Bendigo swap meet

[dreamin']

Hi all

Heading to the Bendigo swap meet next weekend - my first time

Is any one else going/showing and any tips re what to look for/avoid?

[slug_burner]

Take something to carry things in. Take some block out.

[jazzaD1]

Take something to carry things in. Take some block out.

dont forget comfy shoes! its a fair hike, nothing on the ballarat swap meet though

[Bigbjorn]

dont forget comfy shoes! its a fair hike, nothing on the ballarat swap meet though

I would be surprised if you couldn't find something to buy there. Usually just about everything and anything from needles to tractors can be seen there. Lots of people still go but spending started to go off about 10 years ago.

I no longer go there as the takings fell off from the glory days and the event is no longer economically viable to me, a professional vendor. Two thousand miles of travel and seven days away from Brisbane makes it an expensive event to attend and the declining takings and increasing travel costs made it no longer worthwhile, likewise Ballarat.

[slug_burner]

I have been to both Bendigo and Ballarat. It would be interesting to do a stall count to establish which is bigger. Both are big and you need to do a lot of walking. I ended up buying stuff I was not even looking for. You need something to carry your buys in, even if you leave them with the stall operators you still have to carry them to the car at the end of the day.

[bobslandies]

Bendigo National Swap Meet Sat 14 / Sun 15 Nov 2009;
Bendigo National Swap Meet (http://www.bendigoswap.com.au/)
and here:
http://www.bendigoswaponline.com/
There is a free pick up parts service organised through the SES
1600 sites.

Ballarat Super Southern Swap Meet 2010, Fri 26 / Sat 27 Feb 2010:
Super Southern Swap Meet, Ballarat, Victoria. (http://www.ballarat.com/swapmeet/index.htm)
2300 sites.
Huge - best of the two for variety, number of sellers and buyers - downside sometimes heat and dust, miles to walk.

From a sellers point of view the admin at Bendigo became over the top years ago:wasntme: but seems to be better now entering the real world.....

Bob

[Bigbjorn]

From a sellers point of view the admin at Bendigo became over the top years ago:wasntme: but seems to be better now entering the real world.....

Bob

Know exactly what you mean. No Friday trading under pain of expulsion or refusal to book you a site next year, and insisting you stay for Sunday under the same threats, which day is a purely social event with virtually no business done. I took $7 on the Sunday the second last time I was there. Little Hitlers throwing around their puny authority.

[gazk]

I last went to Bendigo in the mid 90's - the problem back then was that all of the sites were booked out from year to year so not a lot of "new" stuff appeared from "new" vendors. Ballarat in its early days was better as those who couldn't get a site at Bendigo went to Ballarat. Is Ballarat suffering from the same problems Bendigo had in the 90's?

Pity some of the smaller swaps (eg Bargo) shut down due to public liability insurance issues.

[bobslandies]

I last went to Bendigo in the mid 90's - the problem back then was that all of the sites were booked out from year to year so not a lot of "new" stuff appeared from "new" vendors. Ballarat in its early days was better as those who couldn't get a site at Bendigo went to Ballarat. Is Ballarat suffering from the same problems Bendigo had in the 90's?

You are right about the "staleness" of some of the vendor's stock. Also some didn't sell but just used it as a parking space, precluding new sellers. You would see a few items on sites with only a mob. number for you to ring. Others sub-let to their mates to hold their spot. This was obvious but the admin were either powerless to do anything about it or just looked the other way. But watch out if you drove a long way and were caught "selling" on Friday - of course stuff still got "sold" but was put away till Saturday. This has been pretty well stopped by having Friday the set-up day with no public entry. The fallout there is that buyers then think other sellers are snapping up the "good stuff". It's difficult to be fair and please everybody.

You can only go and have a look - never know what you will find!

I think Ballarat works fine from what I have heard lately. There's no shortage of room there and there is huge variety. However, you do have to pre-book a site.


Pity some of the smaller swaps (eg Bargo) shut down due to public liability insurance issues.

While it is true that some swaps were forced to close down because of rocketing insurance premiums and Bargo was a casualty but also the admin there suffered from a reluctance to listen to the sellers and an unfortunate run of bad weather for years. Try setting up after 12.00 midnight - the earliest they would allow sellers onto the hilly site:mad::mad::mad: even though the sellers had been lined up for hours with no facilities - zilch.

Anyway the world has also changed in the last ten years since the start of eBay - but there is still a place for swap meets. Ballarat would still be number one and I think Toowoomba is right up there with it.

Bob

[Bigbjorn]

I always took a good bit more money at Bendigo than Ballarat, but as I noted in my earlier post, the takings reduced year by year from a high point to the point where it was no longer economically viable for me to travel there from Brisbane.

Bendigo's sites were tightly held and the organisers had a waiting list. Not sure how Ballarat operates as I have not been to either for some years now.

