What is the best/worst you've done when selling at a swap meet?

[Kern Dog]

Like many others here, I often sell stuff of mine to buy stuff for my own projects. We buy parts cars and sell stuff from them, we sometimes buy stashes of parts from some old timer and pack it up to sell at a swap meet.
I love selling stuff.
This guy I know that used to live in a tee pee sometimes sold at swap meets but his grumpy demeanor surely turned off buyers. I tried to show him that smiling, eye contact and saying Hello is better than ignoring people.
I'm not broke but I feel better when I offset the costs of building or upgrading the cars with the sale of stuff that I don't need nor want.
THIS IS NOT A SALES AD. PLEASE DO NOT TURN IT INTO ONE!
I've sold at different car shows and events. Sometimes I've done well, other times it was a waste of time. The worst was when I've sold at the Sacramento Raceway show. People were there primarily to race but they had a swap meet and car show too. I never made more that a couple hundred dollars there.
The best ever was in 2014 at the Mopar Alley show in Fremont Ca. They used to have their show at Ohlone College but had to relocate when the college expanded and built in the spot where they used to hold the show.
I've never had any rare or super valuable stuff. No Hemi or 6 pack stuff, Hardly ever any E body or spare Charger stuff either. I am not the guy that occupies 4 spaces and has a crew of helpers.
I'm just a guy that scoured the junkyards, cleared out garages of former enthusiasts and bought cheap A bodies to strip down.
The best day ever was $2850 and a lot of it was $20-$50 stuff. Emblems, arm rests, gauge clusters, interior stuff as well as K members and a few body parts. Other times I've scored between $500-$800.
No matter what, I'm just out there selling stuff that I don't need or that I already have 2 or 3 more of back at home.
I have stuff that was given to me by members of our local Mopar club. Many times, the haul is 90% worthless but sometimes there are some good things in the mix.
What about you?

 

[Cojohnso1]

I HATE this thread. What I've let go over the years/decades. Single parts wise? I let a very nice '66 GTO hood go for $50 bucks at a meet. And that was late 90s. I let a VERY nice '69 HP original 440 intake manifold go for $30 because the Edelbrock Performer performed slightly better. This to name just a few. In the late 80s I bought a very salvageable '69 Chevelle SS L78 and parted it out with some sales at swap meet. I made about $2k in two weeks and thought I was king! I lost, on even the short turn.

I know I would have been a far more successful if I was smarter with some vision of the future.

The latest? I sold this running/driving with a decent body '69 RR for $9k just 7 years ago. A solid #2 condition driver car that I never felt "The love" for. Yes it was a bit crunchy underneath. But VERY salvageable.

 

[Cojohnso1]

I have never bought from a swap meet I was sorry. It is all what I let go that haunts.

 

[451Mopar]

I was surprised when I sold most of the interior parts from the 1984 RamCharger I parted out after I rolled it.

 

[ckessel]

The best one I've profited at was the Spring Fling in 95. I take into account all of the costs first before I actually make money. That trip netted me $800 after paying for the trip, entry fee, fuel both ways, lodging at the Airtel, food etc. Many other ones were not money makers but fun though.

 

[Rusty knuckles]

I can honestly say I've never bought or sold anything at a swap meet. Most around here have very little in the way of mopar items and regardless of what they have it's typically priced like a new or restored parts.

 

[gtx6970]

Having been a vender at the big shows. I think the worst I ever did was maybe a few hundred dollars at a show / swap meet in southern GA ( didnt pay for the spaces costs,, let alone all my expenses )


Best I remember doing was about $15k at Carlisle one year when average sales there were in the $10-12k range annually.
But it was also these most expensive show for me to do expenses wise . Fuel / travel costs, Hotel and spaces alone were around $2000

 

[Mackman]

I always buy high and sell low.

 

[kiwigtx]

I tried selling at a swap meet once and all it did was give me a lesson in the most miserable f***s that ever walked the earth.

Everyone wants stuff for nothing. Most ended up coming home with me.

 

[Krooser]

I used to do about 30 swaps per summer.

At the Iowa (WI) Old Car Show I'd do $1000-6000 per show. Sold Flathead Ford stuff for years then early Hemi parts.

I sold my blown 354 for $6k when I needed some cash.

I used to buy a lot of early Ford cars and parts.

 

[Krooser]

I always buy high and sell low.

I buy high and sell low...it's more fun that way!

 

[chargervert]

The best I ever did was $3900 at the Englishtown Mopar show. I think last year at Carlisle I made $350.00.

