You guys buy parts & then sell them???? Now I know what I am doing wrong!! Found a O/T pontiac tri-power manifold with front & rear carbs. Searched the following week in the local trader for the center carb and a guy had one! Happened to be the "friend" of the guy that sold me the manifold? Anyway, got the whole deal for $100 and sold it for $800 later.
Get those nut jobs ALL the time...Ask them what time it is and they tell you how to build a clock and how the Myans invented the calender... Or the guy that tells you that the parts you have marked are marked for the wrong fitment. Some shit like "That didn't come on that car...My dad had one when we were growin' up and I was six at the time but I swear I ain't never seen that part on there"....Oh Good Lord....
I love the guys at the swaps that walk around with a double sided sandwich board full of pics of half finished hillbilly projects for sale. It always seems to be weird crap like some '49 Dodge 4 door sedan mounted to a full size truck chassis and they want some crazy amount for it....
I love seeing the hillbillies at the late fall swap meets when it's 34 deg. w/ flurries and most sane people are bundled up and these guys are walking around in a T-shirt and sneekers. And one had a girl friend wearing flipflops !!!
No matter what I have it is in better shape and 1/2 my price 3 asiles over, I tell them they better get it quick.
MANY MANY TO TELL MAKES ME HAPPY AND SAD ...I bought a pedal vespa scooter ... Ya know a kids ride on toy at a garage sale on sat. Aft.12 BUCKS. In the dark sun. Morn at a swap a guy begs and begs to get it off my trailer while in line " sure fifty bucks " "sold "rest of that day i saw it go back and forth in front of my spot four times the last guy i ask what ya give for that neat scooter .... He says proudly ONLY $550.00 .... Ooops A FREIND HAD PILED SOME INTAKES AND BELL HOUSINGS AT MY SPACE TO SELL FOR HIM THEY SOLD QUICKLY AND CHEAP ONE INTAKE WAS LEFT BY A GUY WHO COULD NOT CARRY IT AND ALL THE OTHERS SAID HE WOULD COME BACK END OF THE DAY I AM LOADING AND ANOTHER BUD SPOTS THE INTAKE ASKS ABOUT IT I SAY ITS SOLD BUT NEVER PICKED UP HE SAYS BRING IT TO HIS SHOP THE NEXT DAY IF I STILL HAVE IT YUP AND YUP I DID TURNS OUT TO BE A EARLY 427 VETT INTAKE HE GAVE ME 450 BUCKS .. ALWAY ALWAYS AWAYS NO MATTER HOW EARLY AND HOW MUCH MONEY I HAVE SOME GREAT STUFF IS WALKING AWAY WITH SOME ONE BEFORE I GET TO IT..
I've learned if something is a bargain, buy it and get it out of there. I once saw a real deal, then asked if they would take less. The lady turned around to her husband and asked if he would take my price. It turns out it still had the low price he paid for it on the item, and he wanted LOTS more. My bargain hunting cost me the part. I've also had sellers back out of the deal when I return to get the item, so I now get the part out of their space once the deal is done.
At the Pate swap meet this year I found a set of oil/water/gas cans with a $50 FIRM price. I stood there with my mouth open for several seconds and then whipped out $50 real quick. As we were walking away my best friend asked what that was about. I told him I was going to walk around Pate with those cans until someone paid me 3 times the purchase price and I did. Another swap I paid $15 for some oil grooving tools in a wood box and showed them to the same friend who said he had looked at them earlier but had no clue what they were. I put them on ebay and got $1250. Also at this years Pate I found a guy selling Model A wheels for $25 which is outrageous. I usually pay 5 or 10 dollars. But mixed in was two Model T wire wheels worth about $150 each and they had $65 hubs which I dont need so I will make a Profit on that deal. I love swap meets. Bought a 35 Ford pickup grill a few years back for $25, took off the nice 1951 Texas license plate and the $165 stainless trim and sold the grill for $35 I offered a lady $10 for a 34 Ford front fender and she said her husband was gone, but she took my money.
