how was the swap meet? how about the car auction? my friend said he went to the swap meet on friday and said it was half the size of last year? im sure their are alot of people like me that did not go to reno this year and are wondering how the swap meet was. anyone have any car corral photos of projects for sale? just curious.....
swap meet ****ed, they require a sellers permit just to sell junk at a swap meet now. Auction prices were pretty soft and some decent buys for 20K and less on Friday. highest car I saw bid on was rare big block chevelle, went to 190K, the reserve was 225K.
wow!!! a sellers permit, which i think would require the average guy to go to city hall and get a business license and then a resale number? sounds pretty tough for someone who just wants to get rid of his old car parts , my friend did say there was alot of projects for sale, i was hoping someone took some photos.
My friend that was there had to get finger printed, not sure about the business license. He gave us p***es and a security guy let us in to park in vendor parking(was about 200 empty spaces), then another bonehead came and chased us away.... guy went and started yelling at a poor kid at the gate that let us in to park, guy was way out of line with the kid, we about came to blows over it.... the way he was treating the kid that is, so we never went in. Looked like the number of vendors there was about half of the year before. I heard the prices were really soft in the car corral.
the swap meet ****ed. we've been going for 15 years. it is very small now. the guy who promoted it moved the actual Reno Swap meet to Arco arena which was the week before. Went to that one much better than the now Reno one. They had some falling out 3 years ago so they moved it. The auction had some pretty good cars. I thought the sellers had too high of reserves on a lot of the stuff. Mostly **** ran through the auction on Sunday. Old hoopties that should have been for sale on gravel lots.
I don't think I'll ever this clear to the public.. so much mis info out there 1. The Reno Swap Meet is owned by me... I am not a promoter but just hobbyist with a p***ion 2 We had been partners with HAN from 1987 to 2007 . our swap meet started in 1965 and was held in June each year . 3. In 2006 I get a notice from the state of NV that we will have to have backround checks on all vendors per NV state law ..I advise HAN we are in trouble .. the CEO says it's my problem deal with it ... it won't affect the swap meet .. " the vendors can afford to pay the 88 bucks" ... (ya right right along with $55 for 9x18 space - $18 bucks for city license, $5 bucks Reno fire dept fee , and collect 8.37% sales tax and pay it to me to pay to the state of NV for everything they sell... I see the end is coming if we can't stop that backround check. 4. We had been seeing steady decline of true rust dealers due to Reno room costs and lack of sales plus 3 days of heat and we also asked them to stay in their spaces until the close of the meet at 6pm -- long days for us old dogs ... 5. Our contract is due to renew in 08 ... the new CEO decides he wants us to bid on the Reno swap meet and pay lots more dough to HAN, which means I'd have to raise the admission gate and swap meet space fees.. meanwhile he does a buddy deal and thinks his buddy can do the swap meet meet better than someone who had been a partner for the past 22 years. ya right .. the new CEO does not realize the buddy has NO trained Crew - No Mail list, No space layouts , No equipment .... etc hmm smells funny .... this new CEO dude also gets his salary kicked up to $287,000 a year .. (which I guess is the going pay rate for a non profit corp to pay a guy who does not know a Studebaker from a poodle skirt .. ) he also manages to pee in everyone beer in Reno when he cuts a deal to move HAN to Long Beach.. a real smooth dude ... I guess he thinks he can mess with the casinos..HAn is the biggest week for the tables in Reno City of Reno is now pressed to enforce the vendor backround check . We decide not to sue HAN a non profit corp for "grand theft of a swap meet" and I rent the Arco Arena in 2008 ... instant success back to a traditional Auto swap meet just ..no cruise ...prom or poker walk? HAN is a great show just sad when it is run by a Promoter that has no interest in the hobby and a blind board of directors ..with the exception of Steven Ascuaga (The Nugget) he resigned when they voted to do theLong Beach show and Joe Kelley a RSCVA VP was voted off the HAN board when he challenged the new CEO move to Long Beach yep I have all the "correct" dirt.. and smiling as unsuspecting car buffs pay $170 each to support a "fat" CEO who is killing a top flight event a $50 reward to whoever can identify HAN car number one and it's owner .. he's also part of the HAN woes a another freeloader who brought in this new CEO .. hmmm you have to send me a pic of his sticker and car They are now saying RENO will not enforce the law ... go figure how a city can choose to overide a state law .. any way thanks for reading this and do p*** it on so people can get the straight info if they really want it .. We have been asked to return to Reno by certain groups (not HAN) but me thinks I am done with NV "IN RUST WE TRUST" .. stays at Arco Arena free parking and no horse flies JOHN
^^^^^^^^^^^^ John your swap meet is bad ***!!! BTW I still got your old Safari Wagon For what its worth I went to the HON swap it was Ok I bought stuff it was 1/4 of what the swap was when John ran it. The show isnt what it used to be either i usually go gamble, have fun and overeat!! The show used to have Kustoms kinda wish it could go back that way. eventually the Muscle car, tri 5 and mustang guys will all be dead and the Kustom kulture will prevail!!! At least a guy can dream Dave Hitch
John, do you think HAN will ever request to have the Reno Swap Meet back in Reno during HAN? The HAN swap meet this year was merely a shell of what it used to be. It would be hard for me to believe that this year's HAN swap meet made as much $ for the HAN event as the Reno Swap Meet used to - based purely on the much reduced size (but what do I know). Mike
John Sweeny is a first rate guy and the best promoter of this type of event. Reno wishes they could accomplish 1/2 of what he did out there! All the Best John "Buck"
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