is it just me or is Jefferson getting worse every year? I've been going there over 25 years and its not as good as was years ago. its turning into a flea market, too many trinkets and non auto stuff. I hear they raising swap spaces $20 next year so I wonder how many wont even show.
No worse than any other meets. Just the natural progression of time marching on. It is the year 2011 and old stuff is harder to find. And if they charge $20 more maybe it will weed out some of the junk vendors and leave just the serious sellers of good stuff. Just my opinion. I enjoy Jefferson twice a year.
With the cost of gas, booth space and the h***le of loading the stuff, the timegoing to the swap and everyone trying to beat you down on price, a lot more people are selling their stuff on the internet. It it a lot easier, have a bigger market and you get a better price most of the time. So there are less people selling at swap meets.
I heard more people sell at swaps because they are tired of the internet problems. Cash is King baby! I agree with povertyflats. Old stuff is getting harder to find and the progression of time.
I used to go to Portland every year maybe 20+ years it started to go in the flee market direction and they clamped down it must be car related. No camo clothes and wigits as seen on tv. It is a better meet now. Also the speedway now compets with them and it makes two meets in one.
I agree with this statement...I think that has thinned out things at swap meets more than anything. I used to love going to Jefferson, and went to both of them every year when I lived in WI. The weather was sometimes pretty uncooperative during both times of year it was held though! I miss the Iola car show/swap meet too speaking of WI!
That's why I was selling at Cedar Rapids this year. It's much easier to load parts into my truck and spend a day selling than to take tons of pictures, write descriptions, send e-mails, box, and then deliver to a shipper. Plus you don't have to worry about a M/O being fake or the buyer complaining that the part wasn't what they were thinking.
The only problem I have with Jefferson, other the the usual ****py weather in the Spring, is there is mostly small block Chevy parts, something I'm not interested in. This year I thought there was a lot more vintage parts from a bigger variety of car makes. I saw parts for a lot of pre-'50 cars, unfortunately I didn't find anything for my '37 Buick. I ended up buying some tools from a few different vendors. Friday was a beautiful day, I took off work and spent the day har***ing my youngest son who came with me to get an ice cream bar. Any swap meet, even a ****py one, is better than being at work.
I am still new to Wisconsin and went to Jefferson last fall for the first time and again last Saturday. It is huge! But I saw too many flea market dealers... The car corral was good with lots of lookers. I had my 50 pickup there and several people stopped to look; some asked questions, etc. - but no sale. Maybe Sunday is the big day for the car show because I thought Saturday's turn-out was weak. Still I had fun!!
I thought this was one of the best Spring Jefferson swaps yet. Weather was great and I had no problem spending every dime I brought with me. I'm a ***** for 60's mag wheels and I scored some cool ones on Saturday including a whole matching set of Keystone Kustomag wheels, a set of centers plus two spinners for my Kelsey Hayes Mag Star wheels, a pair of Fenton Hawks to complete my second set, and a matching set of Superior wheels with decent chrome. I was really happy with everything I found. Yes, I agree there are too many guys selling toys and lawn mowers and junk like that, but that's always been the deal with Jefferson, I don't think it's any worse than it usually is. Not as good as Iola, but I still think Jefferson is a must-go-to event for anyone within a 300 mile radius of it.
As a vendor at Jefferson I think, Gary the owner of Madison Cl***ics and the Jefferson and Elkhorn swap meets may be his own worst enemy. I have heard he has had health related issues as well as some personal losses but regarless he may be the rudest most self indulgent jack*** I have ever had the unforunate experience of dealing with. Setting up as a new part vender at his events is a real nightmare. Vendors are forced to set up Friday morning gates open at 8 pm spectators gates open at 10. If you have a sizable display as we have it takes 4-5 hrs to set everything up.My wife Jeanne called Gary and explained days before the meet, that she has a brain tumor and really has a tough time setting up on Friday in a hurry, she asked if we could set up Thursday night due to her handicap. This was how he reponded, you buy my f__king house my f__king cars and the f__king fair grounds you can do what ever you want! When we pulled in Friday morning at 8 a lot of vendors were already set up. Including some that had been there since Tuesday others were allowed to set up Thursday afternoon. I did hear a lot of complaints about the favortism that appears to take place there. If you allow some vendors in you must let them all in if there is an additional fee let everyone invoved know so they can decide if they want to pay it. At this time we are undecided if we will continue to let Madison Cl***ics take hard earned money from us just to be treated with such disrespect. If the show begins to fail all Gary has to do is look in the mirror to see its cause!! When the private owner of a show cant treat the people who are paying him well he deserves to go broke...........