I don't mean to turn this thread into a rant but I am not in the game to make money hustling a fellow car guy. I just spend the day selling parts at a local swap meet for verry fair prices only to see half of the stuff I sold repriced and sitting in others booths. I understand the need to make money. But this practice is just making it harder for people to afford the parts they need. I sell my parts because I don't need them. My hope is I find the guy who does and make his/her day. I belive greed is ruining the swap meets and people are missing the point. It does make me feel better when at the end of the meet my parts that are repriced in others booths are still sitting there. Have a good time lugging that shit around buddy.
Had an old bartender buddy (RIP) that would scrounge up some stuff and go to the swaps with me, and would always set something out front with "FREE" on it, thinking it got folks to stop and look around a bit more. So one Sunday up in Sacramento, he has this old GM radio, one of those cheapo '80's AM things, and it gets the FREE sign. So this goober walks up, goes straight to the radio, picks it up and thoroughly inspects it, "What's it fit?" I dunno, it's GM- and it's free.. Keeps pawing at it, "Does it work?" I dunno, it's free... Keeps looking it over and over, "Wish I knew what it fits.." It's free, take it.. This goes on for a full 20 minutes- and Goober sets it down and walks away muttering..
I hate it when you're sitting there, it's hot, no matter where you move the tent there is no shade, and the motor you brought with you is still in the back of the truck because the one person who probably would have bought it got scared off by the jackass telling you his life story and decides he wants to help you sell it. This happened at the spring swap in Arlington this year. And I still have a running y-block taking up valuable real estate in the garage...
My favorite story that a buddy and mine have an inside joke about is - We were at the Portland Or. swapmeet with a Hodaka Ace 100 motorcycle. these 2 dudes in there early forties walk up and the one says to the other "Man I had one of these Hondaikas when I was younger and it ripped!" it was so funny you didn't dare say anything too the duo. So jokingly we call most Hondas or Hodakas, "Hondaikas" If you just hang out and listen to peoples BS stories as they are walking around it will make you chuckle all damn day.
Went to Goodguys Pleasanton a few years back, and walking the car corral after 2 passes thru the swap meet. My buddy gets a little ahead of me, and comes running back, "I just saw a car you're going to buy" Yeah, kiss my butt.. get around the corner and saw.. Schidt... Black XL just like the 406 car.. I had a cherry white Sunliner with the red/white/black interior in the late '70's and had been kicking myself for selling it- seems like it always had a half-dozen babes in Daisy Dukes loaded in it in the summer . This one had a funky old set of Ansens on it when I got it- found these at the Petaluma swap the next weekend. They're not Americans, they're Internationals- anybody remember them?
Similar vein - some shows I do a dollar tarp, where anything on the tarp is a buck each. (I had to add the each after someone wanted to buy an entire case of hot wheels cars for a buck). But I put some old factory radios out there that I've ended up having to take over the years. Had this one kid with his dad pick up a 70s looking Ford job at the one show, look it all over carefully, then put it down... walked away and came back two more times to do the same thing... never said anything, didn't buy it... I finally said out loud "it's a buck, you can get that much entertainment value out of it if you throw it in the air and shoot at it" ... I really have to start a scrap pile.
At the Nats North this year I noticed a lot of the swap meet vendors had their cars parked next to their booths. They had "For Sale" signs on the cars with super low prices and then SOLD wrote across the signs. It was funny listening to all the comments. "Wow, someone made out like a bandit!" "Damn, we should have came earlier!" You think people would have figured out the game, since when do you see a running, driving, V-8 power 1930 full fendered pick-up sell for $750!
For the Albuquerque New Mexico boys (In refernece to the swap meet crazies) there was an older gent (1990's) that drove a clapped out 1959 Elco (faded red) the thing was hammered to shit and always had 3/4 of the bed full of usless shit that never got removed....he always bought odd stuff and scavanged free stuff from the swap....me and pops always gave the guy all the stuff we didnt sell that we didn't want to drag back home.... Never saw the guy sell anything....found out a few years ago that he was a millionaire....never woulda guessed it....each to his own... The one that me and pops still talk about to this day was the running driving 1957 forestry 2 door panel for 1500 bucks (1994 at the lobos b-ball stadium). no rust and only missing the bullets in the hood.....everything else was there....in between the two of us we had more than enough cash but us supreme doomasses hadda go "think about it"....got one isle over then realized that there was nothing to think about and turned around....walked up to the owner as another gent was handing him $1500.....ah well.... AND my favorite....the 50 chevy 4 door parts car I got to cut up for patch panels for my business coupe.....got it for $50....smelled like death, smelled so bad that the metal stank...dad would'nt go near it and made me pull it on the back part of our property so it couldn't be smelled by my mom. I stripped and cut that car up quick...smelled bad and gave me the creaps...something died in that front seat as it was all matted down in an rotten oval shape....
