I am under the impression that ALL of these reality shows are just productions with minimal reality. I have seen Flea Market Flip, and the whole concept seems absurd. I spent many years going to many Garage Sales and more recently home auctions. Prices are usually very low. Flea Markets do seem to be a slightly different case because one has to transport stuff to it that make sellers look for higher prices. Yes, I can't imagine why anyone would pay anything for most of the stuff that get made on this show.

They also have a crew of 4 people who make the concept happen - welding, reupholstering, etc.

I do watch the show and I agree that I find it hard to believe that people would pay that much money for things I think are ugly, non functional and just too out there. It is just like storage wars...all a set up.

I assumed the prices were so high because the markets are in or near NYC. The junk they buy to flip seems so overpriced--$50 for a rickety dresser???? We don't have any flea markets here, so I don't know what prices are like.

And I didn't like the ladder/fishing float light at all. The floats needed to be much bigger to be in scale with the ladder.

But sometimes they have great ideas or techniques that I just love, and I've incorporated some in my projects.

I watch the show just because the choices on tv at the time are equally dismal. I think that the idea may be good, but what they do is not something the average person can do. Like you said they have expert help and the necessary tools to do the project. At the end of the day most of the stuff still looks horrible and you would need to pay me to remove it. I would much rather see something that you could do without table saws, paint booths, welders and lathes.