I vend at a few flea markets over the summer with the idea to get rid of stuff I dont want but not to fill the pockets of the full time pro vendors if you get my drift. I price my stuff to sell to almost anyone and keep the hobby open to as many as possible. I get the pro vendors in a bit of a hissy because I dont take the hobby seriously enough and they tell me my prices should be higher. Do any of you guys run into the same thing.
I heard that recently at a swap meet we displayed at. tell them to buy you out, but they must take it all....then enjoy the rest of your day
tell en if they think the prices are too low to buy the stuff themselves and resell it if they bitch about it sell the shit even cheaper on like items just to cut their throat
I usually hear bitching that my prices are too high!! But there are also times that I price things so the first guy that picks it up will buy it. He will probably still offer half what it is marked.
I sell at Pomona sometimes. I always sell 90% of my items on Saturday when the other sellers are running around buying up the deals. Sunday is almost a waste of time for me. But I sell used parts, not T shirts or new parts. Maybe that is what the shoppers want on Sunday. If a guy is bitching about my prices being too low, I tell him to buy the thing or shut the hell up. I can't recall a guy doing that lately however.. They usually bitch about the price being too high, even if the item is priced to sell.
I have had them buy from me. Then after grinding me on the price, turn around and resell the same part for more on the same day. Don't get me wrong! I'm not against a guy making a buck now and then but I dont give a rats ass what some "pro vendor" thinks about my prices. Most of them are 3x too high anyway and price out the little guy. If I sit on a part for a while and sell it for a little more, I'm good and I have some more garage space. BTW take what hobby seriously? Building Rods? Most all "pro vendors" I've met only own ratchets that are stuck on LEFT. they can only take stuff apart! Price your stuff where you want If you get a deal, make a little if you want and pass it to some one with a li'l gravy left on it. My 2cents, Greasy
Shit half of the sales at swap meets are vendors buying from other vendors and marking stuff up and reselling it either the same meet or the next one. A couple of times people have literally thrown stuff out that I have picked up, turned around and sold the next day. I picked up a bunch of '68 Toronado parts at the last one - the 4-place power window switch, a cluster, some other odd bits, stuff that would never sell at that swap meet - but a couple should go on eBay no problem. Too bad he wasn't tossing a tilt-tele column with it. But I really didn't sell shit at that meet. No one was buying anything, not even trying to make an offer on stuff, wasn't even getting the "will you take a dollar for this" guys. I literally sold more in two eBay auctions than I did the whole weekend, hell on Sunday I had *one* sale. Usually I do a little better than that. Then again we had the guy who has trailers full of old crap he just wants to get rid of bring all one-dollar stuff - he did okay. Sometimes I buy out a bunch of his stuff and make money off that. What you should tell the other vendors is if you have it priced half what they do and you still take it home, they might want to find a new line of work.
It just seem to be getting worse the Barret Jackson types Investor car guys not the do it your self guys. I had a mopar guy tell me theres nothing free in this world any more and if I didnt like his pricing he would not sell to me anyway. My friend shot back at him if he had good car friends he might get some better deals. I gave that same friend 4 46-7 ford trucks last fall. He in return showed up at my door newyears day with a car trailer to pick up my 53 plymouth so we could work on it over the winter in his heated garage.
I look at it this way , you sell it for what you want to and they can go to hell . If you are happy with your price who cares . That is why we go to swap meets , to find a deal ! If it was all high price shit , we couldn't afford to buy the parts . There is always someone cheaper than someone else . If you want top dollar for your parts fine but don't take any shit just because you are cheaper ! I was in the video game business and did the same thing . I sold cheaper than anyone else and paid more for the stuff from customers than anyone else but in the end I made a ton of money and a ton of new friends and customers ! I don't like to sit on stuff , I like to move it ! Stick with you prices !
I got that at a swap a couple of weeks ago. I had a reversed aluminum Corvair steering box priced at $125. Had a guy tell me if it was his he wouldn't take less than $250. That's what I said buy it and make double your money. He walked on.
Couple of years ago, I had another seller looking over my swap meet stuff and making ridiculously low ball offers, which I politely declined. He started to get annoying, so I finally told him I wouldn't sell him anything at any price. He got pissed and told me I HAD to sell to him. I told him to get the fuck away from me and ignored him 'til he left. Lots of a-holes around............
pro vendors are more like antique dealers not gear heads they are only into the flip not the history. I just find they are taking over the hobby way to much. Localy the guy that puts on our big weekly criuse night even says the guys that show up are only 6% of the average 300 cars belong to real car guys the rest are accssories to look cool.
