Locals call it the “flea market” or the “Thieves’ Market.”
The streets around 16th and Mission have been a place to trade stolen or salvaged goods for decades, and a public secret that operated in plain view, up until a crackdown began in earnest in July.
These photos were taken before that, in June 2025.
Despite the chaos, there was a loose order. Regular sellers claimed the same spots. Buyers know who deals weed, who brings sweets, who always has hygiene products.
Some sellers clearly worked with shoplifting crews. Others just as clearly collected from dumpsters, sidewalks or food banks. The result was a constantly shifting mix of the stolen and the salvaged.
City leaders describe the market as a symptom of larger failures. Up close, it is more direct: A survival economy. A deodorant stick for a few dollars. A pair of sneakers for ten. A pint of ice cream for a hit.
The biggest swell happens on weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays in June, and for many months before, entire blocks extending from 16th down Mission Street filled with sellers, while weekdays were thinner and more sporadic.
The inventory is unpredictable. Sneakers, jackets, toys, tools, electronics, flowers, food. A man laid out Barbie dolls in a row next to loose batteries. Another showed off a pair of Spongebob Crocs as if they were gold: “They’re gonna sell high.”
Roses in supermarket plastic were spread on the pavement, sold by the stem. Surveillance cameras, yanked from buildings, sat in piles beside a sleeping dog. A Zidane jersey dangled in the sun.
Older Asian vendors sold fresh produce, snacks, and canned goods from local food pantries, lined neatly on tarps or shopping carts. Sweets were a steady seller: Ice cream, cookies, sodas, candy.
Some of the strongest currencies were hygiene and cleaning products. Deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo and detergent. Unlike drugs, everyone needs them. At night, one desperate-looking man traded Gillette deodorant for foil and a lighter.
Food was another steady seller, especially anything sweet or creamy. Ice cream pints, cookies, sodas, candy; the same cravings that drive the Tenderloin’s “Crack ‘n’ Cereal” nights keep the Mission Market moving.
Trades could be as telling as sales. At night, one man swapped a stick of Gillette deodorant for foil and a lighter. Another displayed a vintage $5 bill in a plastic sleeve, hoping someone would pay more than face value.
The Thieves’ Market has a long history. Police sweep through from time to time, confiscating goods and pushing sellers off the sidewalks. But, up until July, the market always came back.
Lawlessness is lawlessness
Come on Sf
Get it together
Increase the penalty
Thugs , thieves , freeloaders , waste products , thugs , addicts ,dealers get free reign and support by the taxayers
This is not correct.
Get this crap
Off the streets .
They will rob us blind .
Your taxpayer money goes to these waste products .
Clean it up.
Zero tolerance .
They are running this place into the ground
You do not need drugs to survive. You need them to get high. Stealing to get high should not be tacitly condoned and I’m glad the city is finally being firm about it. Good riddance.
Aside from the city funded nonprofits, these people who do not vote in D9 are Jackie Fielder’s true primary constituency. She’s good with Lurie displacing public squalor from the TL and SOMA to The North Mission.
So long as Bernal and Portola are in good shape, Fielder has nothing to worry about.
“Survival Economy” — seriously?
Excuse me for explaining what the person who wrote the headline… doesn’t know? Or just missed? It’s not a pawn shop unless you can borrow money using some item as collateral. This is what the term “pawn shop” means. No mention of such transactions in the article…? I realize this is pedantic but I guess I hold ml to a standard that doesn’t allow misuse of common English words.
This city cares about parking enforcement, but not at all about selling stolen goods.
Confiscate everything being sold/traded and arrest the dealers.
People selling their food bank foods should be prohibited from the food banks for a month or two each time they get caught. Times are hard for us all, but no one should be doing this stuff.
Is the command van still out there? Has Lurie showed his face out there recently?
Those poor dogs. They didn’t choose this life.
Trust me, those dogs are well taken care of. Homeless people that have pets will usually make sure that they eat before themselves. They can be their only companion.
I see no reason to trust someone who is so obviously incorrect about the state of things with regards to these poor dogs.
Too busy palling it up with Manny and former Breedites.
The city and charities provide free food, free shelter, free medical services. These aren’t people “surviving”. These are people exploiting our community and terrorizing all of the honest people that make this city great. Shame on you
The sad thing is that people are disregarding the law. After all, the law is the law and no one is above it. San Francisco offers so many free programs to help those in need. Too many people just wan to cut in line in life and not wait for things. They feel entitled like someone owes them something just because they have less. We all make choices in life and we as individuals are exactly where we are in life based on those choices. I have no sympathy for people who choose to take from others and cut in line. If you’re going to take anything, try taking responsibility.