Opinions on swap meets

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breakstuff

breakstuff

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I'm going to the monster mopar event on Friday at Norwalk. The wife is racing and I set up a little table by my trailer with parts for sale usually with stuff that if it stolen, my heart wouldn't be broken. This year I'm bringing more stuff and though about using a swap space, laying out the stuff and a poster with my cell number on it cuz I'll be bouncing around alot. Some stuff I have a bit of money in and wouldn't be happy if it got swiped. I haven't heard of any thievery happen there but still. What do you think, does my idea suck?
 
No clue what it's like there, but you just put bad ideas in all the potentially attending thieves heads.

Maybe share a spot with someone so you can cover for each other?
 
Maybe you could cut a monitor deal with the person in the adjacent spot. Or maybe make a poster with pictures and your contact info but keep the items secured.
 
Someone has to say it..... Lots of bad people in the sport or so it seems. Leave it out of your site and you stand to lose it..... Sell it a different way. Opinions vary and this is mine. If you could stay with it at all times then you may could sell a few things....

Good luck,
JW
 
Sell it here, not a captive audience and it would be safe. Or you could set up a stand with some pics and cell phone number. they wanna see it, call you up and set it up. I wouldnt even let the guy next to me monitor it. I bought an RB Vertex Mag with wires and an indexed crank hub in a box for $40 from a guy, I think he was the help putting out the boxes!!! "How much for the box of stuff? ...uh...how about $40? ...SOLD!"
 
In the eighties and nineties I went to a number of amateur radio "hamfests." You could not trust "anybody." I mean, I'm sure the "majority" was honest, but after "one of them" there was always the stories of those that had things disappear. This takes guts. In a "raft" of people, you never know who is associated with the guy "you are stealing from."

This happened once "in full view" at an estate sale. Local "hams" had helped price some of the items and had made a list. Some guy asked about the price on an (antenna) tuner. They looked at the list and told him, "a hundred" or whatever. He walked right over, picked up an expensive amplifier worth several hundred, and walked out. It wasn't until comparing notes, later, that someone "noticed."
 
sounds like you may not have that much to lay out....set up a placard with the items of interest, exact times you will display and be in attendance...interested parties will be sure to keep the appointed times....good luck...unfortunately only takes on bad apple to spoil the bushel..never fun when that happens...
 
In all my years of running the swap meets (30 plus), I've only had parts stolen once. I covered all my stuff with a tarp on Thursday evening at Autorama when it was held in the Astrodome complex here in Houston. On Saturday, a friend who was at the swap meet came over to my spaces & mentioned that he thought he saw the Mopar intakes that went missing from my spot Thursday night. I went over to the space & examined the intakes for tell tale numbers that I engrave on all my race car parts. The numbers were there, so I stepped over to the registration booth & made mention of it, they asked me if I had reported it Friday when I opened my spot, which I had. I was told to go back to my space & someone would come see me about the incident. About 30 minutes later, two sheriff deputies came to see me. I described the intakes & the numbers that were in the intakes in multiple places. The deputies & I walked over to the space, they questioned the individual about them, he gave them some BS story. They didn't buy his story, gave me my intakes & took his thieving sorry *** to jail. They told his friends to pack his stuff up & leave the premises. I guess there is justice, I testified against him, He was convicted of misdemeanor theft & spent 5 days in jail. Other than that, I've never had anything stolen at the swap meets here in the south. To my knowledge, Most of your neighbors will look out for your stuff if you ask them. Sorry for the long response, I just thought the folks here on FABO should hear someone's side of the story, because there are really some great swap meeters out there.
 
I personally wouldn't leave anything unattended!! Not only do you risk the chance of theft, but you totally miss the chance to interact with your potential customers! I can't tell you how many times my incessant talking and hucking has produced a sale, and many times return visits and more sales when they ask for additional items!!

If you're there to have fun, skip selling any parts, if you're there to sell parts, you must be there to sell your parts!! JMO of course!!
 
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