[burd]

1200, must be a plush swap.
First swap is coming in a few weeks here. Cant wait.

[poncho-mike]

Six spaces, $200 per 10x 0 or 10x50 space.

I was out the entire $1200.

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by GOAT8U2

Unruhjonny, you might've read my post too quickly...

nope I read it fully, I will highlight where your error was;

Originally Posted by GOAT8U2

...
"He posts the meet kept his and others $1200"

The cited amount was only his portion

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

Six spaces, $200 per 10x 0 or 10x50 space.

I was out the entire $1200.

Precisely.

Swap meets can be fun but they can also be a pricey endevour;
If the organizer is projecting lower attendance, they need to figure out where to raise costs to remain profitable;
Even really small swap meets (like the Lethbridge one I cited earlier) was $80 per spot - so it isn't unimaginable that a swap meet might charge $200/per stall.

[burd]

At that much, how do you make anything?

[unruhjonny]

I don't disagree...
I guess it all depends on how much traffic the meet brings, and how much stuff that you bring aligns with where the local market is...

The booth I made in February was fun, but not entirely profitable - when you include other costs associated with being in attendance.

[71GP76TA]

I have been listing a lot of things on ebay lately. Trying to clear out my sheds as I will be retiring and moving in a couple years. The stuff that doesn't sell or isn't worth listing and shipping I will take to the swap meet and unload dirt cheap. To me it isn't worth listing and shipping something on ebay for less than $25.

[LastoftheThinkers]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

I don't disagree...
I guess it all depends on how much traffic the meet brings, and how much stuff that you bring aligns with where the local market is...

The booth I made in February was fun, but not entirely profitable - when you include other costs associated with being in attendance.

I would be curious to see what the average stall makes, excluding the big company stalls.

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by LastoftheThinkers

I would be curious to see what the average stall makes, excluding the big company stalls.

I think it really comes down to reading the local (or that precise meet's) market.

It used to be (or at least I observed) that tools generated activity at a booth;
so I went to the meet thinking that some tools might encourage more browsing - that small table (on the left in the photos) was set aside for small tools and sockets.

Right after setting up, I was told be a couple vendor's that the prior year's meet, tools didn't sell (I believe the quote was "they couldn't be given away").

As it happened the guy who set up beside me (to the left in those pictures) was only tools;
He had a lot of old & really neat stuff, but I saw him pack a lot of it up...

His deals were so good I nearly bought a whole bunch because of the perceived value... but I held off because I didn't want to be going home with more than I had arrived.

All this is to say that I believe that a swap meet is much like a second hand or antique store - small stuff (or sometimes easy to carry stuff) is more likely to sell than larger or heavier items;
The guys from 'American Pickers' would often say that "we (they) have no problems selling smalls".

I have actually noticed that in genera (or at least in my market) parts like what you would find at a swap meet do not sell like they did ten years ago - I think this is factoring in;
The reproduction market is such that some people are simply opting out of buying older parts.

So, to reply to the quoted post;
Profit (or even margin) all depends on the booth, and how in-tune with the market that booth's owner is.

That's my

[poncho-mike]

At best, I hoped to break even or maybe make a little money at swap meets. If you attend a show as a vendor, you meet many people who might have an interesting driver or project car they're considering selling either now or in the near future. When you help a person find parts they need for their car, they often offer leads on other cars.

I found the following cars through swap meet contacts: Red 1973 SD455 auto, 1972 Lemans Sport Convertible 455HO 4-spd, two different 1972 Lemans Sport convertibles w/endura, 1973 Trans Am 455 4-spd, 1970 Trans Am automatic column shift, 1974 SD455 Formula, 1970 Grand Prix 455, etc. That's a lot of neat stuff that came my way due to setting up as a vendor. Lifelong friendships are made through contacts at swap meets.

[GOAT8U2]

Ah I see, you wanna be clear they ONLY kept Poncho Mike's money after the pandemic and other vendors who paid early like he did either got their money back or did the next event and all things were square other than Poncho Mike.

Ethical Premise based on proof....
While we don't really know for sure about the other Pandemic vendors, the action they took against Poncho Mike is so unethical they clearly could do it to others and most likely did. But to be fair, let's make sure we give the car show board members the benefit of the doubt. LOL

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

They offered a 25% refund - or roll your April 2020 package to an October 2020 package.
The October event was also later cancelled.

I'm not sure if it's truth or false , but supposedly if you rolled your April 2020 over to Oct 2020 , you were now SOL .

If you bought a fresh Oct 2020 package you could roll it over to an April 2021 package.

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by GOAT8U2

Ah I see, you wanna be clear they ONLY kept Poncho Mike's money after the pandemic and other vendors who paid early like he did either got their money back or did the next event and all things were square other than Poncho Mike.

Merry Christmas everybody

[unruhjonny]

I'm giving this thread a bump, because I thought there was some good conversation happening here...

To recap;
I had been noticing less and less vendors at the PDX swap meet, and last year was questioning the relevance of them going forward.

This is how the grounds have been divided up since the meet got a LOT smaller post-covid:



I wasn't planning on going this year, but I really love the drive and getting away from spring snow storms in April - which is why I have attended more often than not for the better part of twenty years...

When I looked at hotel prices in January (or maybe early February), it was looking like hotels would be about $150/night before fees;
My reaction to that wasquiteliterally "F-no!".

But because I get the "itch" to 'get outta dodge' in spring, I looked again in late March, and to my surprise, hotels were available at under $100/night;
So I talked it over with the wife and kids, then arranged to crash at a family member's house...

I actually found more to bring home than I can recall having bought in quite some time, but that doesn't change the feeling that I think that will be my last PDX swap meet.

