Event Coverage Theft at Motor City Cars & Parts Swap Meet Toronto

I was vending at the Motor City Cars & Parts Swap Meet at the International Centre this past Sunday Dec 7. For those of you not familiar with the venue or the swap, The International Centre is the largest venue in Toronto for holding shows and events and this swap meet is held annually in a huge room inside the facility. I usually have a couple of spaces ( 10 X 10 ) shared with a couple of friends and two tables for frontage and a few heavy or bulky items displayed on the floor. I have for sale a lot of original Model A and 1932 Ford parts along with Ford Flathead speed parts and just generally a lot of nice and interesting hot rod stuff. There is always a crowd at my spaces as the stuff I am selling is getting very hard to find and I try to price everything fairly. I put in a lot of hard work and effort into having nice looking parts and pieces to sell and if something needs painted or polished to look better then I do it. Having nice parts to sell means much more $ at the end of the day and I do quite well at this swap meet. Anyways when I was unpacking the remaining parts that didn't sell I noticed that there were a few items missing. I know all of my parts extremely well and I know what I sold and what I didn't sell. I had a Pierson Bros. coupe model (smaller version ) gone along with a shifter knob ( 1939 style ) and a pair of original stainless Model A rumble grab handles also missing. These were stolen right off my tables. I know these are smaller items both in size and value but right now I am very pissed off at the fact that someone would steal from me.Thank goodness nothing large in value went missing as I had a pair of very rare Roto Flo shocks at the front of one table that just about everyone was handling all day long. I have been vending at this swap for quite a few years now and never had anything go missing. I am not blaming anyone here other than myself for not being more careful in laying out the smaller parts on the tables but at the same time I am just absolutely furious that someone would steal from me. I find a glass case doesn't work as you sell very little from it. People like to pick up and physically handle and touch the parts they want to purchase. I am posting this to let everyone know who are going to be vending at a swap meet in the future that times are changing and theft is a issue when you are a seller. I am from the old school way of thinking and you trusted everyone in the old car hobby. It looks like I will have to change my way of thinking after what happened this past Sunday. Right now I don't have any plans for vending at the 2015 event.

 

Sorry it happened, but times are really changing? I sold at MANY swaps and theft has always been an issue to look out for.

 

I've only had one thing stolen at swap meets, had a rechromed hood emblem for a 56 Chevy that belonged to a friend disappear off a table next to a door Also had honest folks, was at Pate and used an early Ford trans holding down the tarp overnight, came in the next morning and it was gone. Wrote it off as stolen but a little later the vendor across from us came over with the cash, guy was interested and gave him the marked price and asked him to pay us in the morning. Most people at swap meets seem to be honest, I've left booths at several different meets and only had the one item stolen. There was somebody in the booth when the emblem was stolen.

 

remember, thieves have rights and you do not. I had a crummy old Volvo stolen from outside my place one night several years ago. I used to tell people "it could have been worse, I could have caught them"

 

I used to think until now that everyone at swap meets were honest. This is the first time I have ever had anything stolen. I never left the booth the whole day and watched everything constantly so the items that were stolen were taken from right under my nose. Sunday was a bright sunny day and the swap meet was filled with people and it wasn't unusual to have a dozen people at one time at my booth picking up and looking at parts. Apparently as the old saying goes the hand is indeed quicker than the eye.

 

Times are changing ! JW

 

The only high dollar things I bring anymore are stuff too big and expensive to ship, so it makes it hard to steal.

There's always going to be a few, you have to watch out for. It could be worse; Western NY used to have a model train thief who in one instance used a truck and a chain to pull siding off a building, making a hole to go in and steal stuff, and in another instance at an indoor swap meet broke into the building by pushing in a panel in an overhead door (like your garage door) and hit a ton of people for very specific stuff. That was the last for that event.

 

That sucks. All it takes is one bad seed.

 

Theft is becoming a serious problem. The store I work in gets something shoplifted every day..........I keep finding torn open, empty boxes thrown underneath shelves all the time. And these are boaters, who you think would be somewhat of a better class of human being. I've never seen it this bad in the 25 years I have been doing it.

Every once in a while we win though, we had one guy taken out in handcuffs a couple of months ago and another one banned from the store by the police.

