At last night’s ARROW meeting, we discussed strategies for getting a good deal at Dayton. Dave WB4SBE and Tom N8AMX had many good recommendations, both for getting deals and for dealing with the weather. One tip that I appreciated was to look for Doc’s Electronics. According to Dave, they are a reseller of Icom refurbs, and have really great prices on Icom radios and accessories. While I’m not really in the market for a new radio, I might just pick one up if the price is right.
In preparation for the meeting, I had prepared the following presentation. Although I didn’t present this material, most of it was covered in the discussion.
The first set of tips is from an article on the ARRL website, “Flea Market Madness! A Beginner’s Guide to Buying and Selling”
- Budget your money. If youre at all typical, you dont have an unlimited budget for ham radio acquisitions. Perhaps you can bring along a few pieces of gear to sell or swap–just in case you find a big-ticket item you just have to have.
- Negotiating skills are helpful. Haggling over the price of used gear or components in a friendly and generally reasonable manneris appropriate and expected. Dont take the negotiating stage too far, however.
- Arrive early or stay late. The best hamfest deals are usually made in the first and last hours of each event. Getting to the hamfest early will allow you to snap up some of the best merchandise. If you wait too long, your favorite stuff may be all gone. Alternately, if you play the waiting game, sellers will be quick to discount stuff that did not sell previously.
- Always test expensive gear. If you&’re buying a major item such as a transceiver or receiver, make sure you’re able to plug the thing in somewhere to see if it works. While most sellers represent their merchandise accurately, but it never hurts to power up a potential acquisition.
- Returns? In a similar vein, make sure you get the sellers name, address and phone number–just in case. Although you don’t expect to have major problems with a piece of gear you’ve thoroughly inspected and casually tested, it never hurts to be prepared. If the seller is truly compassionate, you may be able to negotiate a return policy. It never hurts to try!
This next set of tips is from Tom N8AMX, our technical coordinator:
- If you find something that you might want to come back and buy later, be sure to write down the booth number. There are thousands of booths and after awhile they all look the same. You will find that the outside venders booth number painted on the pavement at the front of the booth.
- Cash is the most reliable way to pay for stuff. Most but not all of the inside vendors also take credit cards. Outside its basically cash and carry.
- There are electrical outlets inside the main building at Dayton you can find outlets in the main hallways and the loading dock. This allows you to bring stuff inside from the outside dealers to plug in and test.
- Do not wait for lunch time to get food, the lines get very long.
- Eat and drink often. It will help keep you going.
- Expect the worst in terms of weather. Be ready for snow and rain. Layering your clothing is a good idea as it lets you adjust as the weather changes during the day.
- Before you go make up a list of what you need to buy and what you would like to buy. Helps to cut done on the impulse buying.
- Figure out how you are going to carry your purchases and bring a container with you. Bring a small cart if you are going to buy modulation transformers. I usually use a shoulder bag or backpack.
- Make sure what ever you buy will fit into the vehicle that you are going home in.
- Take the bus. It will keep you out of the mud fields they use for parking. One year I got covered from head to feet with mud before I was half way to the gate.
Thanks, Tom!
Leave a Reply