I wouldn't have a problem with the early buying and selling if the vendors stayed for the advertised show times. As it is most vendors are long gone Friday afternoon. Early trading and early pack up by vendors is not a problem for the retired guys, but many of us still have to work. I was able to take off Thursday and Friday to attend the show and auction, but there are lots of guys that don't bother going because they know the vendors won't be there Saturday. I quit going to Iowa Gas because I know that many vendors are gone by Thursday evening.
Its not good for the hobby when you make it hard for the buyers to buy. Think of it this way: You're new to the hobby, but you know that this is one of the best shows. Being new to the hobby, you're probably fairly young and don't have alot of disposable income. Therefore you decide to not take time off work, and you go to the show on Saturday morning. You arrive at the show location to find a nearly empty lot where the vendors are supposed to be. Would you be happy? I sure wouldn't!
Sell early if you want, but stay for the advertised times of the show! Sellers wouldn't sell early if there weren't a few self serving buyers there wanting to buy early.
Karen, Jarvis and I went in the indoor area before 8:00 to see if Rex needed help setting up. He wasn't there yet so we stopped to talk to a friend. Don was across the aisle from where we were and I noticed he had a nice striped 5 gallon Sinclair Transmision Oil can. About the time I noticed the can we were "asked" to leave. I went back inside as soon after 8:00 as I could but Don had already sold the can (for a price I would have gladly paid). I didn't have a problem with not being able to buy early....rules are rules. We weren't in there to buy anyway, we were there to help Rex set up. There wasn't any consistancy to the rules however. If buyers weren't allowed to buy from the indoor vendors early, why were vendors allowed to leave (a day) early? That didn't leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling for the way the show was run. Don wasn't happy that they were running off potential buyers from the indoor vendors.
It would be better for the show if the auction was on Saturday afternoon rather than Thursday evening. Vendors would be more likely to stay for the advertised show times because the buyers would still be there on Saturday. I don't buy the argument that people will hold back on buying at the show so they can buy at the auction. The guys that were doing the serious bidding don't have the financial constraints that most of us have.
You can argue that vendors make a show. More precisly the merchandise. You can also argue that its the buyers with cash in hand that entice sellers to bring items to market. You need them both.
Is anyone else ready for Chip's show?