.....First year vending at Jefferson....I had a great time..with a lot of nice people...98% of my items were car parts(flathead parts)....looking foward to fall Jefferson......
i couldnt care less if they raise the prices for vendors.. but for god sakes no more for entry fees for us to walk it! jesus.. and i have a different opinion, i think MORE people will start to sell local .. ebay fees are INSANE, they even charge based on what you charge the buyer for shipping now.. and paypal is starting to report to the IRS .. swap meets will get better soon plus, who are we kidding? the old guy with a bunch of parts for low prices doesnt mess with the internet anyways.. ebay is 98% parts people know a LOT about now adays, the days of good finds there are going if not gone too, you have to pay up...ill take the risk at jefferson.. big bars are good, i see some good friends, and i scored WELL last fall.. this spring nothing much but great conversation, and that beats greys lake by a MILE!
I think all you guys hit on the head! Kelly, that plain ****S! Everybody i met at the meet on Friday was SUPER NICE! You know there was this one ***hole I didnt meet though, hhmmmmm, could his name have been Madison?
Had a good weekend, met up with some friends i havent seen in a while, and spent some time with my son. Overall good weekend. And if you were there on Friday,there were deals to be had. I stopped a gentleman who was carrying a interesting 2 carb flattie intake to look at it and asked him about it. IT WAS A GRANCOR INTAKE!!!!!! and he bought it for the price of a common sbc intake. Very cool find and was a decent enough guy to stop and talk. Will continue to do Spring and fall and Elkhorn Meets.
in hopes maddison cl***ics is monitoring the HAMB board >long time Jefferson vendor & longer time attendee back to 1982 anyway (Madison cl***ics Jefferson) is still the greatest show in the midwest !////but certainly needs to allow for vender set up time! as Friday I was trying to set up as the customers p***ed by or stopped to ask (got this?) either way its terrible to have potential buyers p*** Your empty tent & tables and terrible to be a shopper p***ing empty tables >Gary & Sons Please allow a full day for vendor set up it is NEEDED ,,,,,thanks
I had a great time there this weekend. I agree on too much toys and household items. But it is still better that most of the Minnesota meets ( Pantowners the only good swapmeet in Mn ). I have also notice fall meet usually have less toys and household stuff.
Honestly I don't take rare or big buck stuff to swaps because it's not worth the h***le to truck it there and spend an hour setting up and taking down and stand outside all day waiting for one guy to beat me down on the price so he can take it home and sell it on eBay himself. It's a lot easier to cut out the middleman, for the 15 minutes it takes to pack something up and the 2 miles to take it to a shipper. Case in point, I just sold an old gas station price sign that I got at the very end of an auction for basically nothing, on eBay, for $200. I couldn't have gotten half that at a local swap - even the Syracuse Nats. I had to pack it up for them, but they shipped it on their account. The biggest problem I had was waiting for it to be dry enough to pack something in cardboard, outdoors. I had a gas pump from the same auction and sold it the same way, on eBay - ever moved a pump with the actual pump still inside? Yeah, not going to truck that anywhere. I did put both of them in a photo book for people to see - not one person even asked about them. On the other hand, I have a selection of auto-related models and toys - because those things sell at swaps. Cheap things, things that I know won't go on eBay, or won't bring enough to be worth the time to list - thats what sells at swaps. If I'm going to spend $30 in gas and $20 on a spot, plus whatever they hit me for food, I want to sell at least $100 or there's no point to even going in the first place. So I'm sure upping the spot fee at this meet will cut out a lot of the smaller vendors, especially on top of how much more gas is. Which, I expect to sell less because of the high gas prices - fewer will come and those who do will spend less. Depending on how the first couple swaps I do go, I may cut way way back this year to just the best ones, or the ones I go to because I can fit in some other things I enjoy doing (like going to the races on the way home).
"Greatest show in the midwest!" Damn you must not get out much. I would pick Iola way before Jefferson.
it is what it is. always draws a crowd and at times, some great deals. i agree though, it would be nice if it was just limited to car stuff and leave the toys and lawnmowers at home.
The Iola staff is much nicer to it vendors!! Iola gets my vote as the #1 swap meet in the north central U.S.!!! The orginizers of the Iola show donate a large percentage of their profits to charity for that reason alone I can put up with the array of toys, lawn mowers and junk. The Jefferson swap and Elkhorn are privatly owned and is full of junk only because Gary Esse the owner of the shows knows more full swap spaces = big profits for him.....
I didn't bother to go this spring. A little short on cash, and didn't want to pay the fee for renting a golf cart, due to my walking problems.... So, I can't comment specifically on this one........ But I totally agree on the too much trinkets and **** there....Last fall I went and was not impressed with this stuff, and it just seems to keep getting worse......However I guess that is kinda the norm now adays.... My Brother in Law and Nephew did go, and we talked on their cells a few times.....they were not impressed either.... Maybe it will be better in the spring...sure hope so...
got to agree with you on that one jefferson is jefferson i go to find mini bike parts lawn mowers snowmobiles and mudder tires and on oc***ion i get a car part that i need p*** on the big bar(anaflactic shock is not a fun thing for me) its just a day on the mud usually but i would not vend there for anything... i'll have a cold on for you and your dad under the canopy at iola tk
What canopy might that be? We are only four spaces from the one at the north end by the flush toilets H-28 H-29. Dad
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