I think it is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only. So we went to the auction barn to watch the Horse auction. This was an amazing experience. I took my two granddaughters who are horse crazy. And granny is too! We were spell bound and could not leave until it was over. Now do not think this is a touristy place. It's dirty and smelly and if you have breathing issues or allergies to dust and barn 'stuff' stay away. And most of the bidders are Amish men who are not real friendly so just stay out of their way and sit down and watch. And have fun trying to understand the auctioneer who spits all the time. He's really funny. You can buy a beautiful horse for 500.00. We did not see any go for over 1000.00. After it was over we went next door to a really nice building that had shopping and eating and really COOL air. You have to try the pretzels sold at a little shop upstairs. WONDERFUL! Since we were not there on the flea market days we plan to go back next year.

We were expecting a lot of vendors with garage sale type stuff, but it was mostly cheap Chinese dollar store items. I must point out we did go at the end of the season on a cold October day. The vendors were cheerful and enjoyable to talk too, despite the weather.

we visited the flea market on the last two days it was open. There were very few stores open, more places were closed than were open. However the vendors are very nice. They only took cash or personal checks, we only found 1 vendor that accepted credit cards. So lesson learned, BRING CASH. mostly personal goods like clothing and toys but you can find a bit of everything there. I found a great ice cream scoop at a kitchen gadgets store. They rent scooters for $10/hr if you can not walk or stand that long. They also had a live animal auction while we were there. Just don't wait until the last few days to go.

We waited to visit the flea market until it almost closed thinking bargains would be in the making.More than half of the vendors were already closed for the year. Actually, no bargains were to behad by us.Think maybe if we visit again, it would be late in the summer. Most vendors didn't mention anydeals the day before closing.

They advertise being open through October BUT most vendors were closed and the majority that were open were selling new plastic goods besides a few Amish vendors selling food. In the area where we found a few flea/antiques they were just setting up an hour after opening. We decided to drive 3.5 hours to Shipshewana because we read reviews that it was the largest flea in the midwest AND the prior day we attended one in Cincinnati (Burlington Flea Market) that was packed out (even in the rain) with quality antique goods so we thought Shipshewana would be similar since we've never attended. Even though we really enjoyed the surrounding area for dinner, hotel etc. the Shipshewana Flea Market is oversold and the seemingly 90% new goods was discouraging.

I returned back to Indiana to visit for a couple of weeks and I had to make sure that I came to the Flea Market. I always loved going at least a couple of times a year. It was mid September and I have to say many of the stalls were missing, but that didn't mean I bought any less items! I always love going as there is always a "new hot item" each year. I always buy my perfume there as it's much cheaper, garden ornaments and food items. It was a fun day out, one that I hope I can come back and do again soon.