I try to go to a couple of swap meets a year. I'm not building anything right now (I believe I'm done building), but there are always a few things I have on the list I need for what I have already built. Those swap meets have become a time to spend a few hours with my son and maybe find something on his list or mine (he still has projects, but not HAMB friendly). Even if I don't buy anything at the swap meet, by the end of the day it has costs me about $75 just to participate. If it wasn't for being able to spending time with my son, it probably wouldn't be worth the expense. While at the swap meets, we tend to move along looking for the things on our lists. Might stop to shoot a couple bulls if we bump into someone we have not seen for a while, but talking with venders is usually not something we get into, unless it is concerning something we might be interested in that they have. I have been known to buy something that may have caught my eye to use as a wall decoration on my shop wall, but it has to be cheap, and easy to carry.
I never heard of that one, and I guess I never had the need to do it. 8 tracks always worked for me back in the day. Thanks.
Favorite swaps for me in the past was Monroe, Portland and the annual swaps that would take place over in Puyallup. Of course the June Yakima Swap Meet. Went to it in June. The AG museum is a far better place to have it than at the Fair Grounds.
This is not directed at the OP or anyone in particular, just an observation based on years of swap meets. Something I’ve learned as a long-time vendor is that getting caught up in long conversations can cost you sales. Most serious shoppers want to be left alone. But when they’re ready to buy, the vendor needs to be ready to sell. Here’s a buying scenario that shouldn't happen but does: I’m looking at a table and spot something cool. It’s not something I was looking for in particular, but now that I’ve seen it I’m intrigued. But there’s no price on it. So I raise my eyes and scan the people in the booth. There’s a bunch of guys around me looking at parts, and three guys yukking it up on the far side. Nobody returns my gaze. OK, I figure the vendor wouldn’t be intently checking out his own stuff, so it’s got to be one of the three gabbers. So I pick up the part and walk over. I smile and try to make eye contact. Nobody acknowledges me, they just keep yakking while I’m standing there like the uncool kid in the lunch line. Finally I’m forced to interrupt: “Hey guys, sorry to butt in, but is this your stuff?” Usually it goes OK from here, but sometimes it gets unpleasant. The vendor makes a snarky quip in an effort to score a few laughs at my expense. At this point, it’s nearing hopeless. Finally the guy shoots me a price, and any counteroffer will elicit more snarky quips from the buddies. Seems I'm everybody's straight man. Now I don’t even want the thing, it will just remind me of my encounter with these assholes. I give them an “OK, thanks,” set it back on the table and move on. Many serious buyers have had this happen just often enough that if they don’t see a price and/or don’t get an acknowledgement when they’re initially looking for the seller, they just move on. Maybe not on rare high-dollar stuff. But certainly on impulse buys, like accessories, wall-hangers and etc. As a seller, I avoid lengthy conversations in my stalls. Especially in the early hours when most of the buying happens. And when I do get in a conversation, I continually scan my stalls. When I see that tell-tale lookup, I will drop that conversation mid-sentence to attend to the buyer. I’m there to sell.
Fully agree, I've definitely been that guy many times. Sometimes I just put the thing back down and walk away. I am not going to stand there for 10 minutes while people talk about their knee surgery or whatever. But there's 2 issues here, and the first and foremost one is that the part didn't have a price on it to begin with. I'll never understand why sellers don't put prices on stuff. You really gonna make me ask about every little piece? Most unpriced stuff I just figure they want too much and walk on. And if I'm making the offer, I'll start LOW. Even with prices though, sometimes I want to make an offer or ask a simple question about it and I'm met with an impenetrable wall of babbling. That's poor salesmanship.
I learned years ago, to always have a black magic marker and a piece of soapstone in my pocket, to be helpful and write a proper price on what ever isn't marked with a price that is affordable, but this only works on such items that are cheap in the first place. Don't try it on a vintage Mallory dual point distributor ! Your results may vary !
Oh, I get it, or use a folded up napkin or whatever you can find, especially with those .99 "various artists" tapes.....
Back to the OPs observation regrading ages. Let’s face it, a rusted out hulk goes for what the younger crowd can pay for a running import. 6 months later they’ve been spending a portioning of their paycheck and have 50% more power and “fancied it up”. Funny thing, I go with my oldest daughter every so often to a show and swap (yeah, she’s an import gal) and the swap is loaded with the “younger” crowd. I don’t see many folks my age.
