what do we need for a first class swap meet ?Your input !

Alrighty here is your chance to maybe shape and form one killer swapmeet .Tell me what is missing in the swaps you go to , and what is needed !We all know alotta the swaps turned into hotwheels outlets and cry baby doll sellers .Should buyers and seller both be charged ?dicounts for multi spaces ? Only one food vendor OR many ? One day or a whole weekend ?If swap meet plans come to be i hope to have aprox 500 vendor's or MORE .Now is the time to give some input on what you would like .Car show too or just swap ? TELL ME

 

Make sure you have pottys and more than one food vendor. (Keep the prices competitive, and variety is the spice of life.) Oh yeah, coffee and donuts (for the early birds)for sale in the morning a big plus! Good idea on discounts for multiple spaces.

You might charge a small parking fee rather than per person for attendees/shoppers.

 

OK, I'll bite.

For one thing, there is one particular swap meet that I have attended that used to be very good, but has turned into a bunch of people calling themselves vendors, but all they do is bring 3 oily sheet metal SBC valve covers and lay them out like they're for sale and then they just get drunk and hang out in their Winny all weekend. I guess they just see it as an excuse to drink and get away from the Mrs. for a couple days, but all they are doing is blocking out the chance that I have to truly find parts I need. Seems like there are often 25-30 occupied vendor spaces between each "real" vendor!

As a buyer, I don't mind either a parking fee or entry fee (but not both) if it's a worthwhile swap meet. $10 max.

As for the car show, I kinda like having a specified place for complete, running cars that are FOR SALE... but when I go to a swap meet I am there to buy, not look at cars. When I go to a car event, I go to see the cars, not buy parts.

 

spectators shouldn't have to pay. it's retarded to have to shell out almost $25 bucks for 2 people, just to walk in the gate.

 

"what do we need for a first class swap meet ?Your input"

Strippers.

 

Segregation, as with the car show's. I don't want to waste time with the late model wrecking yard crap when I am looking for my early Ford stuff. If some vendors have a combo of camaro and '40's stuff, put them in between to blend the two.
Put the off topic stuff near the food and ring toss. Don't allow the chinese dollar store stuff in, just quality tool vendors.
Just my poinion

 

I go to alot of these to sell, and buy so heres my .02.
Pick a time of year thats not too cold or too hot.
A 2 day meet is better, at least from a vendors point. It sucks to have to rush around putting all your stuff out in an hour, then picking it all up about 6 hours later, if not earlier.
If its an overnight meet, have overhead lighting for people to see at night. (The vendors that is)
Alot of vendors worry their stuff will grow legs if its pitch black at night.
(I also need to be able to find my icechest)
Definiteley enough toilets(Unlike the last LA Roadster show)
If its an auto meet, then sell auto parts. No toys, clothes, shades, etc. If you want them, give them their own area.
Have the spots big enough (20x20 is good). Not like Goodguys where you cant even park a truck in their tiny spaces. And make it reasonable. $40 or less is fair.
Various food vendors and beer stand would be good. Be reasonable though. Coffee in the AM, donuts and breakfast burritos..(like at El Mirage).
Did I leave anything out?? Oh advertise!! Pass out flyers at other shows, posters, cheap radio spots...And dont have it at the same time as any other big auto or other event. (Long Beach gets really empty just before a Raiders game starts)

 

Lots of naked women.........oh wait, wrong type of swap meet....

 

A bunch of beered up guys around a dabbling of parts, yeah every swap meet has them but I can't think of a rule to keep them out that wouldn't seem heavy handed.
Lots of advertising, with something free. More than one food vendor and if possible reasonably priced ones. If you can't get one to come early maybe you should consider free coffee for vendors for an hour or so in the morning, maybe you can get a local bakery to pony up some day olds for a banner ad on your flyers.
Help with getting big parts out. We have a small meet up in Greenville that is just a joy. The local car club puts it on and members volunteer. The have a fleet of golf carts and will take your stuff right to the truck, nice touch.
A seperate area for new stuff that don't directly relate to a car. Keep all the hot wheels and cheap chinese knives segregated.
I used to do a small fair that had people who would come around and watch your booth so you could grab a bite to eat or go pee

 

the portland swaps in april on the race way is perfect. the convention center part is cool too .but the race track rules ,huge spaces ,camping ,lots of wagons to help haul your stuff it rules