Don

 

That is why I put smaller stuff in a show case. Not because they are worth a lot of money, just so I get the money for them.

 

I have been selling at swap meets for more than 30 years and despite having a few things that have walked off over the years 99% of the people at the swap meets are honest and wouldn't steel anything.

In business,whether brick and mortar or vending on the weekend you are going to be exposed to people that are there looking for something to take and make a few bucks

Fortunately,like you the items that were stolen from me were small and not expensive. HRP

 

i have been doing swap meets for 20+ years at moultrie and have had more stuff stolen in the last 2 yrs . than all the yrs before.

 

Had a friend selling a swap meet in Cal,pretty good one,anyway a few brothers engaged him in conversation at one end while their buddies lifted stuff off his tables on the other end.
I sold a few items at a swap in Idaho just to get in so I could park close to the carshow, they don't have handicap parking spaces & being an older fart with two knees replaced I like to park as close as I can, I receive a nasty letter in the mail wanting $100 for sales tax + $10 late fees. I had to fill out a form when I entered but the guy at the gate said not to worry it was just a formality. Hell I didn't sell a $100 worth of stuff. Won't do that one again.

 

Most be the sailboaters LOL.....My boat is on its way down to fla now....do you work at a WM? where?

 

as you said, should have placed smaller items in a different spot. things not changing so much since there will always be thieves taking advantage of others. glass case may not work for you. but, some sellers that have rare small parts put them in open wood boxes with a chicken wire wood framed top that can be opened. seller can then put those parts where they can be easily seen and not stolen. many of us have experienced a theft of some type or another - I have.

 

Great to see you too Jeff...as always. Lesson learned from the incident. I'll probably see you at my place in April and we can discuss what car or cars that I have, will be going to the 2015 Jalopy Jamup

 

When I was a teenager I remember attending the Nationals in Columbus, around the mid 80's. A guy had a spot in the swap meet with lots of cool stuff: winged SW's, flathead speed equipment, and a set of Ardun heads. I went back to that spot a few times to drool over the stuff. Later in the day I went back again and the guy was very angry and packing up in a hurry. I overheard people talking about some of his Ardun parts being stolen. Now that's a big enough thing to make you swear off swap meets for life!

 

Use to sell at the Cloverdale swap meet before it moved to Abbotsford. I was selling a bare 9 inch "N" case and a buyer walked up with no haggling and handed me a pair of $100`s. Found out the next day that they were fake so something else to watch out for as well. Now just a buyer and sell on the forums where payment is in the form of a money order.

 

Jalopy Joker you are absolutely correct. If I had it to do all over again I certainly would have done things much differently. When you are setting up at a swap meet you get caught up in the excitement of the moment, there are people milling about and there are people picking up and looking at your parts for sale as you are trying to get everything fully set up. You are thinking about pricing and about selling your parts that you are putting on the tables. Probably the last thing on your mind is theft and someone stealing from you until it actually happens. I like to think that every Hamb member on here is part of a big traditional hot rod family and my intent for posting this on here was to make everyone aware of possible theft when you are setting up or vending at a future swap meet. Sort of like one family member looking out for another. If I had lost only one item I probably wouldn't have posted anything here but since I lost three items I felt I should speak out. The thief or thieves likely waited until I had my back turned or I was busy with a customer, quickly palmed the item and disappeared into the crowd. All the items I had stolen were taken right in front of me. Just be mindful of theft next time you are setting up at a swap meet.

 

I usually cordon off the spot as best I can while still setting up. This because people are morons, they want to snoop before stuff is unloaded and not everything in my vehicle is for sale, they come up and stand in your way so it takes that much longer to set up, and as mentioned if they're casing to steal they can use that as a distraction. Getting so I need a roll of hurricane fence at a couple of shows, I stack stuff up and block it off and they just walk over it.

 

I only sell leftover stuff or parts I come across in package deals. I go for the fun of it and hanging with friends. I have both been a victim and witnessed neighboring vendors get hit. Lost some smalls at a Mopar event and never knew they were gone until pack up time. Last year I saw some scum bag grab an item from the vendor across from me. I yelled and chased him a few yards but he was a lot faster. This was no kid either and he stole a freakin 1/18 scale model. Had a chrome trim ring for a floor shifter stolen and did not see it happen, someone risked getting a foot up their ass for a $5 part. Now I always try to have a partner to help out on my stand and I keep an eye out for my neighbors. I think if more of us did that then shit might stop disappearing.

