The premise of HGTV's Flea Market Flip is simple: two teams are given $500 to buy three
pieces of furniture at a flea market.
Then they get a day to completely transform them into something creative and new, all
in the hopes of making the biggest profit by reselling them at a flea market the next
day.
Whoever makes the biggest profit wins a $5,000 prize.
But what's really going on behind the scenes of this hot reality show?
Here are the secrets behind Flea Market Flip.
Sneak peek
Even though the show makes a big deal out of the time limit on the shopping day, it
turns out that some contestants get the chance to scout the flea market before filming begins.
Flea Market Flip contestant Sarah Trop divulged the fact that multiple episodes of the show
are usually filmed at one time, which means that some teams waiting for their turn to
film get to browse the market for a while.
But while some contestants seem to get more browsing time than others, Sarah did mention
that contestants "can't talk to any vendor for any reason" before their official hour
countdown starts.
Upcycle
In an interview with SheKnows, host Lara Spencer responded to a question about "the craziest
item she's seen flipped," by saying she was once "completely blown away" by contestants
who purchased an antique bicycle and completely rehauled it in one day into a rolling bar.
In the end, they sold it for over $1,000.
You have to respect that kind of creativity, even if few people are clamoring to buy a
bicycle table.
Spencer called the project "One of a kind.
It was so chic, totally unique, and I would've never thought of it."
Honestly, anyone who can transform a bike into a piece of furniture deserves to be on
TV.
Trash talk
As the show piles on season after successful season, contestants have begun to see what's
worked for past contestants and using that information to become even more competitive
— not to mention more confident.
In an interview with Parade, Lara Spencer said:
"The trash-talking, no pun intended, has also heated up exponentially.
These teams have seen the show so they have their own take on how they'll win and they
are super competitive."
If you've seen the show, you know it features plenty of light-hearted rivalry.
"Those other girls better be worried."
"They better look out."
"That's a lot of big talk but the proof is in the booth."
So is the intensifying trash-talking a result of pure competitiveness, or is it encouraged
by the producers?
Unfortunately, Spencer didn't say.
Sign here
The negotiations you see happening during the "buying period" when contestants are looking
for their raw materials may not end up on the screen exactly the way they happened in
real life.
As former contestant Sarah Trop wrote on her blog, any of the flea market sellers they
wanted to buy from had to first legally agree to be on the show.
"They have to stop to have the people selling at the flea sign waivers saying they would
be on TV, and stop to film from different angles and have us explain why we bought what
we did."
So while you may see what appears like a heated negotiation on the final cut of the show,
chances are everyone already knows that they're going to make the deal in the end.
"Would you do 80 for it?"
"No, haha.
100 is good."
"100 is good?
90?"
"90.
Look at that!"
Planning time
Nowhere in the show does anyone actually say how much time passes between when the contestants
buy their raw flea market finds and when they head to the workshop.
But it turns out contestants can find themselves with several days or more to work out their
designs.
According to one former contestant, she and her partner Jill waited four days between
buying their pieces and getting their hands dirty in the workshop.
Professional help
Each team has "helpers" in the workshop on build day to assist them in making their design
dreams a reality.
You usually see them on the show offering advice or lending a helping hand, but it turns
out that these expert craftsmen sometimes take the lead on what actual work needs to
be done.
In a blog post, former contestant Charlotte Smith wrote that the show's in-house craftsmen
actually "did a lion's share of the work" on some of her projects.
"That scares me, look at all the sparks flying."
Faking it
Contestants on this HGTV favorite sometimes get to flaunt their acting skills as well
as their flipping skills.
Since multiple episodes are often being filmed on the same days, the host and camera crews
aren't always available to catch something while it happens live.
That means contestants, and even buyers, need to be prepared to reenact what happened for
the cameras.
For example, two former contestants wrote that their entire selling day had already
come to a close by the time Lara Spencer could shoot footage with their team.
In fact, they thought they'd already lost, writing:
"Lara arrived to shoot her scenes with us and we were feeling bummed, but we had to
perk up and film all of the scenes for the day, including getting set up and pretending
the day hadn't happened yet."
Spoiler alert: They had actually won!
Fan buys
So who are all these people dropping hundreds of dollars on-camera?
Most are regular flea market customers, but every now and then a fan of the show might
slip in.
The show's official social media pages sometimes alerts their followers to a filming location
a few days before filming.
Other times, the local news shares the info.
That happened in a 2015 article in the Queens Courier, which said, "Visitors are encouraged
to come down to the LIC Flea for a chance to be on TV and pick up some rare finds for
their homes."
Sounds like Flea Market Flip is truly built on its fans.
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