 

i have been to thousands ,from high dollar to low buck, and having a seperate car corral, then a project area, then mixed household and car stuff ,then just carstuff, and then the commercial venders (individuals that have some hobby business or real store front )food ,onsite place that can cater to many people at once, the hosting car club ,should give a discount to the seller or buyer if they decide to join the car club,that works both ways they get a membership and if they use it good if not they chose to get it and you the club get some money for the trouble anyhow, local area discount passes ,or group of peopel for a discount, i could go on and on , but if you want to see how it is done , come to this show and swap it is regarded as one of the best run ,organized and great location ,at our fair grounds ,ST, PETER MINNESOTA CAR SHOW AND SWAP,SEPT 19TH,



http://clubs.hemmings.com/frameset.cfm?club=autorestorers

http://www.autoswalk.com/sep1724ancar.html

 

no radios no pa fifty music maybe 80s or 70s stuff no mini bikes or cycles no pets(they are not freindly all the time)let the boy scouts or other groups sell the food no one hawking raffles but maybe a ((rap a jap)) three shots for a buck...it will make you a good buck

 

No People riding bicycles, mopeds or mini bikes through the crowds

No golf carts unless the local handicapped commission requires it, then make sure the person driving the cart REALLY needs it.

NO Dogs: Let the people with the barely controllable rottweilers and pitbulls take them someplace else.

NO starting of cars and motorcycles for sale on the swap meet grounds (I saw a project muscle car for sale on a trailer at a swap one time, where the guy got a battery so it would start and the moron started it in gear (it was a 4 speed with no shifter) and it jumped off the trailer and hit a light pole that thankfully was there, otherwise it would have taken out the vendor next to him. If they want to demo the drivetrain for a buyer, tell then to do it somewhere else.

If you are going to allow the cheesy offshore tool/tarp vendors, only let in one or two. Some swaps I attend seem to have one in every aisle.


But my main suggestion is that if it's a 2 day or even one day swap meet where the vendors are allowed to set up the night before, NO letting in all the members and friends of the club, organization or person who is running the meet on the set up afternoon/evening so they can cherry pick all the good stuff, and when I get there at dawn the day of the meet, these is little or nothing left I would be interested in. There is a MAJOR fall swap meet in New England where this practice has gotten so out of control, that it's pretty much a waste of my time going there. I know who some of these "pickers" are, and know their ebay ID's, and some of them start listing some choice parts on ebay, right after the weekend of the meet. I have to think they grabbed them at a good price during the load in.

 

The Glendale deal 10 years or so ago was way cool. So was Phoenix college. Don't know what changed but usually all you see are the above mentioned HotWheels and a broken toyota hubcap that someone painted pink in the 80's and lots of other trivial crap. I don't know what can be done about that. What I'd like to see is more project cars and neat old speed parts, magnesium wheels etc. Unfortunately that is up to the vendors. Personally, I like a little car show with my swap meet. Oh yeah, NO MUSIC especially the same old tired oldies loop. Can we please let Mustang Sally rest in peace?! Two day swaps are cool, but one day works as well. Finally, no stuffed animals allowed or those freaky cry baby stuffed kid things! Severe penalties for anybody caught displaying one! Is there a way to cut down on the vendors who sell all that "comes from some secret warehouse full of shit" merchandise? Waste of space, but I understand not turning them away as they pay for selling space.
Yeah, I'm rambling....

 

I just did i fast read through on all the ideas and there are some great ones ,And thats just what i am lookin for !
Jeem if this is going to be done its going to be like 4-5 of our local ones rolled into one .More inline w/ the size of hershey .The time frame i was thinking of was AUCTION month here in arizona .Weather is typicaly awesome !Loads of people .I always had it in my mind that people may want a project or parts too . Not everybody that attends these high dollar auctions buy big buck cars .
Now is the planning and cost study so keep those ideas comming in .
THANKS

 

Keep us updated...I'd make the drive to partake in the swapmeet.