 

[Sixpactogo]

I tried selling at a swap meet once and all it did was give me a lesson in the most miserable f***s that ever walked the earth.

Everyone wants stuff for nothing. Most ended up coming home with me.

I'm with you here. I tried selling off a bunch of my excess parts years ago at a Mopar show & swap meet. My thoughts were I wanted to come home with an empty trailer so if an item was worth $25.00, I priced it at $10.00. Invariably, the potential buyer would fumble with it for a while then ask....."would you take 5 bucks for it?" After a few hours of that, I told my wife, Lets throw everything back in the trailer and go look at the show cars. I'm Done! I feel sorry for the swappers that rent an enclosed trailer, load all their stuff up and spend their time and money to haul it a hundred miles, then pay another $50.00 for a swap spot only to be nickel and dimed by those losers that want it for nothing. I know it is human nature to low ball sellers but it is just not for me. If I see a part I need and the price is right, I buy it and get on with life.

 

[gtx6970]

I tried selling at a swap meet once and all it did was give me a lesson in the most miserable f***s that ever walked the earth.

Everyone wants stuff for nothing. Most ended up coming home with me.

EVERYONE should spend a year on the selling side of the table.

It's an experience I assure you

 

[chargervert]

I had a guy tell me that my parts were "awful spensive"! I looked up at him,and he had no teeth So I said....did you leave your money home with your teeth? My friend damn near choked to death on his soda! It was pouring out his nose! Lol

 

[68BabyBlue]

I have a good friend who works multiple shows at Carlisle, and the AACA show at Hershey. Sad watching folks trying to squeeze the last dime out of her. I’m not as nice. When I mind the store when she takes a break, her numbers go way up.

 

[c body convert]

worst swap ever...Hershey over 20 yrs ago...had stopped by Frank Mitchell's trailer and picked up a couple small things...next thing I know they're announcing my name over the PA...someone had stolen my wallet, left about 15 bucks and my credit cards in it so it wouldn't be overly suspicious and turned it into security....was out over 400 bucks....had some 340 HP manifolds and 14 inch magnum wheels and tires and a couple other things that sold for about what I lost so at least I could put gas in the camper to get home (4 hr drive each way)...ever since then I keep my wallet in my front pocket...Quote of the day from the vendor next to me..."I always knew Mitchell was a thief but I didn't know he was a pickpocket too"

 

[Kern Dog]

It was a good day. I didn't get rich but I did okay. Traffic wasn't as busy as I'd seen before but it was worthwhile.
$115 in gas, $50 for the swap space and I sold about $700 worth of stuff I didn't need. 4 speed swingset for a 67-76 A body, interior tidbits, A grille, some leftover A/C ducts from the recent Vintage Air installation...A molded plastic windage tray and a few more things too.
I was tethered to the swap space the whole time. I maybe had 4 1/2 hours of sleep the night before so I'm due for a nap to catch up.

 

[HawkRod]

I sell a few odds and ends at Carlisle when I go every year. But mostly it is just to get rid of stuff that I don't need and that are taking up space. I "fire sale" big stuff so most of it goes on Thursday. If I make some beer money and don't need to take big stuff back then I'm happy.
I've never kept track of "good" events and "bad" events. I do this as a hobby and not as a business so I'm not worried about how much I made. Having said that, I try to be respectful to all vendors because some are trying to make a living doing it. But bargaining is part of the deal. No matter what price you put, people will try to bargain it down - it's just the nature of the game.

 

[kiwigtx]

I'm with you here. I tried selling off a bunch of my excess parts years ago at a Mopar show & swap meet. My thoughts were I wanted to come home with an empty trailer so if an item was worth $25.00, I priced it at $10.00. Invariably, the potential buyer would fumble with it for a while then ask....."would you take 5 bucks for it?" After a few hours of that, I told my wife, Lets throw everything back in the trailer and go look at the show cars. I'm Done! I feel sorry for the swappers that rent an enclosed trailer, load all their stuff up and spend their time and money to haul it a hundred miles, then pay another $50.00 for a swap spot only to be nickel and dimed by those losers that want it for nothing. I know it is human nature to low ball sellers but it is just not for me. If I see a part I need and the price is right, I buy it and get on with life.

You get it....thanks.

I feel like sometimes I would rather throw my stuff at the dump than try and deal with losers who want everything for nothing. I have actually been doing that lately, and now that the cost of my surplus storage unit just went up about 10% today, I'll be heaving a lot more out. I don't care anymore what it's worth. I won't use it, so out it goes.