I totally agree. I'm the guy/buyer that has cash in pocket, quickly scans booths, knows what I want, and want to do this quickly, so I can move onto the next booth.
Along with @ClarkH , I’ve been the odd man out when asking for a price as well. Now days I’ll only ask on something I really want or need, the “that would be nice” to have stuff? Well, if it doesn’t have a price on it, I just keep looking. I figure if a person doesn’t have the time to price it, I don’t have the time to ask.
...and if you lived in a climate with cold winters, warming the tape up on the defroster vent before inserting it into the tape player on a subzero morning.
I've encountered that a lot and it's frustrating. The other related thing I've encountered is older guys not taking me seriously. I'm at a swap meet with 3 retired guys and we're scanning all the booths as we go by. My friends are not building a car or looking for any significant parts, just odds and ends here and there. I'm the younger guy with more disposable income and actively trying to find certain stuff for my project. At 37, this is finally happening less, but often when I was in my 20's to mid-30's the guy at the booth wouldn't give me the time of day. I've had to run the gauntlet to prove I knew what I was looking at for some older guys to want to even consider selling to me. Extremely frustrating. Want more interest in the hobby? Don't alienate young people who are fully invested in it.
I hit every good swap meet in my state, and even go out of state every once in a while. I have sold at swaps in the past, but not near as much as I am buying. I see no difference between young sellers/buyers or old. As long as their money is green or their parts are good. I have been surprised plenty of times when a young guy knows all about the ancient parts he's selling, and have also been surprised to see an ancient guy who didn't know what he had (thank God, because this fall I made the buy of a lifetime!). I usually want to make a full lap through a swap meet before I take the time to stop and chat with anyone. Don't want to miss a good deal. If I find a seller is chatting with buddies, I'm not afraid to go up and interrupt him for a price. But, if he's too busy to sell to me, then I'm too busy to buy from him. Overall, I'm just glad there are still swap meets being held. I much prefer to hold the part in my hands and check its condition, than buying something over the internet from a few photos.
If the items are not priced, I usually keep walking unless it's something I have to have (not often anymore). If I'm ignored for more than 2 or 3 minutes I walk. Everything on my tables is priced. That way if I wander off, my wife knows the price. She also knows I'm willing to take off 10%. My stuff is priced reasonable. I'm there to sell, not make a living. Reasonable offers are always considered but If I get a ridiculous low-ball, I play with them for a while just for fun.
We have a monthly swap meet at the dragway and I try to get to every one. Half of the time I am selling. If the weather is good it is big with lots of vendors and tons of people walking by. I will say sales are hit or miss, sometimes I load up almost everything I brought. Other times I sell a large amount. Younger guys and gals usually selling 4x4 or later model stuff but attending every month. Older guys definitely socializing.
Hello, Having gone to many swap meets during our days as teens and 20 somethings was a standard thing to do. But even when we were in our young, married life days it was a fun thing to do, even on hot days. We always liked the cooler days vs. the hot days and chose those weather conditions for our morning shows. The thing we noticed today and even the times as a neighborhood garage sales were the big thing for a while, it was what was being sold and sell at low cost to almost give away status. The larger swap meets in any location are fun, but to a point. We always looked at swap meets as those that cleaned out their garages and storage attics to get rid of old stuff, cost appreciated, but low enough to actually not have to drag it back into the attic. But, those early fun days started to get to a point that what was being sold was “gold,” and the costs were high compared to others that just happened to have similar merchandise. We eventually stopped going to the large swap meets due to the fact that the majority were selling things that were priced too high as a norm. It was as if due to the large swap meet was a calling card to sell as high as possible, many times not selling due to overpricing the merchandise. Jnaki As we kept going to the swap meets as a fun thing to do on early weekend mornings, for us, it was better to go to an Early Ford Parts Store to get exactly what we wanted in pristine condition and many times in a NOS bag with labels. Not an old part in a baggie or sitting on a table with questionable history. Despite starting on the first click, the 327 powered sedan delivery was a long term project, just so we could drive it safely and detail it to our concerns. Not all rolling hot rods were safe and sane. I took a long series of months to get it right. It ended up so safe and handled so well, that it was a difficult time trying to get my wife out of the driver's seat. She drove it everywhere. YRMV But, as far as getting a specific part, why get something that has been used when a new project required new parts to fit and function well. The thing for us was, it was not that much more, but at least we knew the history and would fit exactly for our hot rod project. NOS is the way to go and besides, other than your house, this is the next largest purchase. If it is a daily driver or a project, like our 327 Ford Sedan Delivery, why skimp? No one wants to get stuck 100+ miles away from home just because a part broke and left you stranded. It does not make sense. The factories don't install used parts on the assembly line... food for thought... YRMV.
