More fun at the flea market!

metalmike · May 12, 2008 1:03PM

I live is a small town and set up every Saturday at the local indoor/outdoor flea market. I used to sell on ebay- not many cards, but mostly other items. Here are a few observations- Any thing with Pete Rose on it is gold. Non card collectors could care less if a card is graded or not -I only sold 2 graded cards both 1980's Pete Roses. My dollar box did well. Nascar and WWE cards are easy sells. NOBODY wants cassettes even at .25 each. I did put out a few feelers concerning buying collections and hope to stumble on some oldtimers looking to sell. Best part of the day- some kid about 10 came up to my table with his mom and he freaked out when he saw all of the wrasslin stuff I had. He bought 4 packs of WWE cards and a single Hulk Hogan card from me for 5 bucks and was really excited- kind of how I was about the Reds back in the 70's After I chatted to him and his momma for a bit I pulled out a "match used card" from Summerslam 2007 and gave it to him and he started jumping up and down as it had his fav Rey Mysterio on it. He had no clue about cards like that. It was like I gave him a 100 dollar bill! That made my day. I sold about 90 dollars worth of stuff and I am the ONLY card seller. I will never get rich doing this but it gets me out of the house and I bought a auto'd Cal Ripken rookie with the $$$ I made. Life is good. Mike

CDsNuts · May 12, 2008 1:09PM

Sometimes I feel like I need to do something like this on a weekly basis just to get out of the house. Then I realize I have severe Attention Deficit Disorder and would get bored within 20 minutes and start going crazy. I also have fantasies of going back to bartending once a week but then I realize I don't like people that much anymore. It's hard being me.

Sounds like you had a good time. I'm somewhat jealous.

Stone193 · May 12, 2008 1:15PM

That's great Mike - I used to do that in the early 90s - with my son - always had a good time.

How much does it cost to set up? It used to be really cheap - like 5 or 10 bucks.

Some guys had permanent spots that they opened up.

Glad you're having fun with - sure worth a lot to get out - meet some people and make a few bucks.
mike

metalmike · May 12, 2008 1:41PM

Mike- it costs 12 bucks to set up and the owner likes me and lets me set up right outside the entrance which is out of the sun as I explained to him the need to keep cards ect protected. The town I live in has 10k people and one small card shop which is set up in the front of the owners house. He sells a lot of magic/pokemon cards and he does not buy anything but he does trade though.When I used to work at speedway he would send people to me with their cards as I will buy anything if the price is right

I may not pay a lot but I do buy. Best deal so far 500 book value football cards for 40 bucks. The cards were not mint but the lot had 2 Marinos and a Elway rookie all came back Beckett 6.5. Mike

HighChopper · May 12, 2008 1:53PM

I don't mind people, but I seem to feel better when they're not around.

yankeeno7 · May 12, 2008 2:12PM

I would love to find a flea market to sell at in Western Massachusetts. I wont set up in NY because they will require a tax certificate which I am not going to run out and get just to sell a couple hundred dollars of items at a flea market. If anyone knows of any decent flea markets like that in Western Mass, let me know!

Sounds like a good time Mike. It's always cool to break in a new collector. That kid will remember that act of kindness for a long time.

metalmike · May 12, 2008 2:53PM

It takes 10 acts of kindness to offset one act by fools like gary. Hopefully the kid will keep collecting and buying

I feel sorry for the kids today as they will never know the joy of riding their bikes to the store and blowing their 25 cent allowance on 2 packs of cards and a Coke. I bet gary got beat up a lot when he was a wee young"un which is why he is a tool today. Mike

Ahmanfan · May 12, 2008 3:12PM

Mike, what part of the country are you in?

storm888 · May 12, 2008 3:22PM

"It takes 10 acts of kindness to offset one act by fools like gary..."

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Actually, I think it only takes one act of kindness to "offset" 1000s of bad acts.

You can witness the phenomenon in a war-zone or in an area hit by a natural disaster.

metalmike · May 12, 2008 3:54PM

Ahmanfan, I live about 20 minutes from Great American Ball Park.

