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VCF Swap Meet - June 10, 2023 - Wall, NJ

ajacocks

ajacocks

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All,

Please come and join us for the next swap meet, in Wall Township, New Jersey, on June 10, 2023:


Just as before, the event starts at 8am, and runs until 2pm. We will be in the parking lot adjacent to Brookdale Community College, Wall campus. Spaces are $20 for the first one, and $10 for each additional. We have had a great turnout for all of our past swap meets, so be sure to be there!

- Alex
 
We're nearly there! I'm quite excited to go. One question I do have about the meet though - last year when I went in February, it was indoor but I understand it's going to be outdoors this time. Makes sense. My question is seeing as it's in a parking lot, will there be any electricity out there? Would be a bit of a concern if I couldn't test anything out before I buy it.
 
No electricity. Doesn't preclude anyone from bringing one of those portable power stations though, or an inverter connected to their car.
 
Hmm. Hope someone does. Lots of things you gotta look at, like if the backlight on a screen is yellowed, or just getting proof that what I’m buying actually works.
 
Sorry I wont be able to make it so I cant take the inverter. im tapped out and broke at the moment. I really really hope we can get another swap meet in this year. ☹
 
I’m not the one to answer that, not the one running the thing nor a vendor. Just a guy in search of old laptops!
I think vendors are supposed to get there around 7 AM though.
 
Hello everyone!

We are going forward with the swap meet as planned!

After looking at the forecasts for the air quality, the predictions show that things will clear up to acceptable levels by Saturday morning. I still recommend that everyone bring a high quality N95 mask as extra protection.

On the bright side the temperature looks like it will be 76 degrees and only a 25% chance of rain. New for this year: we will have food for sale in the parking lot by a non-profit fire museum.

Vendors can set up at 7AM.
Buyers come at 8AM.

We have the usual numbers of vendor pre-registrations with many more expected to register at the gate. The number of buyers is expected to be higher than usual as we had huge demand at our VCF East consignment sales.

Thanks!
 
The meet was a great success for me. I was able to find homes for an SUV load of things I have accumulated over the last 40 years. A few suggestions
- we make it a policy that teachers get old books and software for free
- can we start later than 8am? For anyone driving in from the tri-state area, it is difficult to get there and set up that early, but the serious collectors are there and gone by 9:30

Finally.... if you are the person who bought my Kofax and Calera boards.... I found more software for them. I'm happy to mail it to you.
 
aiuto said:
. A few suggestions
- we make it a policy that teachers get old books and software for free
Click to expand...
Wouldnt that be up to the members selling? You can expect someone to drive 5 hours to the swapmeet and give stuff away for free if they dont want to. What we should be asking is for noone selling at ebay prices and if they are, they should be asked to stop selling that particular thing.
 
I have to agree this should not be mandated to everyone. Let the seller decide.
 
aiuto said:
The meet was a great success for me. I was able to find homes for an SUV load of things I have accumulated over the last 40 years. A few suggestions
- we make it a policy that teachers get old books and software for free
- can we start later than 8am? For anyone driving in from the tri-state area, it is difficult to get there and set up that early, but the serious collectors are there and gone by 9:30

Finally.... if you are the person who bought my Kofax and Calera boards.... I found more software for them. I'm happy to mail it to you.
Click to expand...

This is our 5th swap meet since we started it in November 2020. We are following what hamfests do which is start early and and early. Our start time has always been the same. This has been working well. Staff sets up at 6AM, vendors at 7AM. Things slow down at around noon. Sellers started to pack up at around 1PM. If you are coming from far, then I suggest coming the day before and staying at a hotel so that you can be there first thing in the morning. Some people already do this. To make it more worth your while. We also have a repair workshop afterwards. Plus there are great museums to see at InfoAge including the Vintage Computer Federation Museum. If you are close to the Baltimore area, there will be another swap meet there in July at System Source.
 
This was my second outdoor swap meet, my first was April 2021. I thought foot traffic was reduced this time, compared to last time. Probably a few factors played into that - I'm sure some people were worried about air quality with the smoke from Canada just days before. But I seem to recall that admission was free for buyers back in 2021?

Anyhow, if the guy who bought my Dell D410 laptop with dock & stand is reading this - contact me - I found more parts for that PC!
 
There is some weird societal expectation that swap meets (and hamfests, and other events that include swap) start very early in the morning, and there are a significant number of folks who show up very early. Given that, we don’t have a lot of choice about starting later.

With that said, there’s no requirement that you are there when the event opens. Feel free to come and join us later in the day, if that works for you.

- Alex
 
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