Swap meet shopping advice

All things K & Sportster

Swap meet shopping advice

Postby Kurt » Mon Apr 27, 2020 11:46 pm

An article I found on my hard drive from many years ago, thought you guys may be interested:
How To: Effective Swap Meet Shopping
By Kurt Schley

I have done it, you have done it and 99% of this magazines readers have done it. We go to a swap meet with only a fuzzy mental list of stuff we need and no other preparation. After finding some or all of the parts we were looking for we drag it home, only to find that 2/3 of the stuff won’t fit or are just the wrong ones. These unusable parts are then tossed into a box to join the useless hardware purchased at previous swap meets.
This waste of time, and sometimes serious money, is entirely avoidable with some simple preparation before heading out to the swap meet. Preparation consists of:
A) Make a notebook containing:
- A list of the parts you need.
- Critical part measurements made from old parts, parts manuals or any other reliable
source.
- Photos or catalog illustrations of the parts.
- Applicable manufacturers and other vendors part numbers. This includes notes
about where manufacturers i.d. numbers are located on the part.
- If the part you are looking for is specific to one model or shared among several
models, including the model(s) years.

B) Tools:
- A multi-tool containing flat blade and Phillips screwdrivers, a small adjustable wrench,
pliers and a knife blade.
- Measuring tape and inexpensive digital caliper. (Harbor Freight makes a good one.)
- Small halogen flashlight.
- Ball-point pen.
-Templates made of cardboard or paper to make quick checks to make sure the offered swap meet parts are the right size or shape. This is particularly useful when trying to find a fender to closely fit a tire. Trace around at least 1/3 of the tires outer diameter on a piece of cardboard. Cut the cardboard along the traced line and take either the top or bottom piece of cardboard the swap meet. With the template you can make quick and accurate checks of the various fenders to find one that will fit your tire the way you want it to be.
- Specific tools. Examples, if you are looking for a transmission take the necessary wrenches to pull off the top cover so you can check out the gears before handing over some big bucks. A battery powered continuity tester to make sure that generators windings aren’t broken. For cylinders or pistons, a quality caliper or micrometer is the only way to know the actual overbore or oversize.

C) A back-pack, gym bag or some other relatively strong bag. It can get to be a real pain trying to hold onto several purchased parts while trying to dig through milk crates and boxes at the various vendors booths. I prefer an old fashion newspaper delivery boys bag. Plenty of room + easy to carry. If you are going to a big swap meet like Carlisle where you may be walking/shopping for a few hours, one of those pull behind wire shopping baskets with wheels are really handy. They save multiple trips back to the truck to drop off purchases. Get one with at least 8” diameter wheels to help navigate over grass and uneven pavement. If the parts you are looking for are kinda rare, hang a “Wanted” sign on the cart describing the part. You would be surprised how often this works finding stuff.


D) Miscellaneous stuff
- Water bottle, save the beers for after the meet so you don’t crap out half way through the swap meet.
- Hat with a brim, i.e. baseball cap. If you have arrived at the swap meet early (which you should) any of the vendors on the east side of the aisle will be lost in the glare of the rising sun. Without a hat with a brim you have to wait until about 9:00 AM to even see their stuff. May sound stupid until it actually happens to you and sunglasses don’t help.
- Cash in small denominations. Handing a vendor a $100 bill for a $2.00 purchase may get a “Can’t change that, it will take all of my small bills” from the vendor, particularly early in the day.
- A few plastic sandwich bags and grocery bags. The sandwich bags for small parts which have a habit of getting lost on the way home. The grocery bags are to wrap up greasy and oily parts so that they are not pissing oil down you leg the rest of the swap meet.
- Internet access, either with a smart phone or by having a phone contact who will be near a computer. This access can be helpful to get quick info if there is some question about a part at the swap meet, including the going price. Examples: There is a vendor there offering a Drag Specialties widget #765 for $75.00, is that a good price? Or, there is a vendor here telling me that his springer will fit both a Sportster and a FLH. Is that correct?

E) Strategy
- If you are serious about getting some good deals, get to the swap meet when the vendors are just arriving. Browse through the stuff as it is being unloaded and you have first dibs on the stuff. Also, many vendors are really eager to make that first sale of the day and may be very open to dickering over prices. The downside is that if the part is a desirable one, the vendor may be reluctant to drop the price because he figures there will be high demand for the thing when more buyers arrive. I often drive up to the swap meets the night before and just sleep in the truck. Then you can keep an eye on the situation and get into the meet the same time as the vendors.
If the item you are looking for is relatively large like a complete ULH, get to the swap meet a half hour before the vendors gate opens. Walk up and down the line of waiting vendors trucks and trailers with a flashlight and look things over. One of my bros found a panhead he wanted and had it negotiated, purchased and loaded onto his truck before the gates even opened. I actually saw a guy once, looking over the sellers trailers before dawn with military type night vision glasses….that is hard-core swap meeting.
If there is a part there which you want but is just too expensive, hang around until crowd has started clearing out and the vendors are starting to pack up. If the seller still has the part (which you have been keeping an eye on, right?), he sure does not want to pack it up and haul it home. He will very likely be open to offers in your price range.
If you spot a part that you want and the price is good, never pass it by thinking that you will come back later and getting it. If the price is really good, another vendor will pick it up, take it to his space and jack up the price substantially. I once saw a girder front end move around among the vendors spaces four time in the same day, going up $50-75 each move.
It takes a little effort to properly prep for a swap meet, but it sure beats dragging home a lot of expensive parts that turn out to be useless.
Kurt
 
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