 

Ancaster swap one year, a vendor discovered that someone
had switched a spot light he was selling, with a cheaper model.
Of course, the thief was long gone by then.

 

Last year at a swap meet I heard a woman yelling repeatedly, That man is a thief ! When I turned around , I saw the older woman with a raised BIG wrench in her hand chasing the guy who had a rusty old five gallon oil can in his hand. The guy turned his head to look at her then dropped the can and hauled ass. I do believe the woman had every intention of clubbing his ass in the head. My brothers and I still laugh our heads off at the thought of that guys face.

 

lots of traffic there last week... unfortunately I am not surprised, impossible to keep an eye on the stuff you're vending...

 

Unfortunately more opportunistic thieves then in the past as stated and as your painfully aware not all car guys are cut from the same clothe. I'm finding as I get older its not the the crowds I dislike its the people I hate and I love swap meets.

 

sold for years -my 53 Vicky (a Hamber here has it now) didn't sell one swap meet - I had it all loaded up ready to go back when we decided to make on more walk around -all loaded up and had the doors tied off just in case to boot - and some fool get's in and steals the horn ring - 53 only and an extra REALLY nice gauge cluster I had in the seat - damnit......sorry to hear of your loss

 

Hi QuickChange

I had a wake up call at the SEMA show in 70' at the Anahiem Convension center, rented a booth to sell my new ' Quick Seat ' valve job tools

Had about a dozen in their packages on the table in front of me and a alum BB head showing how to use them

I was talking to a fellow and this little SOB palms one of the tools right off of the table, just slips it into his pocket and walks off while I was watching boy talk about Balls

Well I couldn't believe my eyes knowing who it was, as he was the owner of a large after market parts company

And that was at a trade show for Manufacturers of racing parts, that you think would all be stand up guys and one was not !!

Well a few minutes later I walked over to his 50' long booth and asked for my tool back, boy did his face turn all shades of red as he had it hidden under some company papers in a storage cabinet

Friday night the show was open till 9 and a few friends and I were having a drink, they were ready to go over and turn his booth up side down

But most likely we would be put in the clink , so after all the yrs I just get a chuckle thinking how dumb he was to try a move like that ' Sure takes all kinds '

My Dad always said Don there are a few in every crowd !!!!!

Sorry you got hit and I know what you are feeling

G Don

 

Swap meet this past September in Kalamazoo. Friend of ours buys and pays for a GM aluminum 4 speed transmission. Tells the vendor he'll be back to grab it as soon as his wife gets there with the pickup(1 pm or so). Vendor wants to leave early, so packs up and leaves his transmission in the middle of their vacated spot. I guess it sat for a bit, then a couple of guys picked it up, and headed for the gate-the show gate. Neighboring vendors told my friend they saw some guys pick it up. Lots of mistakes here, but lesson here, is take it with you as soon as money changes hands.

 

DND it's hard to believe that a fellow exhibitor would attempt to steal anything from another exhibitor at a trade show but I guess this goes to show that anything is possible. You could have made life really miserable for him. I made the mistake of putting too many small items at the front of the tables. At the next swap meet I vend at I think I will put all the small items I can on a thin piece of plywood with holes drilled into it and all my small items tied to the plywood panel with cord or fish line. I would leave enough slack in the line so people could still pick up and examine the parts I have for sale and if someone wanted one particular item then it is just a matter of cutting the line with some scissors. Everyone can still look at and pick up the small parts and I don't have to worry about the small parts walking off .I think I will try the plywood idea and see how it works out. I tried a glass case at one swap meet and didn't sell one thing out of it. I find that people have to physically handle the parts you are selling or you won't sell them. It seems that's just the way it is here. In an earlier post on this thread Hot Rod Primer said that 99% of people at swap meets were honest. I believe this to be true. On many different occasions I would be busy with a customer and had my back turned and another customer would come up with the part they wanted and also with cash in hand. I hadn't seen them pick up the part and could have disappeared with it but they were honest and waited until they got my attention. Looks like I ran into one rotten apple that just happened to be at this swap meet.