If any of you sit at your booths and watch people as you talk with them. There heads always go up and down. Never side to side. not sure why? If the price is to high always up and down? (as they think about it) if they dont want to buy it it "I will think about it" up and down. if they buy it, up and down. not sure why but holds true even at garage sales. My family members didnt believe me at my G-parents estate sale until I pointed it out.
i spotted the cut up remains of my brothers O/T camaro, he had sold it 2 months before to a guy who just wanted the fresh rebuild 700r4, pretty much the whole car was there in this guys booth. so i'm commenting to my buddy about the stupid bumper stickers my brother had in the back window which were still on the window on the ground. the guy selling hears me and says "are you the one who was working on this thing before he sold it?" i told him yeah, why? he digs around in his tool box and says "this is yours" and hands me the craftsman ratchet with a socket still on it that i couldnt find, it was under the front seat.
A while back I decided I had one too many roadsters so I took my 23 to a swap meet and put a sign on it. I knew how much I wanted and knew it was a fair price. A guy called me while we were walking around and offered me $ 1,000 less than I wanted, so I walked back to talk with him. As we were talking I told the guy that I was firm on the price, so he started thinking it over. Just then some guy I didn't know walked up to us and said "That is a nice car and you are selling it WAY too cheap." The guy who was thinking it over said "Well, I guess I just bought me a car !" I need one of those strangers to show up every time I have something for sale ! Don
One of the previous posters seems to think that 'profit' is a dirty word. Profit is what made America the greatest country in the history of the world. It sure seems like a wrong idea to suggest that America change its course.
The guys I like are the ones who look at a hard to find part with a price tag of $250.00 and say the price is too high and they can buy them all day long for $50.00 I always tell them that if they can I'll pay them $100.00 for all they bring me. Not once has a one of those types ever brought me any parts to buy.
I was talking to a customer at the SouthWest swap meet in Decatur last weekend and out of the corner of my eye I noticed this guy messing with Mr Gasket shifter handle I had on another table. It was part of a NOS complete shifter I had for sale. I kept an eye on him and after the other guy left I asked him if I could help him. He had taken the shifter knob off if it and asked me if I would take 2 bucks for it. I told him 'It's 100 bucks and the shifter comes with it. now put it back.'
to The Dude: This is why I make a point to cruise around a swap meet early and check out the other players and prices. I do not make a deal with another vendor, he/she will pay the marked price or walk. One thing I do is to put out a free item with a big sign. I will get many people asking how much is the free item...duh....
I have early VWs. I found a set of four 16 inch pre-A Porsche wheels at a swap meet and bought them for $200. Same year was walking through the old white field at Hershey and spotted one holding a guys tent down and asked if it was for sale. He got kind of pissy that he was going to have to find a concrete block to replace it and sold it to me for $8. Set might be worth about $1000, I'm happy!!
I get a kick out of the guys that always have the tag-a-long expert with them that tells them I have one of those at home you can have. Or the guy that always says thats too much ,then comes back an hour later and buys it. The best ones are the idiots that walk up to your 54 Chevy in the car corral and brag to their idiot buddies with them that he had a 55 just like that when he was young. I love just to inform them that they don't know shit and watch them get on down the line in a hurry. But in the long run these idiots we all encounter at the swapmeets give us something to laugh about. To the guy that puts people down making a profit off parts at the swapmeet just stay home cause thats what its all about. Thats like trying to make people believe that your buddy was hard up for cash,you buy his 57 Chevy for a cheap price of $3000 cause he was in a bind. You are going to take it to the swapmeet and are going to sell it for $3000 cause you are a nice guy. Nice guys finish last.
2 sidewalk commandos at a swap meet I was at,were looking a the shell and clip of a 66 vette.....I heard one say that"If I got me a vette,I'd get one of them older ones,back when they was made outta steel"and his sidekick goes 'Yeah I know, me too"I laughed the rest of the weekend over that one.
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