Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Columbus

I generally set up at one show a year. I'm a collector, not a dealer. Like most collectors I need to sell off some things to help pay for something I want to add to my collection. Some things I've noticed from setting up at the spring Peotone show every year except this year.
The show has had different promoters.
They have done a great job of adhering to the scheduled show hours.
Traffic has always been good.
Attendance improved when Aummans and now Matthews conduct an auction in conjunction with the show. The auctions are not officially part of the show (except for the first year when a local auctioneer who was also one of the promoters had an auction as part of the show).
Set up/dealer trading is Saturday. I generally make 50-60% of my sales on Saturday.
Dealers or collector/dealers usually buy my better stuff.
When they first started having early buyers hours there it was like a feeding frenzy. We couldn't sell stuff fast enough. Now there are fewer early buyers and they are much more casual.
The Sunday crowd generally consists of collectors that are on a lower budget and casual collectors (many of whom are car collectors). They do buy a great deal of merchandise if its priced reasonably.
Its a rarity for someone to leave the show empty handed. I don't buy the arguement that they are just lookers. Its my belief that all serios collectors from newby to veteran spend the same amount on their collections......all they can.

A SUCCESSFUL show will cater to the following:

Collectors wanting to buy merchandise.
If you don't keep the buyers happy attendance will drop. A weekend show is much more buyer friendly than a weekday show. Keeping vendors set up for the advertised hours is a must.
You need an early buyers period for the serious collectors and dealers looking to buy new inventory.

Dealers and collector/dealers wanting to sell merchandise.
You have to bring in the buyers if you're going to keep getting vendors. In the case of Peotone they generally draw 1000-1100+ buyers on Sunday. I think thats an incredible number considering theres dealer trading and early buyers on Saturday.

As I stated before I like the auctions held in conjunction with the shows. They drive attendance up at the shows. Do the auctions hurt the show sales? Its possible, but the same dealer that may lose a sale because of the auction probably bought something at the auction that he will sell at the next show.

One thing is certain. With two good auctions, a swap meet, the room to room swap, and the comraderie, the folks that went to Columbus last week had plenty of chances to enhance their collections and have an enjoyable few days. Wish I could have been there!

Early buying will NEVER stop simply because people are free to be there as early as they can afford. They can simply go over to the buffet restaurant and look in each other's trailer. This cannot and should not be stopped. BUT...the promotors should not lose their will to curtail OBVIOUS early activity. I feel sorry for those that are hosting hotel-based shows because the concentration of sellers/buyers gets thicker everyday leading up to the show. Like a Columbia or Peotone, guys are scattered prior to the show and COULD run into one another, but there's a chance you are seeing their merchandise first.

Sometimes, people give me a little **** about advertising No Parking Lot Sales, and actually having a cop enforce it. I see one guy wink at another and then I see them get up and leave. It's obvious there's a parking lot deal going on and I COULD CARE LESS!! The point is, that they are being discreet and not muddying the water. In 1999, before I had put this policy into effect, I had a really good pump buyer that I comped a hotel room for and gave steakhouse gift certificates to. In other words, I really jumped through hoops to get him here, because I knew it would pay off for my consignors (and me). Anyway, the morning of the auction, I get to the buidling and DIRECTLY next to the front door, literally taking up 3-4 parking spots, was a trailer full of pumps. There was a big poster advertising the prices & phone number. I was pretty p*ssed, since I had spent $20,000+ promoting this sale and here someone was going try and ride the coattails. I had the security guys call him and get the trailer moved, which they did. Anyway, the auction goes off as planned, but I notice my big pump buyer isn't buying pumps! After the sale, I asked him if he just didn't see anything he couldn't live without. He replies "no, I really wanted to bid, but after buying all the pumps outside, I didn't have anymore room". I decided then and there that I would begin to advertise no parking lot sales.

The moral of the story is, that there are always classy & discreet ways of skirting the rules (notice I didn't say breaking) and there are unclassy ways that detract from the event and make people feel like they are somehow "out of the loop". In combination with ALL of the reasons spelled out above, I feel like people stay away because they don't think there's any point.

Gotta sell a little in order to build a nice collection...the stuff is still out there too, priced right if you drive enough backroads and ask the right questions. At least in Oklahoma...

See you guys in Iowa...it'll be my first trip.

[This message has been edited by DCpate (edited 06-21-2007).]

BUMP

From the promoter to the vendor to the collector, everyone and everything needs to be more customer friendly. Those that do a good job of that will reap the rewards.

My concern is that we won't take advantage of the opportunity to collectively work together to make the swap meets become better for all of us. I hope you guys prove me wrong.

Hello guys, over here in Australia we have a big swap meet with about 2500 sites at the country Victorian city of Bendigo. The gates open to the vendors on Friday afternoon and the general public comes in early Saturday morning. If you get caught selling on the Friday you are kicked out and banned from re letting a site!! It does sound harsh but it works very well, more and more people come each year because the average collector still gets the chance to pick up a real good piece.
We are having trouble finding quality stuff here in Australia also, I think most people sell their junk at swap meets etc.. and their good stuff on ebay.
And why not!! At the swap meet you get your prices knocked down - on Ebay you get them knocked up!

My dad and I have been going to the Columbus and Iowa shows for roughly ten years now. Both of us have commented more than once that while we may not have picked up a lot of items at the shows, we almost always find an item that really makes the trip. We do buy a lot on ebay, but the shows have the social aspect, as well as items that I know I never would have the opportunity to buy on ebay. Does it justify the expense of traveling? I don't know, but its tough to put a price on some of the experiences, people, and items that we've come across going to the shows.

Fred Stoke & I run his Gas Bash in Santa Rosa, CA. It's a fairly low key event with about 35-50 vendors. No parking fee, no admission fee, low cost for a space with LOTS of room to set up. We've tried different things over the years (auction, dinner, etc.) but the best thing about the show is the people. I've met some really great people that I now call friends through this show. We try to keep the atmosphere "light" & have fun!!!! People like Ray (hotcidr), flying A man (Craig), Mike Slama the glass master, the L.A. boys, Steve Castelli, Turlock Bob, Frank Jones, etc. are the guys that we enjoy seeing & they bring good stuff & they're always looking for good stuff too. ebay is great for finding stuff but NOTHING replaces seeing something in person & seeing the person that is selling it. JMO

Almost forgot, the Lodi corner is the REAL reason for the bash!!!

I've heard the grass NEVER GROWS THERE & it's ALWAYS MUDDY !

Mostly true............

Tom Almost thought you forgot the Lodi corner. Fred's show I will never miss. Best run show on the west coast. Calling for two reservations this year in the corner. Ted

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Ted Pam & Ethyl Roach
Lodi CA.
Looking for Signal, Hancock, Mohawk, Douglas, Gilmore and Richfield