I used to attend 24-25 swaps a year but decided I am getting too old for this workload. I now only attend 12-14 of the better ones. They are the ones that consistently produce a reasonable financial return. I have cut out nearly all the small Sunday morning club meets, the hot rod/street machine swaps, the swaps dominated by a car show, and a few from the mortgage belts and lower socio/economic areas that do not have a lot of disposable income. Funnily, my gross takings have not altered much.

[gazk]

While it is true that some swaps were forced to close down because of rocketing insurance premiums and Bargo was a casualty but also the admin there suffered from a reluctance to listen to the sellers and an unfortunate run of bad weather for years. Try setting up after 12.00 midnight - the earliest they would allow sellers onto the hilly site:mad::mad::mad: even though the sellers had been lined up for hours with no facilities - zilch.

Anyway the world has also changed in the last ten years since the start of eBay - but there is still a place for swap meets. Ballarat would still be number one and I think Toowoomba is right up there with it.

Bob

With the demise of Bargo, Goulburn has built up to be a good swap with relaxed "rules" including setup on Saturday and plenty of space for new/occasional sellers.

[Bigbjorn]

The best ones in Qld. that I still attend are in order by consistent takings:- Gatton HMCC, Toowoomba, Maleny HMCC, Nabiac(NSW) motor cycle, Nambour, Pine Rivers HMCC, Beaudesert.

I still go to Banyo (now at Capalaba), Mudgeeraba, Jimboomba, Allora Old Machinery Field Day, Triumph Club's All British swap. There are a couple of others I might go to every second or third year.

[Bigbjorn]

You are right about the "staleness" of some of the vendor's stock.

I have been going to swap meets for some thirty+ years and I swear some of the same tired old blokes with the same piles of rusty rubbish, just thrown on the ground unidentified and unpriced are still going to them.



Also some didn't sell but just used it as a parking space, precluding new sellers. You would see a few items on sites with only a mob. number for you to ring.

You only see this to any great extent at the very big swaps that have prebooked only sites. It became a problem at the biggest of them al, Hershey Pennsylvania, so the organisers set up a patrol squad to weed these out.





Others sub-let to their mates to hold their spot. This was obvious but the admin were either powerless to do anything about it or just looked the other way.


I know a number of guys who stopped going to Bendigo but gave the site to a mate to use in their name because of the waiting list.


But watch out if you drove a long way and were caught "selling" on Friday - of course stuff still got "sold" but was put away till Saturday.


Guilty! If I am there and a buyer is there, I am going to sell. That is what I go there to do, 2000 miles round trip. Bugger the petty rules and the little Hitlers.


This has been pretty well stopped by having Friday the set-up day with no public entry.


I belkieve all swap meet organisers should strive towards having early buyer free entry for vendors to set up but a whole day is bloody stupid. open the gates at 5.00am and let the buyers in at 7.00.


The fallout there is that buyers then think other sellers are snapping up the "good stuff". It's difficult to be fair and please everybody.


This is the law of the market place. First with the money gets the goods. Buyers may think dealers are snapping up bargains to put on their own stall at an inflated price, but this is a two way street. The dealer who sells cheaply may get mightily ****ed off when he sees the item on another stall at a 200% markup on what he sold it for. Buyers may think they got a bargain when they see the same item priced much higher than they paid for their treasure




While it is true that some swaps were forced to close down because of rocketing insurance premiums

Laziness on the part of the organisers. Insurers with a reasonable attitude were around and could be found.

and Bargo was a casualty but also the admin there suffered from a reluctance to listen to the sellers and an unfortunate run of bad weather for years. Try setting up after 12.00 midnight - the earliest they would allow sellers onto the hilly site:mad::mad::mad: even though the sellers had been lined up for hours with no facilities - zilch.


Few organisers are prepared to listen to suggestions. "We have run this event for 25 years and we know what we are doing". Most are a bunch of possibly well meaning amateurs mixed with a few local Hitlers who "own" the event and revel in the only authority they have ever had in their lives.

Classic example is a SE Qld. venue that is used twice per annum by two odifferent organisations. The longest standing group staunchly maintain no entry before 6.00am Sunday and not one second before and claim that the showgrounds society and council do not allow earlier entry. The other group are quite happy to allow entry the evening before and through the night, no problem.



Anyway the world has also changed in the last ten years since the start of eBay - but there is still a place for swap meets. Ballarat would still be number one and I think Toowoomba is right up there with it.

Bob

I think Toowoomba is better than Ballarat was last time I was there.

[series1buff]

i havent attended Bendigo for years. The endless dust, heat and prices and miles of walking are too much for me to handle .

Bendigo has been over run with people selling goods nothing to do with autos, old wares that you will see at a trash and treasure market. ..pots and pans and clocks and everythiing under the sun . And much of the auto stuff is from the 60's and 70's..holden and falcon parts buy the truckload, with outrageous prices too... like rusty EH guards for $200 each ...

the good old days of barn find T model fords on trailers are long gone ....