AlmostPerfect · May 12, 2008 5:56PM

<< <i>I don't mind people, but I seem to feel better when they're not around. >>

Barfly, wtg!

stevek · May 12, 2008 6:16PM

<< <i>I live is a small town and set up every Saturday at the local indoor/outdoor flea market. I used to sell on ebay- not many cards, but mostly other items. Here are a few observations- Any thing with Pete Rose on it is gold. Non card collectors could care less if a card is graded or not -I only sold 2 graded cards both 1980's Pete Roses. My dollar box did well. Nascar and WWE cards are easy sells. NOBODY wants cassettes even at .25 each. I did put out a few feelers concerning buying collections and hope to stumble on some oldtimers looking to sell. Best part of the day- some kid about 10 came up to my table with his mom and he freaked out when he saw all of the wrasslin stuff I had. He bought 4 packs of WWE cards and a single Hulk Hogan card from me for 5 bucks and was really excited- kind of how I was about the Reds back in the 70's After I chatted to him and his momma for a bit I pulled out a "match used card" from Summerslam 2007 and gave it to him and he started jumping up and down as it had his fav Rey Mysterio on it. He had no clue about cards like that. It was like I gave him a 100 dollar bill! That made my day. I sold about 90 dollars worth of stuff and I am the ONLY card seller. I will never get rich doing this but it gets me out of the house and I bought a auto'd Cal Ripken rookie with the $$$ I made. Life is good. Mike >>

I always considered doing that but never did - I guess my main concern was some punks in a crowd grabbing and running off with some valuable cards. Then want are ya gonna do? How about nothing - you're stuck.

I think the "I did put out a few feelers concerning buying collections and hope to stumble on some oldtimers looking to sell" might be a bigger incentive to do this flea market bit then you may care to admit. I think a fair amount of B&M card shop owners endure in the struggle to stay open, with the dream of some little old lady walking in with a huge vintage lot for sale cheap.

-

BobS · May 12, 2008 9:11PM

Mike -

I'm doing the same thing here every-other month in Columbus. At the Vet's memorial Show. Costs $50/day top set up, but I find the best part is giving packs of 87 topps to the kids. How come you never come down to the Columbus show?

alnavman · May 12, 2008 9:43PM

Bob, where's the Vets show in Columbus??? I'm 2 hours away and would love to stop down one weekend....

al.

fattymacs · May 12, 2008 10:40PM

Bob - post a heads up for the next Vets show. I'll stop by and introduce myself.

BobS · May 12, 2008 11:31PM

Next show is July 26th and 27th. The veterans memorial is in downtown columbus. Google it. Admission is free, parking is a few bucks. Maybe 150 dealers. Mostly set building and new boxes, but plenty of EX-NM 50's and 60's for us set builders. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I'm usually the only older wax dealer. It happens every other month, but my boss (see wife) only lets me set up every other one.

fattymacs · May 12, 2008 11:38PM

What old wax do you have available for sale right now? You can post it or PM.

Allen · May 13, 2008 1:32AM

I do flea markets pretty much all summer. Funny you say that about cassettes, I sold a ton last summer. I sell some cards and usually meet a few new collectors. I sell tons of junk and it gives me a reason to get to the flea market early and look around for any good finds others have. The guy who had a card sho near buy had pretty much became a DVD pawn shop and would buy any solid title for $1 and people brought him tons. He sold them for $4 at the flea market and sold hundreds a week.

stevek · May 13, 2008 3:30AM

Anybody got any 8-track tapes for sale?

redsoxfred · May 13, 2008 5:47AM

Yankeeno I live in Western Mass and know of 2 flea markets in the area. One is a summer outdoor one on RT 47
in Hadley. The other is an indoor one on Rt 5 in Holyoke. It is fairly big and receives a lot of traffic.

sonoranmonsoon · May 13, 2008 7:54AM

I love it. You have found what truly makes life worth living. Keep it up, and thank you for the post.

yankeeno7 · May 13, 2008 8:10AM

<< <i>Yankeeno I live in Western Mass and know of 2 flea markets in the area. One is a summer outdoor one on RT 47
in Hadley. The other is an indoor one on Rt 5 in Holyoke. It is fairly big and receives a lot of traffic. >>

Thanks RedSoxFred!

VitoCo1972 · May 13, 2008 8:32AM

The Taunton outdoor Flea Market at the old race track used to be excellent for many things.

More fun at the flea market!

Comments