Truck is packed and heading to the Fall Jefferson Swap Meet in the morning. Should be a good weekend.
Never found the carrot stand, but did come home with a few things: Like most shows, tons of SBC parts, and I must have seen 1,000 intake manifolds today, along with some other neat stuff: Took this as a sign for a good place to park: Weather was nice, with a nice steady NE breeze, too. Happy hunting for anyone attending tomorrow.
My son and I made it today. It was a great day to do Jefferson. He picked up a few goodies for himself. My list was pretty short. Small block Mopar headers, and a set of wheels. I saw a bunch of sbc headers, didn't see any sbm headers. Was also looking for a set of wheels, looked at the same set 3 different times, but came home empty handed. I'll probably regret that. Still a great day for Jefferson.
Don't forget to post pictures for us that had to work today instead of play. I even bumped this thread to the front so you can find it easier. Thanks to those that made it there to help keep these type of events going.
Same reply as on the other Thread. On my way home from Jefferson. Sold a handful of items on Thursday. Friday and Saturday were a joke. No crowd either day and $11 in sales on Saturday. The nice part was shopping as I'm gathering parts for my 55 gasser. People were very willing to deal, dare I say give stuff away with the lack of people. I heard the spectator gate was $15 per person this year. Spaces, I believe, are around $80 a piece. While I get everything is more expensive, something has to change or this meet is going to be in big trouble in a couple years. It is sad because this and the Spring Jefferson are my favorite events of the year.
As Verno stated, but it is a little hard to know what to think. More & more unsold spots like Iola. Crowd noticeably smaller. Maybe it's just simple demographics? Not many young people foe sure. My 3 speed OD Ford trans barely got a look. But the weather rocked!
I remember it taking 30-45 minutes just get to the parking lots & it being packed with both spectators & sellers .....on a cloudy , looks like rain day .
@0NE BAD 51 MERC Didn't see you there today. But I couldn't remember your spot #s either. Bought an old wooden creeper w/ steel wheels for $5, small fuel gauge for $3 that I wanted for a car show trophy I'm building & a much needed new air hose for my compressor. Saw nothing else that I couldn't live without. Noticed prices on some of the cars in the corral were much more than I thought cars were worth, but maybe I'm out of the loop on pricing. Walked until it hurt. Did see a couple guys I know who said it was the worst selling swap they've been to. One who said he sold nothing today & only a couple small things yesterday. And got to meet @racer-x !
Many of the swap spaces had some cool stuff, but honestly, much of that stuff was not priced. That bugs the heck out of me. If you go through the effort to load it up on the truck, drag it to a swap, unload it, and watch people walk by, but didn't make the effort to put a price of how much you want for your prized possession on it, you probably deserve to take it back home. As a prospective buyer, I'm moving pretty fast to find things on my list, there is a lot of ground there to cover. What you have may catch my eye, if its not on my list but may be something I might be interested in, I'm not going to take the time to find out who's stuff it is, and how much you want for it. If there is a price tag, I know right away if its something I'm interested in. If your price is close to what I think its worth, I may well buy it. If there is no price tag, I assume you know you want too much, or are going to base your price on how much you think I'll pay. I don't have time for that crap. Tables full of shiny stuff, with none of it priced, are tables I walk right on past. I won't even stop to look, even if I might need something there. One thing on my list was a set of headers, but not sbc headers. What I saw was probably more then 200 sets of Chevy headers, very few were labeled, and even fewer had a price. If I was looking for a set of sbc headers, am I suppose to take the time to ask every one of you 200 guys how much you want for their headers, and what body they fit? If your not in the swap space when I ask about the price, don't expect your buddy to know how much you want, because he probably won't remember. Man up. Put a price on the stuff you want to sell.
We saw this at Hershey in '22, as well as there being lots of swap spaces set up with no one around. I think many guys go to swap meets just to get out of the house, not actually sell anything. It's as if it's just a social gathering in a museum. I go to swap meets the same way I go to the grocery store. List in hand, no time to dawdle. Price your junk!
I had one of the biggest days ever selling. I must have brought alot of things guys wanted. Friday was a big day. It usually isn't that big. Saturday the crowd was smaller yet still sold alot. The car show was big Friday and smaller Saturday. It was nice going home unloading the little I brought back.
I would agree this would is helpful to do, and it at least gives people a starting point for negotiation, if that's your thing. That said, I did end up asking about an unpriced set of Olds 215 valve covers because I knew exactly what they were and what I'd be willing to pay, so no price is not a total deterrent for me, but it does help, and certainly doesn't hurt. I saw a TON of older Neihoff, Elgin, Accel, etc. aftermarket parts in boxes, and dug through a few of them, but without 50 years worth of parts books, you are basically guessing what the part fits. Heck, I even rolled the dice on a $5 control arm shaft, which turned out to be for a Kaiser-Fraiser, but a little (okay, maybe a lot) more research on the seller's part would go a long way towards moving more stuff. ^This, and I've read the same mentioned here on the forum in another swap topic. I overheard plenty of people sitting inside their spaces talking about politics, other seller's prices, etc., but maybe one or two even bothered to ask if they could help me find anything, what I was looking for, and so on. Maybe just not great at communication, or not really all that interested in selling anything? Not sure. It's an experience, and you have to be realistic with your expectations before deciding to go. I wasn't expecting to find much, if anything for a 215 Buick/Olds V8, but I did buy a pair of decent valve covers for $40. I paid $15 to get in, another $15 or so for lunch and beverages, $10 to park, and 45 minutes driving each way, so $80 and seven hours of my time. I had a set of valve covers I saw on eBay saved, priced at $49.99, plus $25 for shipping, so they would've cost me $75, but two minutes of my time. Time vs. money-- how much is your time worth?
For part identification I have pulled out the phone and did a Google search. That way there is no guessing. Sometimes I will look up summit or jegs to check prices and fitment. It has saved me from buying the wrong part many times.
Some of us are "electronic device" savvy & some of us don't own a mobile electronic device ... We live in the past with our hobby while attempting to stay modern .
I walked through the car corral on Saturday afternoon, and thought it was sparse, but there were a lot more than those pics showed.
I always try to get to spring and fall Jefferson. It's only about 30 miles from me. Just to support them to make sure they keep having the event. But after this past show. If I wasn't so close I doubt I'd go anymore. Not much for early ford parts anymore and a lot more Lawn mowers, snowblowers and chainsaws. Every year I go I see a lot of the same stuff in the same spots. If I didn't know any better I would say it never moved. I think in the coming years you will see an influx of nice parts again that are being horded away. But until then, people aren't buying to buy anymore and they are going to make damn sure they have a use for it before they pull the trigger. Just my opinion guys.
I always cringe when I see those front or rear clips cut off as a piece of yard art, even though in reality they were more than likely from an otherwise unsalvageable car destined to the crusher, on a positive note provides essential pieces for resurrecting someone's project.
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