 

Porta johns a must ,and the car corral is also a great idea !
Also i would like to keep like modelA stuff together , then 30's stuff ,muscle car stuff in another area ,truck ,bike section ,etc , just makes it easier to shop .
What do ya all think of a tighter leash on per event buying ?I myself hate the fact that somebody who knew somebody got an earlybird pre show buy .Maybe thats just my opinion but more buyers should have a better chance .
FOOD , i am sick of hot dogs and sausages .How about some good BBQ ,STEAK ,etc .why should us swapers have crap food while we work to get our treasures ?
Some of the NO's are maditory like the no pets , who wants to buy that freshly dog pissed on intake .
Its the Yes stuff that we need to think of .Do have larger spaces than a regualtion sized parking spot for the money .
Do have the hotwheels in only one area , if they are there at all .DO also have nice WIDE isles .
WE WILL give prefered parking at no aditional cost to older rides that show up .If mom's mini van shows i do not care if they pay extra they do not park w/ the old tin !
Like the ideas so far ?GOT ANY MORE ?
Myself i hope this go well and goes far

 

I am on the fence about pre event buying. I feel if you pay for spots to sell, you can get the opportunity to buy stuff early. Because you cant sell and walk around at the same time during the event. I sell by myself usually, and I still like the opportunity to shop. And usually do it on set up day, or at night after its closed to the public.
I dont think the people that arent buying a swap spot should be able to shop early.
Believe it or not, this is a big issue with most sellers. If you ban it, you'll lose vendors.
Segregating the parts is OK, but most guys cleaning out their yard have all types of parts, those are the guys you want to attract. The Model A dealer probably is going to want alot more for his stuff. Personally, I walk right past most of the "specialists".
You can make the meet 75 and earlier only, to weed out the late model body shop trash diggers.
And make it used parts only in the swap. Commercial vendors go in their own area. That is the only thing I like about the Goodguys events.
They dont allow Anything new in the swap meet.. If they see it, you have to put it away.

 

I agree that you can't easily segregate by what vintage or model of stuff a vendor is selling. I would typically have anything from T to 70s pick parts. Vendors always get the early pick. It's been that way for years. If you want early pick, buy a vendors space and go early, not too hard to get around.
I also like the medium sized meets over the larger ones. Like Pate, you can't see it all in one day if you are really scrounging and networking.
Another thing is the motorhomes in the vending area. I realize people want to sleep near their stuff but those things take up whole rows and ruin it for a small vendor that gets stuck on the backside of their street. Make a seperate place for anyone with a motorhome so they are on the outer perimeter behind the vending.
Another bit of advice, just call the people that put on the good ones, like Rosanky or Chikasha and ask them for pointers.

 

I also have good memories of the old Phoenix College Swap Meet. It was very well done.

When money is the main motive for something, the result is rarely something that is great and memorable that improves the quality of people's lives.

Certainly the vendors should pay, but if the buyers are charged then it shouldn't be too much. My reasoning is that eBay has revolutionized the process of finding old cars and parts, and we can all go there for free.

As has been suggested, it would be great to see things arranged somewhat. The vendors who sell sunglasses or lowrider bicycles won't like being told to go to the back, but if it was me, I'd tell them to set up in their own area or ask them to leave. It's the people who sell cheesy stuff that bring down the atmosphere of the event.

Create a safe, comfortable area (or event) for women and children.

Let people talk. No music. No PA system.

To the one who mentioned them, the reason that you don't find nice old magnesium wheels and lots of desirable and reasonable project cars for sale anywhere is because of supply and demand. The good old days of hot rodding ended in the summer of 1972.

Good people tend to have good dogs. If you exclude bad people, that will essentially take care of it.

I like dogs. They will be welcome at any event that I ever put on.

Dave Mann
(602) 233-8400
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

[ QUOTE ]
To the one who mentioned them, the reason that you don't find nice old magnesium wheels and lots of desirable and reasonable project cars for sale anywhere is because of supply and demand. The good old days of hot rodding ended in the summer of 1972.


[/ QUOTE ]

I respectfully disagree. The stuff is out there. I think maybe it might have something to do with the "atmosphere". The Roadster show swap was UNREAL! Lots of projects and Neat Old Schtuff! I think I saw, maybe, 5 tables out of what seemed like acres, of cheap plastic warehouse crap that NOBODY wants (apparently I'm wrong because these people are always around), but for the most part (like maybe 98%) it was all good stuff. Now I realize this was CA and we are talkin' AZ, but the Phoenix college deal was a mere 10-15 years ago or '90-'95(?) and it was always full of good stuff too. About the same era, the Glendale swaps were bitchin' too. Mag wheels, QCs, manifolds, Willys, Austin and FED projects were regular sights to be seen and bought. WOT happened? Maybe no one was buying?