Why no names? Nothing wrong with what your saying. Fairly accurate from my experience. I hit at least 6-8 meets a year and attend several in Texas. Conroe, Decatur, Southwest, Pate, Fredericksburg are just a few that come to mind.
I'm the young buck at the swap meets. One thing that I've noticed is all the "old" people know each other so getting a word in edge-wise can be a pain. Never had the old farts give me to much shit other than some good natured ribbing. Probably doesn't help that I'm half their age and twice their size. One lesson I learned the hard way this past summer, make sure they know that you want the parts. I was asking about a set of Firestone white walls for cheap and asked him where the atm was and I'd be back in 5. I got back in 6 and he had already sold them.
Was your wife or girlfriend or depending on your inclination, both of them with you? You could have left one or the other, or possibly both as collateral. I did that once, buying a motorcycle. The guy wouldn't let me take the bike without some form of collateral . The wife didn't take it well at all. Thinking back, I probably should have just kept going .
She came with, but she spent the day in the truck her health issues make it hard for her got get around. But I did score a 49 Plymouth bumper for next to nothing so the trip wasn't a total loss.
Swap meets are so polarized these days, I used to hit Conroe swap meet every single one that happened. After years of late model OT vehicles taking over, and antique store cast off bs, I got tired of wasting the time searching for things there, yes I still go sometimes but its not a must hit. You go to Chickasha pre war and its all over the place up there, 20s to 90s folks buying and selling. Evilbay and here in the classified are my two most used searches and purchase places. I can find what I want, and not have to hit 20 swap meets to find it. Also there are not people bringing this stuff to swap meets that much anymore due to the demographic changing at swaps. I can build a 80s pickup in the parking lot at a swap meet now when I used to be able to do a model A twice.
The problem with evilbay is that people list a part for say a 93 something, and at the end of the description say fits; and then lists every year from 1900 to the present, and every car ever made. So when you do a search all this crap comes up that isn't even remotely close to what you are looking for.
After 62 years of buying & selling at swap meets I think I've see about everything mentioned so far. Having fun and selling stuff is my goal, then I have more money to go out and buy stuff I need or want. Most of the stuff I bring to swap meets today is low valued junk and an offer no matter how low is in most cases accepted. Fun to watch the reaction on guys that shop in packs when one of them throws out a super low buck offer, and I accept it! Now Mr. loud mouth low bucker has to find the money to cover his offer.
I have been looking for a set of cast rear fender supports for my 28 RPU. I finally found a set in reasonable condition for a reasonable price from Irontrap. Even shipped up to me the price was reasonable and I don't have to keep perusing swap meets with the hope I'll stumble on them.
great thread. I always love hearing swap meet stories because I think like me, most of us have them. What I always tell lo ballers that if they can find the find same thing for the price they just offered me anywhere else at the swap meet I'LL BUY IT !
I had fun at Canfield selling, giving stuff away. Veteran stopped by, needed sbc 400 crank, had one... loaded it on his golf cart FREE. He says I have $50, what else you got. He would not leave until I got his $50. Bet I have him $400 .. rims, camshaft, mirrors, valve covers ... said its your day, and I need room in my garage. Before I left, I broke even, lots of fun. Agree with above comments, less buying core parts, more nick nacks, garage art. I have thrown more stuff away in past 2 years, Non Number matching BBC stuff is boat anchor. Scrapped all our cast 396, 454 cranks, peanut ports, standard rods, cast pistons. Pitched 8.8 axles, Camel humps bare, worn castings... gone.
old farts don't go to the ATM at the swap meet. If I were ever to go to an ATM at a swap it would be on my way in. you should have left a deposit. you can't take "I'll be back in 5" to the bar and get a beer.
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