Swapmeet Strategies

From: John Lawson <jpl15_at_netcom.com>
Date: Wed Mar 31 11:45:44 1999

  I think this is suitably on-topic for The List:

  I have been a swapmeet/junk store/surplus rat all my life. There
are three or four swapmeets I attend regurlarly.

 Here in SoCal, the TRW hamfest is probably the best-known, but
there are three or four others just as 'good'. At TRW, there are
two distinct periods of activitiy which I have deemed the "Shark"
phase (at the opening of the meet to Buyers) and the "Vulture" phase
(at the end of the meet when the Junk gets Cheap) with a relative
lull in the middle hours.

  BUT: A secret to getting a few 'scores', is to be around when the
sellers are gathering/unloading/standing around in the dark waiting
for the coffee truck to set up. If you can finagle your way into
that area, early before the hordes of buyers arrive... in my
experience that is where some of the best deals are made.

  At TRW, the sellers are 'staged' into a lage parking lot first,
then allowed into their spaces a line at a time from the staging
area. People start getting there about 5:30 or so, and the sellers
move to their spaces at 7:00, then the meet opens at 7:30. In that
staging area one can have first pick of a lot of the goodies..

 
   Your Milage May Vary.


Cheers

John
Received on Wed Mar 31 1999 - 11:45:44 BST