 

Location, Promotion, Organization
How are you going to get 500 vendors? How are you going to get 5000+ buyers
These are two main item it takes to run an event. one won't work without the other.
you need to ask yourself if you have the assets and knowledge to put on a major event. you need a major force of bodies to manage all the parking, gates, registration, crowd control, clean up, and to resolve the problems that arise.
everyone wants your success! but a first time event is hard to pull off.
The only thing worse than 500 vendors and 400 buyers would be 5000 buyers and 27 vendors.
If you want a pure no bullshit vendor swap. start small enough that you have control over whats being offered up for sale.
I didn't mean this to be so negative. most great swapmeets started out small and the legends grew along with them.

 

To be the swapmeet of all swapmeets it must have a booth that sells only the crying kid dolls, snap on girl pictures glued to wood and harbour freight tools at tripple the price. I mean really, who needs all those old rusty parts people are trying to sell.

 

Carnies...Cant have a good swapmeet without Carnies....well....or clown midgets

 

and for entertainment I suggest a jefferson airplane cover band

 

[ QUOTE ]
and for entertainment I suggest a jefferson airplane cover band

[/ QUOTE ]


Lol........or even a Joan Eivers Impersonator

 

better yet a jefferson starship cover band

 

JEEM , what happened to phx college swap meet ?Mostly mis managent ! Actually the phx college swap meet is stil goin on . Its now run by a car club at the dog track .It was moved so much and ran into the ground ,then sold .I used to be the the only one allowed to sell food for MANY years at that swap meet .48 hemi , This would not be my first event .First swapmeet YES but not an event newbie .Now i will not list my resume here but , not saying doing an event this projected size will be easy , but i have done some large event where gate attendance alone floored me .Thanks for all the input and ideas people ! .Ya know thats a real good idea about the BAND .I know around here the 2 day swaps , sundays are the slow day .A free end of swapmeet concert would be cool !A reason to keep your gate ticket , and get something as a bonus for showing up !

 

OOh yeah 48 hemi ,where am i going to get 5,000 + buyers ?
guess ya gotta come down here during auction month .And most people do not even get to the auctions til after 11:00.
I also have barrett jackson auction time seeing i worked that event for MANY years .set-up ,tear down ,planning ,working ,etc .Like i stated from the start , right now is the research portion ,fact finding ,idea time etc . If i can not get a big hunk of land for the event itself .Well that would be a bigger problem than not having enough harbor freight vendors,or cry baby kick um dolls or carnies or strippers .Though some other idea's prior to clowns and joan rivers were . A live how to shop your car demo .A vintage air demo , w/ q&a.NASCAR pit stop challange ,chassis dyno . Just to name a few . These will not hamper a large swapmeet , more like give a gearhead something else to do after seeing the parts and cars for sale . now female dwarf wrestling / there's an idea !

 

LOL, here is another subject. Desertratrodder and I talk about this one alot!

Just to ad whats already been said. If you make a rule like no scooters or dogs or whatever, then enforce it!

There is nothing worse then one guy getting yelled at for riding his bike, so he parks it and looks around and theres a 100 other people riding bikes. That includes the idiots that are running the show. Those guys run over more people then anyone else.

Also have vendors that are bringing there stuff out of there garages, I dont need new parts at a swap. I can order that over the phone. Its just like going to a flea market now days, its just like going to Kmart.

And if you want to draw the sellers that want to bring out there personal stuff, then dont ask for resale licenses. If you cant do that then forget it! Thats part of the reason the swaps are going downhill. Samething happened to flea markets, so now all the folks you used to sell at flea markets dont bother, they have yard sales!

And how about a list of instruction on how to use a portajohn listed on the door. For some reason folks forget how to take a shit when there at a swap. Or maybe they just drop a big turd on the seat at home too, shit I don't know.
Heck let one of the morons thats riding a scooter around doing nothing productive stand at the porto johns and inspect each one after the customer is finished. Actually he can take the drivers license before they go in and if its clean when he comes out then he gets it back!

Oh and training on how to use a lighter and heater, bbq etc. Dont want any fires like at Turdlock!

The list goes on