Until May 2022, reserving a location at the De Anza Flea Market had to be done by mailing a check, “a long process that is prone to mishaps,” said Flea Market and Special Events Coordinator Dayna Sawanson.

The inefficiency of this process is why the De Anza Student Government started using Marketspread, an online event planning platform, to streamline the process of reserving spots and store information about which spots have been reserved. Marketspread also keeps vendors’ information on hand in case they want to return the following month.

“The college has been working with us to approve the process and with student accounts to get the correct reports in line before we went live with it,” Swanson said.

Now that the platform has been initiated, DASG has begun a “soft opening” of the credit card implementation, with its first offering of use on May 4 with the Hachi market that was set up within the flea market.

Dennis Yu, a member of Gamer’s Heaven, was one of the vendors at Hachi Market and a core part of the push for credit cards, being one of the first vendors to put the new credit card option to use.

“The ability to use credit cards has allowed for a newer generation of vendors, mostly millennials, to feel more comfortable in joining,” Yu said. “Many said that this was the first time they’ve even seen a check since the pandemic.”

Julia Tran, 19, a communications major and attendee of the flea market, said, “It’s a good update for the vendors.”

This change won’t directly affect people shopping at the De Anza flea market. However, there is a possibility of more vendors participating now that there is a more convenient and streamlined option to reserve a spot at the event.