There are other swap meets, and between time off, fuel, and hotels (only two nights mind you) it just doesn't seem to be worth it;
The PDX swap meet isn't the "wow, this is huge" event that it once was.

No areas were fully booked.

The rear should have been set aside for vendor parking, and those vendors moved to the front outdoor area.

Hall A was more booked than I would have guessed, it was about half full.
Hall B was pretty full; this is where people bring cars - but I didn't look through the cars this year.
Hall C was almost completely empty - I was thinking that Halls A & B could have been closed off, and all the vehicles and vendors put into Hall C.
Hall D was as I recall at least 75% full.
Hall A was probably some where between 50% and 65% full - and that's with a local Ford dealership taking up a large area between two rows, AND tables being set up at the rear/left corner for people to sit down to eat the extortion rate food.

Speaking of the highway robbery rate for food, I heard several times where older gents would inquire about paying cash for food, and being told by the food vendor that a condition of them being there was that they were not allowed to accept cash - how stupid is that!!!?!

Unless this meet makes a drastic change for the better, I doubt I will ever be in attendance again.

Here are some of my biased images - I took these pictures because I was flabbergasted at how empty it was:

This was at the far end of the "6000" area, in front of Hall C:


This was taken from the rear of Hall C - upon entering from Hall B:


This was from the middle of the rear parking lot- shown as area "5000" on the site map:


I think this put it well:

Originally Posted by BOB VIDAN

The Portland swap meet at the Expo is missing only one thing........................................a Priest to say the last rites on it. Absolute waste of time other then a good chance to see who's still alive and survived winter.

It's really too sad;
For along time it was a 'must-attend' event...

[VCho455]

Did you go down to the race track? It was completely full of vendors. Very few of the commercial vendors like Coker or Brothers Truck parts.

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by VCho455

Did you go down to the race track? It was completely full of vendors. Very few of the commercial vendors like Coker or Brothers Truck parts.

Nah, last year at my cousin's suggestion I went to the racetrack for the third (or fourth?) time, and didn't think it was worth it.

Don't get me wrong, the race track did have a lot of stuff, but a LOT to me seemed to be worn out race parts, or:
1) people either wanting way too much for decent stuff
2) flat out not having prices for the stuff I was interested in.

Speaking about not having prices, if you're going to sell stuff figure out your asking price - I don't want to spend twenty minutes trying to pry a price from you... sheesh.

Last year I found all the people with their karts to be seriously frustrating - maybe because I had my wife and two kids in tow...

I understand that some people have mobility issues, but it seemed like almost every one would drive a couple feet, stop their cart in the middle of the aisle and walk to a vendor's stall... to repeat this again after they got into their cart...
Often there were multiple karts in the aisle...

Between the mud, worn out parts, and karts, I wasn't interested in going back.

[poncho-mike]

I lost track after my earlier posts. Not that it matters now, I just want to clarify.

I paid for the Spring 2020 show, as did a lot of people. That show was postponed and the spring show was going to be held in place of the fall show. The fall show was then cancelled. I forgot how many shows got cancelled, but at some point the swap meets resumed. Early on, Hornets Nest refunded people's money if they claimed they needed it for hardship expenses. A lot of people who requested refunds early got their money back. I didn't need the money, so I let it roll. At some point, the Hornets Nest stopped refunding money for cancelled shows, period.

When the shows resumed, Hornets Nest offered a 25% refund on spaces if you paid for the Spring 2000 show and lost your money. I declined, and I haven't been back since.

[unruhjonny]

/\ you made it amply clear;
There was really no need to rehash it.

[Scarebird]

wow.

I started doing Portland very early 90's: completely full, would take you essentially all day to cover it. It was a coin flip - that or the race track which had the rep of better deals.

That looks like it is 30% of it's heyday. I wonder if the Monroe Meet up north of Seattle has diminished as much?

[bdk1976]

I was down at Portland Thurs (PIR) and Friday (expo/PIR). It's about a 2 hour drive one way there for me - for many years I have stayed over Thursday night in Vancouver. Due to some scheduling/logistical issues, I made the round trip both days this year.

PIR - this is the place to be. Nearly full of vendors and some good deals to be had - came away with a decent haul this year. Can definitely be hit or miss year to year, but still no better way to spend a day off of work, especially with the awesome weather this year.

Expo - I told myself last year that it would be my last, but couldn't help myself and paid $26 for myself and my son to get in (in addition to $15 parking, and a 200 mile round trip @ 12.5mpg x $5+/gal). I should have known better and just stayed home and paid someone $100 to kick me in the balls instead - probably would have been a better experience and over sooner. It's just downright sad at this point. The absolute highlight of the expo swap was seeing the 'mobility scooter train' again. One guy in a motorized scooter, pulling another guy in a non-motorized scooter, with a wagon attached at the rear. I still can't believe they haven't moved the entire thing indoors at this point - everything could definitely fit in there now, likely with plenty of room to spare.

I was able to salvage part of the day Friday by going back to PIR and picking up a few more things we missed or initially passed on Thursday (big thanks to my neighbor who is a long time vendor and gave us a couple of extra vendor passes, we didn't have to pay admission at PIR either day)

I'm wondering about the status of Monroe as well - if the stars align, I may try to attend this year but with very low expectations if I do. The two (maybe even three at one point?) spring Puyallup meets have basically consolidated into one - much smaller - swap (I had to miss it this year as was out of town).

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by bdk1976

...The two (maybe even three at one point?) spring Puyallup meets have basically consolidated into one - much smaller - swap (I had to miss it this year as was out of town).

I forgot about Puyallup; it was declining even before Covid.