Mike

[Bigbjorn]

i havent attended Bendigo for years. The endless dust, heat and prices and miles of walking are too much for me to handle .

Bendigo has been over run with people selling goods nothing to do with autos, old wares that you will see at a trash and treasure market. ..pots and pans and clocks and everythiing under the sun . And much of the auto stuff is from the 60's and 70's..holden and falcon parts buy the truckload, with outrageous prices too... like rusty EH guards for $200 each ...

the good old days of barn find T model fords on trailers are long gone ....

Mike

Whether you like it or not, bric-a-brac dealers (one of my members refers to them as "the flea market grubs, dole cheats and tax dodgers all") are an established fact of life at most swap meets. Consider that for most organising clubs, their annual swap meet is their only significant source of revenue other than members subscriptions. Thus the club has a vested interest in filling as many vendor spaces as possible. Some swaps are almost over run by the bric-a-brac stalls.

The only clubs in SE Qld. that insist in "no bric-a-brac, hobby related items only" are the Historical Motor Cycle Club whose chapters run three very, very, good swaps, and the Triumph Sports Owners Association whose All British Swap is run on similar lines.

[Bigbjorn]

i havent attended Bendigo for years. The endless dust, heat and prices and miles of walking are too much for me to handle .

Bendigo has been over run with people selling goods nothing to do with autos, old wares that you will see at a trash and treasure market. ..pots and pans and clocks and everythiing under the sun . And much of the auto stuff is from the 60's and 70's..holden and falcon parts buy the truckload, with outrageous prices too... like rusty EH guards for $200 each ...

the good old days of barn find T model fords on trailers are long gone ....

Mike

60's and 70's are the eras new entrants to restoration hobbies are at. Fewer enthusiasts are interested in pre WWII vehicles, and vintage(pre 1931) and veteran (pre 1920) machines. Check the auction results. Interest in brass era veterans in particular has declined remarkedly, unless the vehicle is one of note or has some fame. Ford T's have a small and faithful following as do A's but these are an aging group and most other enthusiasts have little interest in what were pretty bloody ordinary cars. There is still the occasional "barn find" but country areas have been pretty well picked over and usually only cheap mass produced vehicles are being "found" nowadays. The classics were mostly located decades ago. The cheapies were then ignored as being of no interest or worth.

[gazk]

I own a vintage Chev and veteran Dodge (possibly ex AIF) that I've had for a long time and don't really go to swap meets looking for parts for these vehicles but its interesting to see what is around and very occasionally a gem that you weren't looking for shows up. As a seller I've had the occasional shed clean out of those bits that were "too good to throw away" but as Brian said its not worth driving too far (more than about 200Km ?) to clear out the excess bits or for little return in the case of "professional vendors". I likewise avoid swaps associated with car shows. I do however find the "social" scene at the swaps where I know regulars to be a good place to catch up with people I don't see very often.

[Bigbjorn]

I own a vintage Chev and veteran Dodge (possibly ex AIF) that I've had for a long time and don't really go to swap meets looking for parts for these vehicles but its interesting to see what is around and very occasionally a gem that you weren't looking for shows up. As a seller I've had the occasional shed clean out of those bits that were "too good to throw away" but as Brian said its not worth driving too far (more than about 200Km ?) to clear out the excess bits or for little return in the case of "professional vendors". I likewise avoid swaps associated with car shows. I do however find the "social" scene at the swaps where I know regulars to be a good place to catch up with people I don't see very often.

About 200k's each way from Brisbane is pretty well my travel limit for a swap meet, except for the one at the National Motor Cycle Museum at Nabiac. This is a good event, quite rewarding, and produces a lot of mail order business afterwards. It is "no bric-a-brac, hobby related items only".

The more complete cars I have seen offered for sale for restoration in recent years are all too often the ones that were passed over years ago as being too rough, too incomplete. Complete, or near complete, reasonably original pre-war cars are now rarities. If you are contemplating this sort of project, you are probably better off buying an older restoration that needs freshening up and non-original areas, bad work, mistakes, etc. sorted out. Likely be a lot less costly than undertaking a complete restoration of an incomplete or badly deteriorated vehicle.

I don't sell cars or parts. I handle machine shop, fitters and mechanics tools but not spanners etc., hobby engineer's, model maker's and restorer's supplies. I am moving away from used items unless I get some windfalls at auction. Some time next year I plan to have only new goods imported from USA, China, India.

[dreamin']

Thanks for the advice, everyone

Hot weekend. Landy parts thin on the ground. A few useful tools, etc

Oh, yes ... and a NOS 518 PORK PIE LENSE (NO WINDOW) FOR $10!!!!!!

Another dealer had a stock of NOS lenses with windows for $120 ea

Happy days - accommodation booked for next year

D