[Boatanchors] Hamfest Pricing

[Bob Bruno - K2KI]

Whenever I go to Hamfests I always go with the mindset of dickering. It 
is an art I love and most of the time I am successful for both buying & 
selling.
Then I offer a starting price to a guy and I get the "Well I can sell it 
on eBay for that much" line. I have said to some of them "Well, why 
didn't you do that instead of bringing it here" Then I walk away before 
he can even formulate a response. But... One guy actually tracked me 
down with a Viking II in tow that I walked away from earlier after the 
guy gave me the eBay line. I got it for less than I offered mainly 
because he didn't want to haul it home.

My daughter Sarah comes with me to all Hamfests and is a better 
Wheeler-Dealer than I am. I simply point to her what I want and tell her 
the highest price I am willing to pay for it. She usually comes back 
with whatever it is and most often for less than my highest offering 
price. She is 22 but looks like 16. She is 5' 7" of pure Wheeler-Dealer! 
And she sells just as well as she buys. :-)

She was selling at my table at Near-Fest one year while I was going 
around to tables looking for gems. Most guys will try to belittle her 
thinking she has no idea of what she is selling. She then sticks out her 
hand and says "Hi, I'm Sarah KB1LJV and I have raised around 
boatanchors" This will usually shut the guy down in a heartbeat! She had 
our table almost cleared out before I returned. :-)

73...
Bob de k2ki
k2ki at starc.org
802-752-7225 (Cell - Call anytime)
SKCC #12195
NAQCC #2337

On 9/1/2014 10:33 AM, Rob Atkinson wrote:
> At the Indianapolis hamfest last July I came upon a guy unloading his
> pickup at around 6:20 a.m.  He hauled out an isolation transformer, a
> Stancor, that looked pretty big.  Turned out to be 1KVA which was more
> than most I see.  I had been looking for one like that.  I figured
> he'd want at least 50 bucks for it.  I mildly asked what he wanted for
> it.  He said, make an offer.   I ummed around looking at it and was
> about to say $20 expecting him to laugh.  Before I could say anything,
> he said, "How about 5 dollars?"  SOLD!  And glad I kept my mouth shut.
> Some sellers are so eager to just get rid of things they'll
> practically give something away to not haul it home.  Well, the Indy
> hamfest from a buying standpoint, was all down hill after that, hi.
>
> Ebay prices at hamfests:  my observation of that is that the eBay
> price folks are what I call "professional hamfesters."  These are
> bottom feeders who go to estate sales, and think they are
> mini-Wal-Marts, and they can put a price on something and not
> negotiate.  Sometimes they even buy an item at a hamfest cheap and put
> it on their table at the very same hamfest.  They may or may not be
> hams.  Not to be confused with real businesses who purchase gov't and
> manufacturer surplus and have a brick and mortar business QTH and
> advertise and so on.  The professional hamfesters are the ones who you
> see at every hamfest, with their tables out and little neat price tags
> on everything, sometimes with a computer there to check inventory and
> prices, and these displays of stuff under glass, all used.   A regular
> ham will sell you a 6V6 for $2.  One of these P.H.s will want $15 or
> even $20.  Most hams who are simply cleaning out the shack and garage
> will set something out and dicker over the price.
>
> 73
>
> Rob
> K5UJ
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