O/T Swap meet junk

Here in San Diego there is a big swap meet every year. A lot of old car stuff, and just about anything else. I walk around and pick up a few things. Here is what really gets me mad. Why do people bring junk to sell, and say it is a good what ever. I just tried my shop vacuum today, the motor was shot. A flash light I had to over hall to get it working. A inline air sander that will go to the scrap pile. A slip joint pliers that will not hold in any postion. Almost afraid to put on the set of used tires I bought for my truck. I did get some good items. It isn't the money so much, but I am sure the items I bought that were junk, the sellers knew they didn't work. What prise pieces of junk have you taken home form a swap meet? Stan

hey 37, like scamers, they don't care who they shaft, it's money in their pocket,,,i wounder what they would think if it happen to them,,wait a minute, they don't think..that's why they are crocks...if it doesn't look good enough to use, i just walk on,,have a swap meet coming up here soon,,actually i don't take a lot of money, that way i have to be choosey what i buy,lol

Always keep this in mind when goin to a swap meet or consighment sale, buy it cheap enough to fix it if it don't work.

Stan is it different in Ca? Do they allow the vendors to hold a gun on you to force you to buy their stuff? I have bought and sold lots of "Junk" at swap meets. I personally have never sold anything that I knew was inoperable.But have been fooled twice.One was a timing light the other was a buffer both vendors promised me faithfully they were good.
The truth is people go to swap meets looking for a deal and would rather buy junk than good stuff. I like to work on 4 speed transmissions. Usually carry several completely rebuilt with warranty and a couple of dirty used ones for parts and they will knock you down to get to the junk.
We have been going to the Autofair in Charlotte twice a year for many years and camp out for the weekend. Usually sell enough stuff to pay for trip. In our demolition business we run across all kinds of things that we put aside to carry. wierd things sell better than common.
We took down a double wide for a friend that had several hundred army helmets. He bought them at an auction to get something else that was bundled with them. We have been carrying them for years and usually sell 20 or 30 on a weekend. My youngest brother works for Yellow Cab and will carry the old lights off the roof and people will buy them like hotcakes. Now what are you going to do with a light that says Yellow Cab?
Ron

I frequent those things too but for axe heads, hammer heads, hickory handles, horseshoes, anvils, logging tools, old carpenter tools. Stuff I can pretty much see the good. Some are priced higher than the hardware store and some are cheap, I just have to walk away or buy. Never something that plugs into an outlet. Paul

Ya know,thinking back on it,I don't know that I ever got hosed on used stuff. It's the vendors selling the new Chinese garbage,still in the box who beat me out of my money for stuff that doesn't work.

I remember plain as day,at the Yoder and Frey auction in Archbold Ohio,there used to be a guy there every sale day selling new stuff out of his station wagon. Bargain Benny was his name. A freind went with me one time and bought a wrist watch from him. He didn't even step away,took it out of the box right there. Tried to wind it and the stem fell out. He told Benny and asked him for a different one. Benny said no,there's a card inside,send it in.

Normally do not buy too much electrical at these things but have purchased manual tools, body parts, trims, manifolds etc. Learned some lessons by purchasing electrical tools at auction, basically paid them to haul their junk away.

Did you ask the seller if the items were in working order before you bought them?

It can work the other way too. I've purchased alleged "junk" a swap meets only to discover with a bit of tinkering the item still worked. Case in point:

I picked up a "non-running" 25 HP Kohler V-twin engine for next to nothing. My intent was to salvage the carburetor, starter, alternator, etc. to keep as spares for my ZTR mower.

When I got the engine home I discovered the oil level off the bottom of the stick. Since the Kohler has an oil pressure safety switch to short the magnetos and stop the engine on loss of oil pressure, low oil will "kill" the engine.

On a whim I added a couple quarts of oil, hooked up a gas line and cranked it up. The engine started, showed good oil pressure and ran perfectly.

So now I have a complete spare engine for my mower for which I paid only $10.

Agree, got a new battery charger for my 6 volt mh... sounds like a bunch of large screws inside, doesn't work. (bought Monday, taking it back next monday) Got stuck with a brand new jack that didnt work, was beyond the 30 day period.

Have a BIL that this is a profession with comes to the farm and gathers up stuff that we discarded and is really nothing but junk. Has a regular group of meets & swaps he goes to every week his biggest joy "Remember that item I picked up at the farm.well I got 10 bucks out of it". I do not know what it it proves except he thinks he is pretty big operator when it comes to junk. girib

Stan, I agree that there is tons of junk at them, but some good stuff too. Like for instance, tools. Often lots of very good quality tools that make me think that all over the place, there are lts of angry fellas missing a lot of good expensive tools that I have a pretty good idea where they can be found. But beyond that, there is some pretty good stuff that can be found. I picked up a 110 volt spark plug cleaner for a couple of $$$. Remember hen Black and Decker made a 12 volt spark plug cleaner back in the '70's that worked off of a car battery? I had one. Worked great, but got misplaced. Worked so great that B&D quit making them for whatever reason. Anyway, I mentioned it to some guy selling junk at a swap meet and he said he had one at home that was 110 powered and would brink it the following week and sell it to me. Following week, I looked him up, he had it, and it works, and works great on the lawn mowers, that AC-B. Is like a small versionof a sand blaster that works in a bag off of an air compressor, except this just has a propeller of sorts that churns up small glass beads and does the same thing. Here is one over at Ebay, I guess. If you can get your hand one one, and sand or glass beads from an auto part store, which many have, they are the cats meow.

Mark
Black and Decker Spark Plug Cleaner