Fishing Tackle Swap Meets?

Started by jgp12000, July 12, 2021, 11:47:05 PM

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jgp12000

I read many of your posts about getting these reely amazing finds,I haven't been a member long and mainly look at Ebay for Vintage reels,I am not a yard sale person but, I know that is where my cousin(1st Class yard sale haggler) finds quite a few treasures for cheap.Are there any swap meets in the southeastern USA,near Georgia?

RowdyW

Check the internet using your location. Also look for yard sales in your area listing fishing tackle. Use the internet just like using ebay.      Rudy

Bill B

Local digital classified ads have been pretty good, as long as I'm not looking for something specific...Bill
It may not be very productive,
but it's sure going to be interesting!

Maxed Out

 Good advice so far. I'll add another option

Also check estate sales in your area
We Must Never Forget Our Veterans....God Bless Them All !!

PacRat

#4
In the southeast you have a lot of really big flea-markets...you also have some decent antique malls. I've recently scored some great reels at antique malls. The Penns and Ocean Cities will be over priced but there are deals to be had on spinners. I recently saw two mint DAM Quicks for $25 each. I left them for someone else. You typically can't haggle at an antique mall because the seller isn't usually present.
Don't overlook pawn shops. There's a lot of junk there but there are gems too...and you can haggle. I recently picked up a Bantam Baitcaster for $30 and I love it. You have to do a lot of looking before you can do a little buying but you can get lucky.
On the west coast we have tackle swap-meets. These are sponsored by fishing clubs, boat shops, etc. I don't know how I find out about them but I go whenever I hear of one.  There's always a lot to see there and haggling is encouraged (if not demanded). This is where you can pick up some real classics if you're willing to paw through the bins. Last one I went to I got a DAM Quick 700 baitcaster for $15. I just picked it up because I had never actually held one before. It was marked $40 and the vendor just spoke up and said I could have it for $15. Sometimes there's guys liquidating their collections and you can get some real honest deals without the eBay gamble. I would suggest googling key phrases like "tackle swap meet" and see if anything pops up in your area.
Good luck
-Mike

oc1

#5
Hire/persuade your cousin to keep an eye out for old reels and text a photo to you when he sees something.  You're more likely to find something rare and inexpensive at a residential yard sale than a flea market.

JasonGotaProblem

Craigslist is great. Lots of people don't know the value of grandpappys old gear, but they do know they need money.

I've gotten some crazy deals, and passed many more along to friends. I've got a couple browser windows with previously fruitful search terms that I keep open and refresh a few times a week to see if anything wild popped up. You may not see anything amazing on the first search. But crazy stuff pops up from time to time, and id you arent checking you won't see it.

If you do this: "include surrounding areas" is a must.
Any machine is a smoke machine if you use it wrong enough.

philaroman

estate sales & little impromptu flea-markets, rather than big established ones
like churches, gun clubs, etc. -- where fishing is secondary
not so much, fishing clubs where "the good stuff" is likely overvalued

Gfish

Do they still use the term "rummage sale" way down yonder?
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

jgp12000

#9
Greg,I "ain't" heard rummage sale in a while, but do remember the term.I have had pretty good success on ebay except for the last 2 reels a 308 stated ready to fish... needed a bail spring and had incorrect screws in various places.A DQ 220 was missing some parts to make it functional, luckily Fred has them.I would just like to see some in person and just find a treasure where you least expect it.Me and my high school buddy use to just drive the south Georgia countryside on weekends long ago looking for old cars.We would see muscle cars in barns covered in dirt with trees growing out of them in a grandma's backyard.

Wompus Cat

Quote from: Gfish on July 13, 2021, 03:42:45 PM
Do they still use the term "rummage sale" way down yonder?



Not only that we got's Sundries, Doo Dad's ,Knick Knacks and What Not's !
If a Grass Hopper Carried a Shotgun then the Birds wouldn't MESS with Him

jgp12000

#11
My Grand daddy use to walk over to our house and ask "you got Ary pipe wrench". I have never heard anyone else say it except him.

Gobi King

#12
Most of the local fishing clubs have a swap meet day.

go to facebook and look up your local fishing clubs, then ask when their swap meet is scheduled usually.

my spoonplugging club just had it, I picked 2 rods and 2 abu ambass reels for $50.
Kramer gave me a minnkota charger that needs new cables, I plan on splicing cables and giving it to some who can use it in the club.
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

foakes

#13
Quote from: jgp12000 on July 12, 2021, 11:47:05 PM
I read many of your posts about getting these reely amazing finds,I haven't been a member long and mainly look at Ebay for Vintage reels,I am not a yard sale person but, I know that is where my cousin(1st Class yard sale haggler) finds quite a few treasures for cheap.Are there any swap meets in the southeastern USA,near Georgia?

All of the ideas above are very good.  And I enjoy doing these various venues also — when time and opportunity allow.

There is another aspect that few folks will understand, appreciate, or even believe — and that is OK.  It is not for everyone —

This is just what works for me — and has been successful over the decades.

———————————-

The true art of buying starts with a plan, gaining as much knowledge as possible about what we want to accumulate — and most of all...making the seemingly little contacts a necessary priority.

Our reputation needs to be one of buying quickly with no drama or indecision.  

It should take no longer than 30 seconds to make a deal.

It boils down to 3 things — AGREE, PASS, or COUNTER — in less than 30 seconds — then move on to the next deal.  This is true with shows, swap meets, online venues, and private offerings.

Then, once a reputation is developed for buying quickly and at a fair price — there will be many opportunities that come to the surface.  I buy everything in a lot without cherry-picking.  The stuff I don't need can always be sold for some sensible number — at some point down the road.  

Sellers want to sell and get rid of stuff — and buyers that are fair and reliable — are appreciated and remembered for other future opportunities.  Most of which are not offered to the general public — just to the fair and reliable buyer that they have done good business with previously.

For me, I let folks know that I will buy (1) reel, an old tackle box of junk, or multiple truckloads — no drama, no haggling, no wasted time or embarrassment for either party — and a genuine appreciation for the seller and their offerings.

Our experience helps to separate the solid folks from the chiselers — and everyone benefits.

Sounds easy — it's not.  But it is dead simple.

Best, Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

Gfish

#14
How's about the good ol' Church Bazaar,  do they still use that term?
Sounds kinda dumb, but when you counter offer, flash the green like a card hand. I've seen it done by car buyer-seller-dealers twice. No effect on me but they wouldn't be doing it unless it worked. "You can have this money, or keep your stuff".

One guy that came to our house, flashed a giant roll of $17,000 in hundreds, at my wife and I, then told us he was $1,000 short of the agreed on 18-grand vehicle price,
'cause his kid needed to pay rent. His pretty, well endowed wife was with him, probably to distract me. The nerve of that guy... They came back  latter with the thou., for the agreed on price, but had "an attitude" during  the rest of the transaction, especially his wife(all towards me). Some people!
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!