It is your stuff and you have the right to sell it for what ever you want.I was set up two years at Maple grove Pa.and a young rodder wanted a set of valve covers i had.They were for a small block chevy and he didnt have the money i was asking because he bought other items.I ask what price could he afford and he say only about $20.00,i said there his for that even though i was asking more.I think i made his week and i didnt have anything in them as i got them in a package deal. Anyway the guy next to me said i should of never did that and now he will always want a deal from everybody.I said good for him as everyone wants the best price they can get.I told the guy it wasn't the money but the guy was trying to get his car fixed up on a budget.I didnt mind passing on a deal... Steve
Amen brother! I'm no vendor but am known in my neighborhood as the guy who has a parts collection. If a younger guy who hangs out and seems genuinely interested in cars and is indeed trying to get by on a budget. I'll throw him the part for a chore of some sort I didn't want to do around my house in trade. They're usually enthusiastic to do it too!
You da the man Steve! I did something similar a few years back. Nice kid wanted a part real bad but didn't have the money, so I let him have it cheap. Made a friend for life. Hot rodding is cool......
I always price stuff out according to how much I can get for it. Not the maximum it theoretically can sell for. Some of those vendors don't mind taking the same items to every swap meet for years looking for that one elusive buyer. I always just want to get rid of the stuff. If you selling cheap upsets his sales he should know enough to buy you out or lower his prices if he actually does want to sell stuff.
I haven't sold at a swap meet for years but when I did it always was to get money to spend at the same swapmeet. The last time I was selling at the Pate swap meet before I moved back up here I had a rusted model T fender with an almost salvageable headlight bucket. Had it marked 2.00 Laddy Segrest and a couple more club members dropped by and he says hey that is too cheap and that is why you haven't sold it so I took the marker and made the 2 an 8 and just after I did it two guys walk up and cut a deal for six bucks on it. They never did figure out why we laughing so hard. I'll agree though that the "pro" rust vendors and the get rich quick charlies have pretty well run the prices up beyond reason.
If the pro swap meet flippers tell you your prices are too high...tell them they're welcome to give you MORE than what you're asking.
In practice I find I have to decide what I want, and mark it more, because most guys want to beat you down on the price. So the price on it might be 1 1/2 times or double what I actually want for it. And I tend to use eBay as a price guide on stuff that's worth an actual buck, with the caveat that stuff that goes for dumb money usually does because two or three guys with more brains than money have to have that widget. If someone complains that we're not on eBay, I'll tell them "yeah, I could have stayed home and put it on there and not busted my ass to load and unload all this shit twice in a weekend and drive here and put up with crap from people."
The stuff I've had for sale has always been priced where I would be interested. I usually have sold my stuff right off the bat and then the old know it alls swoop in to tell me I got ripped off. To me it "comes around goes around" means not trying to make out like a bandit on every deal and I figure maybe I'll get a decent break on the one part I need to finish my project and I hate repacking my stuff. s.
I'll just say, "I'm making a profit on it, and the next guy will either make a few bucks too, or get a good deal on a part he really needs. You can be that next guy".
I went to a swap meet this spring that has only a few "pro" vendors. most of them are just regular guys selling at a smaller swap. I picked up a complete early ford sideshift box for the gears for $30 ran it back to my truck then walked by the pro early ford trans vendor who rebuilds them. I asked him about a set of gears for for a topshift and got a sob story and 300+ dollar price for used gears!
I recently opened a small booth in a local flea market that the wife and I visit quite often. The funniest thing at the swap meets I've done and the flea markets around here, is the sellers that have themselves convinced they are pro venders. You know, the ones that watch Antique road show, go to the car parts swap meets and the main line you hear them say is " I've got one of those" 2 days later what ever it is , usually not exactly what they saw, shows up in their area with a price 30-50% higher and you hear them chanting That's a rare bird, hard to find, you won't find another one of those!!!!!!!
humm i price my stuff at what i can afford to sell it for and try to make at least a little profit..if its low then buy it ..if its high then leave it there..i dont like to be told what price it should be..we aint a retail outlet..and some parts are in better condition than other's and vice versa...so it is all a personal call...plus im always open to offers and trades..thats why its called a swap meet
I have picked up stuff real cheap & given it to friends cause they can use it & vice versa. Isn't that how they did it in the " old days" in the clubs? I hit a few flea markets & swaps to get stuff to flip ( old toys & stuff) and I swear some things seem like they never find a home, they just keep going from one vendor/dealer to another. Its like collectable limbo....
Man I have the best times with the gripey buyers. The more they gripe, the more I smile and throw ridiculous sales pitches and ridiculous insults about why they must want the part. I just get so gawddamn happy asking if they're wanting to install those traction bars on a yugo or Lecar. Or explaining how they could totally redo their chevette if they just make me an offer on the whole booth. Once they proclaim what they drive, I grab something random and say, "Man, buy this, with one of those you'll need it" Basically I try to make it so they walked into Jackie Mason's booth. I have fun, and fun is contagious. And every minute I keep a body in the booth bantering, is another minute they might spot something. Because selling old parts is more about getting customers to recognize it's there than the price on the tag.
There is a percentage of people in the world that are who have either a piss & moan gene or a bitch gene. I've tried to ignore both deformities.
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